Ravindra Parekh ( gu, રવીન્દ્ર પારેખ) is a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

short story writer, novelist, playwright, poet, critic and translator from

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

, India.

Life

Ravindra Parekh was born on 21 November 1946 in Kalwada village (now in Valsad district, Gujarat) to Ambaben and Maganlal Parekh. He studied in

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is no ...

. He studied for a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Chemistry and Physics in 1969, a BA in Gujarati and Psychology in 1977, and an MA in Gujarati and Hindi as well as an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1979 from

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University Veer Narmad South Gujarat University is a public university located in the city of Surat, Gujarat, India. Previously known as South Gujarat University, it was renamed as Veer Narmad South Gujarat University(VNSGU) in 2004 in honour of the famous ...

. He worked with

Union Bank of India Union Bank of India, commonly referred to as Union Bank or UBI, is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai. It has 120+ million customers and a total business of US$106 billion. After the amalgamation with Corporation Bank and A ...

before retiring. He has worked as a vice-chairman of

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society ...

Works

Ravindra Parekh is a writer whose short story collections include: ''Swapnavato'' (1986), ''Sandhikal'' (1994) and ''Paryay'' (2002). ''Swapnavato'' was awarded the Umashankar Joshi Prize while ''Paryay'' won the Saroj Pathak Memorial Prize. ''Jaldurg'' (1984) was his first novel which was a suspense story dealing with the psychological view of a relationship between a man and a woman. ''Atikram'' (1989) was first serialized in ''Kadambari'' magazine and later as a book. His other two novels ''Crosswire'' and ''Lathukam'' (1998) were serialized in Gujaratmitra daily. ''Lathukam'' is based on his unpublished radio play. His next novel ''Man Pravesh'' was published in 2008. His

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writ ...

collections ''Ghar Vagarna Dwar'' (1993) and ''Hu Tamaro Hu Chhu'' (2003) were awarded by

Gujarat Sahitya Akademi The Gujarat Sahitya Akademi ( gu, ગુજરાત સાહિત્ય અકાદમી) or Gujarat Sahitya Academy, established in 1981, is a government institution dedicated to the development of the languages spoken in Gujarat, India an ...

. They also contain children's plays. His first poetry collection ''E To Ravindra Chhe'' (2003) contains only

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s. ''Harisamvad'' (2003) has devotional songs. ''Saral'' (2007) is made up of forty

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

s and sixty ghazals. ''Hasya Parishadma Jata'' (2003) is a collection of humorous essays. ''Anyokti'' (2003), ''Nishpati'' (2004) and ''Sammiti'' (2005) are his works of criticism. He has translated

Laxman Gaikwad Laxman Maruti Gaikwad (born July 23, 1952, Dhanegaon, Latur District, Maharashtra) is a famous Marathi novelist known for his best work ''The Branded'', a translation of his autobiographical novel ''Uchalaya'' (also known as ''Ucalaya''). This no ...

’s autobiography ''Uchalaya'' from

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

to Gujarati as ''Uthaugeer''. ''Deshvidesh'' (2003) is a collection of translations of short stories from India and abroad. He adapted

Mahesh Elkunchwar Mahesh Elkunchwar (born 9 October 1939) is an Indian playwright and screenplay writer in Marathi language with more than 20 plays to his name, in addition to his theoretical writings, critical works, and his active work in India's ''Parallel Cin ...

’s play ''Vada Chirebandi'' in Gujarati as ''Tirade Futi Kumpal''. He has edited ''Gujarati Navlikachayan'' (1997) published by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.

Personal life

He married Pushpa S. Kavatkar in 1972. They had two sons and a daughter. His son

Dhwanil Parekh Dhwanil Ravindrabhai Parekh (b. 28 October 1976 ) is a Gujarati language poet, critic and playwright from Gujarat, India. His significant works include ''Dariyo Bhalene Maane'' (2008; Ghazal anthology), ''Antim Yuddha'' (2009; drama) and ''Sank ...

is also a poet and a writer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parekh, Ravindra 1946 births Gujarati-language poets Gujarati-language writers Poets from Gujarat People from Valsad district 20th-century Indian poets Novelists from Gujarat Indian male poets Indian literary critics Indian editors 20th-century Indian short story writers Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat Translators from Gujarati Living people