Jayant Himmatlal Pathak (20 October 1920 – 1 September 2003) was a Gujarati poet and literary critic 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 ninth ...

, India. He was 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 1990 – 1991. He received several awards, including 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 ...

, the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak, the

Narmad Suvarna Chandrak Narmad Suvarna Chandrak (Gujarati: નર્મદ સુવર્ણ ચંદ્રક), also known as the Narmad Gold Medal or Narmad Chandrak, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India. It is bestowed by the organisation known as Narmad Sahitya Sa ...

, the

Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, also known as the Ranjitram Gold Medal, was founded by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha and is considered the highest literary award in Gujarati literature. The award is named after renowned Gujarati writer Ranjitram Mehta. It is ...

and the

Uma-Snehrashmi Prize Uma-Snehrashmi Prize, also known as Uma-Snehrashmi Paritoshik ( gu, ઉમા-સ્નેહરશ્મિ પારિતોષિક) is a literary award in Gujarat, India founded by Snehrashmi in 1963 in a remembrance of his deceased daughter ...

. The Jayant Pathak Poetry Award is named after him.

Early life

Pathak was born into a

Gauda Brahmins Gaur Brahmins (spelling variations: Gor or Gour), also Gauda Brahmins (spelling variations: Gaud, or God), also known as Adi Gauda/Gaur, is a group of Brahmin communities in India. The Gauda Brahmins are one of the five Pancha Gauda Brahmin comm ...

family on 20 October 1920, at Goth, a village now in the Rajgadh taluka of

Panchmahal district Panchmahal, also known as Panch Mahals, is a district in the eastern portion of Gujarat State western India. ''Panch-mahal'' means "five tehsils/talukas" (5 sub-divisions), and refers to the five sub-divisions that were transferred by the Maharaj ...

, Gujarat, India, to Ichchhaba and Himmatram Joitaram Pathak. "Bachudo" (Lit. Small Child) was his childhood nickname. Pathak was raised by his grandfather Joitaram, because his father Himmatram died when he was about ten years old. He completed his preschool education in Rajgadh. Then, he moved to Motabahen's (a.k.a. Pushpabahen) home in Kalol in 1930, and joined the N.G.S. High School in Kalol and completed

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

there in 1938. He completed a Bachelor of Arts from M.T.B Arts College in 1943 and a Master of Arts in Gujarati and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

subjects from

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

college in 1945. He received a Ph.D. in 1960, under

Vishnuprasad Trivedi Vishnuprasad Ranchhodlal Trivedi (4 July 1899 – 10 November 1991) was a Gujarati literary critic from India. Early life Trivedi was born in Umreth, Bombay Presidency on July 4, 1899. After his education at institutions including Borsad, Tha ...

, for his research thesis, ''1920 Pachhini Gujarati Kavitani Sanskrutik Bhoomika: Paribalo Ane Siddhi''. He married Bhanubahen.

Career

From 1943 to 1945, he served as a teacher at different schools including the New Era School in Vadodara, the Katapitiya School, and a school at

Karjan Karjan is a city and a municipality in Vadodara district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Karjan is known for Shri Shankheshwar Parshwanath Jain Tirth at Anastu and Sumeru Navkar Jain Tirth - The Golden Temple. Demographics As of the 2001 India ...

village. From 1948 to 1953, he lived in Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi, and worked in different fields, including journalism. He joined the MTB Arts College in Surat in 1953 as a professor and retired from there in 1980. He was appointed president of the

from 1989 to 1991. He also served as the president of the Narmad Sahitya Sabha in 1992 and of the Kavi Narmad Yugavarta Trust in 1992. His literary works had been published in ''Gujaratmitra'', ''Loksatta'', ''

Kumar A coin, around 200 BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya">Yaudheyas.html" ;"title="BCE, of the Yaudheyas">BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya Kumar (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: wikt:कुमा ...

'', ''

Buddhiprakash ''Buddhiprakash'' ( gu, બુદ્ધિપ્રકાશ, English: Light of Knowledge) is a Gujarati language magazine published by Gujarat Vidhya Sabha (formerly known as Gujarat Vernacular Society), Ahmedabad, India. History ''Buddhipr ...

'', ''Granth'', ''Vishwa Manav'', ''Kavita'' and ''

Kavilok ''Kavilok'' (Gujarati language, Gujarati: કવિલોક), a publication of Kavilok Trust, is a Gujarati language bimonthly poetry journal published in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The current editor is Dhiru Parikh and co-editor is Praful Rava ...

''. He died on 1 September 2003 at his home in Nanpura,

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 now ...

Works

The ambiance of his birthplace, Panchamahal, a tribal forest region of Gujarat, strongly influenced his poetry. He was also acquainted with literary personalities and was influenced by them when he was young. This included first, his cousin

Ushnas Natwarlal Pandya, better known by his pen name, Ushnas (Gujarati: ઉશનસ્), was a Gujarati language poet from India. Biography He was born in Savli village near Vadodara on 28 September 1920. He studied in Mehsana, Sidhpur, Savli and ...

, who later became a renowned Gujarati poet, and his school teacher, Pranshankar Bhatt. He was also influenced by the Gujarati poets

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 ...

and Sundaram. ''Marmar'', is his first collection of poems, published in 1954, followed by ''Sanket'' (1960), ''Vismay'' (1964), ''Sarga'' (1969), ''Antariksha'' (1975), ''Anunaya'' (1978), ''Mrugaya'' (1983), ''Shooli Upar Sej'' (1988), ''Be Akshar Anandna'' (1992), and ''Drutvilambit'' (2003). His poems are characterized by

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek language, Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", ...

for his lost childhood spent in his village, as he finds city life uneasy and unbearable. ''Anunaya'', a collection of his poems was translated and published by Brajendra Tripathi in 1993. His critical works are: ''Aadhunik Kavita Pravah'' (1963), ''Aalok'' (1966), ''Tunki Varta: Swaroop ane Sahitya'' (1968), ''Jhaverchand Meghani: Jivaan ane Sahitya'' (1968), ''Ramnarayan V. Pathak'' (1970), ''Kavyalok'' (1974), ''Arthat'' (1997), and ''Tunki Varta ane Bija Lekho'' (2000).

Recognition

He received the

(1964) for his book ''Vananchal'', the

(1980) for ''Anunaya'', the

(1982 - 1983) for ''Mrugaya'', and the

Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak also known as Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Gold Medal, is a literary honour in Gujarat, India given by Gujarat Sahitya Sabha. Established in 1983, the award is conferred annually on the most outstanding literate for his ...

for ''Shooli Upar Sej''. He is also a recipient of the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak (1957) and the

(1976). The Jayant Pathak Poetry Award is named after him. He shared the

Premanand Suvarna Chandrak The Premanand Suvarna Chandrak or Premanand Gold Medal is a literary honour awarded every two years, though sometimes annually, to an established Gujarati writer in order to recognize and promote excellence in Gujarati writing. It is given by an in ...

(2001) 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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pathak, Jayant 1920 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Indian journalists Gujarati-language writers Gujarati people Journalists from Gujarat People from Panchmahal district Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati