Bholabhai Patel () was an Indian
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 ...
author. He taught numerous languages at
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 NA ...
and did comparative studies of literature in different languages. He translated extensively and wrote essays and travelogues. He was awarded the
Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
in 2008.
Life
Patel was born on 7 August 1934, in Soja village near
Gandhinagar
Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mum ...
, Gujarat.
He completed S.S.C. in 1952. He earned a
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in Sanskrit, Hindi and Indian culture from
Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...
in 1957. He also studied at the Gujarat University, and completed his master's degree in Hindi in 1960, a Bachelors in English in 1968, a Masters in English and Science of Language in 1970. From 1974, he started working on his PhD thesis on
Sachchidananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya', a modernist Hindi writer, and completed it in 1977. The thesis was later published as ''Agyeya: Ek Adhyayan'' in Hindi. During his studies in Gujarathi University, Gujarathi writer
Umashankar Joshi
Umashankar Jethalal Joshi () (21 July 1911 – 19 December 1988) was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati.
Biograpy
Early years
Umashankar Joshi was ...
was his Gujarati lecturer. Joshi influenced literary taste and critical discrimination.
He also completed a diploma in German in 1971 and linguistics in 1974.
Patel obtained a fellowship from the
Visva-Bharati University
Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...
where he did a comparative study of Indian literature.
Patel was married and had three children. He began his teaching career working at a primary school in Modasa. He taught at Saradar Vallabhbhai Arts College in Ahmedabad from 1960 to 1969. Later he taught and headed the Hindi Department of the School of Languages at Gujarat University from 1969 until his retirement in 1994. Patel served as a fellow of comparative literature at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
in 1983-84 and at the Institute of Humanities, Vidya Bhavan. He was also the trustee of the institute which published ''Gujarati Vishwakosh
''Gujarati Vishwakosh'' ( gu, ગુજરાતી વિશ્વકોશ, ) is an encyclopedia in Gujarati, one of the official languages of India, published by Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It can be considered th ...
'', the Gujarati encyclopaedia. He served as the president of 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 an ...
from 2011 until his death in 2012. He edited ''Parab'', a monthly of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad for three decades starting 1974.
He died on 20 May 2012 at Ahmedabad following a heart attack.[
]
Works
Patel had published more than 52 books. He was a polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...
who spoke Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, German, French, Marathi, Puria and Sanskrit fluently. He translated many books from these languages to Gujarati and vice versa. He wrote literary travelogues about his travels across Europe and the US. Patel was an expert on the works of the ancient poet Kalidas and the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
.[
]
Non-fiction
''Vidisha'' (1980) is collection of his eleven travel essays. ''Purvottar'' (1971) is travelogue of his travel in Northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
, West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
and Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
. ''Kanchanjangha'' (1985) is collection of travel essays. His other two collections are ''Bole Zina Mor'' (1992) and ''Shalbhanjika'' (1992). His other travelogues are ''Radhe Tara Dungariya Par'' (1987), ''Devoni Ghati'' (1989), ''Devatma Himalaya'' (1990) and ''Europe-Anubhav'' (2004).[
His works of criticism are ''Adhuna'' (1973), ''Bharatiya Tunkivarta'' (1987), ''Purvapar'' (1976), ''Kalpurush'' (1979), ''Adhunikata ane Gujarati Kavita'' (1987), ''Sahityik Paramparano Vistar'' (1996), ''Aav Gira Gujarati'' (2003).][
]
Edited and translated works
He has edited some works; ''Asamiya Gujarati Kavita'' (1981), ''Gujarati Sahityano Athmo Dayko'' (1982), ''Gujarati Sahityano Navmo Dayko'' (with Chandrakant Topiwala
Chandrakant Amritlal Topiwala is a Gujarati language poet and critic from Gujarat, India.
Early life
Topiwala was born on 7 August 1936 at Vadodara, to Amritlal and Lilavati. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati from the University o ...
, 1991) and ''Jeevannu Kavya'' (1987), selected works of Kaka Kalelkar
Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar (1 December 1885 – 21 August 1981), popularly known as Kaka Kalelkar, was an Indian independence activist, social reformer, journalist and an eminent follower of the philosophy and methods of Mahatma Gandhi.
B ...
. His Ph.D. thesis, ''Agney: Ek Adhyayan'' was published by Gujarat University in 1983.[
As he was a ]polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...
, he translated large number of works. A large number of these translations were from Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
to his native Gujarati, such as Sukumar Sen's history of Bengali literature, ''Bangali Sahitya Itihasni Rooprekha'' in 1982. Other translations from Bengali include works by Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
, such as ''Char Adhyay'' (1988), Jibanananda Das
Jibanananda Das () (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954) was an Indian poet, writer, novelist and essayist in the Bengali language. Popularly called "Rupashi Banglar Kabi'' ('Poet of Beautiful Bengal'), Das is the most read poet after Rabindr ...
's poetry collection ''Vanlata Sen'' (1976), Sunil Gangopadhyay's novel ''Swargani Niche Manushya'' (1977), Buddhadeb Bosu
Buddhadeva Bose (; 1908–1974), also spelt Buddhadeb Bosu, was an Indian Bengali writer of the 20th century. Frequently referred to as a poet, he was a versatile writer who wrote novels, short stories, plays and essays in addition to poetry. ...
's play ''Tapaswi ane Tarangini'' (1982).
He also translated Vinayak Athwale's ''Vishnu Digambar'' (1967), Gopal Singh's ''Guru Nanak'' (1969), Maheswar Neog
Professor Maheswar Neog (7 September 1915 – 13 September 1995) was an Indian academic who specialised in the cultural history of the North East India especially Assam, besides being an Assamese-language scholar and poet. He was a top Indologis ...
's ''Shankardev'' (1970), He translated Sumitranandan Pant
Sumitranandan Pant (20 May 1900 – 28 December 1977) was an Indian poet. He was one of the most celebrated 20th century poets of the Hindi language and was known for romanticism in his poems which were inspired by nature, people and beauty wit ...
's poetry collection in Gujarati as ''Chidambara'' (1969) with Raghuveer Chaudhari
Raghuveer ChaudhariSpelling of name is based on his signaturArchived herOther alternative spellings are Raghuvir Chaudhary and Raghuvir Chaudhari. is a novelist, poet and critic from Gujarat, India. He has also worked as a columnist for numerou ...
. He translated Umashankar Joshi
Umashankar Jethalal Joshi () (21 July 1911 – 19 December 1988) was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati.
Biograpy
Early years
Umashankar Joshi was ...
's poetry books ''Prachina'' (1968) and ''Nishith'' (1968) in Hindi. Rabindranath Tagore's ''Geet Panchshati'' (1978) was translated in Gujarati by him, Nagindas Parekh and others. He also translated Prabhudutt Brahmachari's ''Chaitanya Mahaprabhu'' (1986) with Nagindas Parekh. He translated Hindi writer Shrikant Verma's ''Bijana Pag'' (1990) with Bindu Bhatt
Bindu Bhat is a Gujarati language novelist, storywriter, critic and translator from Gujarat, India. Her novel '' Akhepatar'' (1999) received the Sahitya Akademi Award for the year 2003. Her other significant works include ''Mira Yagnikni Dayari ...
. He translated R. M. Lala's ''The Creation of Wealth'' from English in Gujarati as ''Sampattinu Sarjan'' (1984). ''Kamroopa'' is translation of selected Assamese poetry. He also translated Syed Abdul Malik's novel as ''Soorajmukhina Swapna'' and Vasudev Sharan Agrawal's studies as ''Harshacharit: Ek Sanskritik Adhyayan''. He translated Agyeya
Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan (7 March 1911 – 4 April 1987), popularly known by his pen name Agyeya (also transliterated Ajneya, meaning 'the unknowable'), was an Indian writer, poet, novelist, literary critic, journalist, translator ...
's Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
work ''Angan Ke Par Dwar
''Angan Ke Par Dwar'' (; ) is a 1961 poetry collection by Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, generally known by his pen-name, Agyeya. The book received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964.
Content
The poems of the book were written during the period 1959 ...
'' into Gujarati as ''Anganani Par Dwar'' (2002).
Recognition
Patel was awarded the Padma Shri
Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...
, the fourth highest civilian award in India, in 2008. He also won the KK Birla Foundation fellowship. He received the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1995, the highest award in Gujarati literature. He was the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
for Gujarati in 1992 for ''Devoni Ghati''.[ Bholabhai Patel Chowk, a crossroad near Gujarat University, is named after him.]
See also
* List of Gujarati-language writers
Well known laureates of Gujarati literature are Hemchandracharya, Narsinh Mehta, Mirabai, Akho, Premanand Bhatt, Shamal Bhatt, Dayaram, Dalpatram, Narmad, Govardhanram Tripathi, Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 Octob ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Bholabhai
1934 births
2012 deaths
Writers from Gujarat
Gujarati-language writers
Gujarat University faculty
Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education
People from Gandhinagar district
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati
Indian literary critics
20th-century Indian translators
20th-century Indian essayists
Indian travel writers
Banaras Hindu University alumni
Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak
Scholars from Gujarat
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation