Saroop Dhruv (born 19 June 1948) is an educator, poet and activist 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

She was born in Ahmedabad on 19 June 1948. She completed B. A. in Gujarati and Sanskrit from

St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad St. Xavier's College Ahmedabad (SXCA) is a Christian minority institution of higher education in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1955 by the Gujarat Jesuits of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and is the only grant-in-aid Christian co ...

in 1969 and M. A. from School of Languages,

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by N ...

in 1971. She received Ph. D. from

Gujarat Vidyapith Gujarat Vidyapith is a deemed university in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement, and deemed a university in 1963. Etymology "Vidyapith," in many languages of ...

in 1976 for her dissertation, ''Motif no Abhyas Ane Ketlik Pasand Kareli Gujarati Lokkathama Teni Tapas'' (Study of Motifs and its Research in Selected Gujarati Folktales). She was a

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Guj ...

teacher at St. Xavier's Education Center from 1974. Dhruv was a founding member of the cultural group Samvedan Sanskritic Manch and of the media group Darshan; both groups have social change as an objective. She is also a founder of Kalam, which provides an outlet for women writers. She also writes and directs plays.

Works

In 1982, she published her first collection of poems ''Mara Hathni Vaat'' (It is all in my hand). In 1995, she published a second collection of poems ''Salagti Havao'' (Burning flames). Her other poetry collections are ''Hastakshep'' (Intervention, 2003) and ''Sahiyara Surajni Khojma'' (2003). English translations of her poems have appeared in the collections ''In their Own Voice'' (1990), ''Women Writing in India'' (1995) and ''Modern Gujarati Poetry: A Selection'' (1998). She had edited and published some research works including ''Sabarmati Puchhe Chhe'' (1986), ''Kalmukho Andhar Bhedva'' Vol. I-VI (2003), ''Heerno Hinchko: Bhalbarani Dalit Mahilao Dwara Gavata Geeto'' (2001) and ''Ummeed'' (2007).

Awards

She received an award from the

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 ...

for her first poetry collection, ''Mara Hathni Vat'' (1982). In 1996, she received the Mahendra Bhagat Award. She was awarded the Hellman/Hammett Award for Courageous Writing for 2008 by the

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

for resisting state censorship in Gujarat and her social work. She received

Takhtasinh Parmar Prize The Takhtasinh Parmar Prize, also known as Shri Takhtasinh Parmar Paritoshik ( gu, શ્રી તખ્તસિંહ પરમાર પારિતોષિક), is a literary award presented by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. The prize, which rec ...

(1982-83) for ''Mara Hathni Vaat''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhruv, Saroop 1948 births Living people Indian women poets Indian women activists Writers from Ahmedabad Poets from Gujarat 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian poets Women writers from Gujarat Activists from Gujarat Gujarat University alumni Gujarati-language writers

Life

Works

Awards

See also

References