Swapnatirtha ( gu, સ્વપ્નતીર્થ) is a Gujarati novel by

Radheshyam Sharma Radheshyam Sharma (5 January 1936 – 9 September 2021) was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short story writer, critic and compiler from the state of Gujarat, India. He is known in Gujarati literature for his experimental novels ''Fero'' ( ...

. It was published in 1979 and made a great impact on Gujarati novels.

Characters

* Navin - a young adolescent gullible boy * Shanta - Navin's mother * Vinayak kaka - Navin's uncle * Ghanshyamlalji Maharaj - a

Hindu priest A Hindu priest, used irrespective of gender, may refer to either of the following: * A Pujari (IAST: Pūjārī) or an Archaka is a Hindu temple priest. * A Purohita (IAST: Purōhita) officiates and performs rituals and ceremonies, and is usual ...

* Bhalubhai Sanghvi and Sohanbhai - two persons of pilgrimage with whom Navin gets

homosexual relationship A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

Plot

It is the story of an adolescent gullible boy Navin who being a religious one, pilgrims with a congregation on foot to a shrine of

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

cult. His father Mathurdas's death is doubtful and his mother Shanta is illicitly connected with another two persons, first is his uncle Vinayak kaka, who visit their home frequently and second is Dharmaguru Ghanshyam Maharaj. These are the essential elements that interlace the plot of father-son relationship in the end. A dream follows the descriptions of each day in the diary.

Format

The novel runs on three levels: the subtle voice of the narrator, image-full dream sequence of the young boy and the flat monotonous repetitive and school-age tone of his diary. The techniques of

dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...

and

dream vision A dream vision or ''visio'' is a literary device in which a dream or vision is recounted as having revealed knowledge or a truth that is not available to the dreamer or visionary in a normal waking state. While dreams occur frequently throughout ...

are used in this novel. The prose of the novel is rough and boring.

Criticism

Jayant Gadit Jayant Gokaldas Gadit ( gu, જયંત ગોકળદાસ ગાડીત) was a Gujarati novelist, critic and professor from Gujarat, India. He received the Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak in 2008 and was awarded the Gujarat Sahitya A ...

wrote that, the novel does not gives us the complete story but it centered around the consciousness of Navin, a main protagonist of the novel.

Pravin Darji Pravin Darji is Gujarati essayist, poet, critic and editor from India. ''Spand'' (1976), ''Charvana'' (1976), ''Dayarama'' (1978) and ''Pratyagra'' (1978) are some of his known works. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2011. Life Pravin Darji was born o ...

noted this novel for its prominent prose.

References

External links

* {{Google Books, id=cdAyHAAACAAJ 1979 novels Gujarati-language novels Fiction set in the 20th century Existentialist novels Modernist novels 1979 Indian novels Novels about dreams