Varsha Adalja

Varsha Mahendra Adalja is an Indian Gujarati language feminist novelist, playwright and negotiator who won the 1995 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language for her novel ''Ansar''. She is also a dramatist, writing for stage plays, screenplays, and radio.

Early life

She was born on 10 April 1940 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to Gunvantrai Acharya, Gujarati novelist, and Nilaben. Her family belonged to Jamnagar. She completed B.A. in Gujarati and Sanskrit from Mumbai University in 1960. Later she completed M.A. in Sociology in 1962. She studied drama at National School of Drama, Delhi under scholarship. She worked as a spokesperson of Akashvani, Mumbai from 1961 to 1964. She married Mahendra Adalja in 1965. She started writing in 1966. Her sister Ila Arab Mehta is also novelist.

Literary career

Varsha Adalja started her literary career as an editor of ''Sudha'', a women's weekly from 1973–1976, and later with ''Gujarati Femina'', another women's magazine from 1989–90. She holds an executive office with Gujarati Sahitya Parishad since 1978. She has explored lepers’ colonies, prison life and has worked among adivasis.

Works

She has penned 40 books including 22 novels and seven volumes of short stories. ''Shravan Tara Saravada'' (1968) and ''Timirna Padchhaya'' (1969) are her initial novels, followed by ''Ek Palni Parakh'' (1969). ''Panch ne ek Panch'' (1969), ''Avajno Akar'' (1975), ''Chhevatnu Chhevat'' (1976), ''Pachha Farata'' (1991) and ''Pagala'' (1983) are her suspense novels. ''Neelima Mrutyu Pami Chhe'' (1977) is social as well as suspense novel. ''Atash'' (1976) is a novel on violence in Vietnam. Her ''Bandivan'' (1986) is about corruption in jails. Her other novels are ''Ganth Chuutyani Vela'' (1980), ''Mrityudand'' (1996), ''Matinu Ghar'' (1991), ''Shag Re Shakoru'' (2004), ''Paratham Pagalu Mandiyu'' (2008) and ''Pagalu Mandu Hu Avkashma'' (2005). Her other novellas are ''Mare Pan Ek Ghar Hoy'' (1971), ''Retpankhi'' (1974) and ''Khari Padelo Tahuko'' (1983). ''Khari Padelo Tahuko'' also includes another novella ''Ek Karagar'' in its book. ''Ansar'' (1992) is her most celebrated novel on lepers.

Her short story collections are ''E'' (1979), ''Sanjne Umbare'' (1983), ''Endhani'' (1989), ''Bilipatranu Chothu Paan'' (1994), ''Ganthe Bandhyu Akash'' (1998), ''Anuradha'' (2003) and ''Koi Var Thay Ke...'' (2004). Her selected stories are published as ''Varsha Adaljani Shreshth Vartao'' (1992) edited by Ila Arab Mehta.

''Mandodari'' (1998) is collection of one-act plays. ''Aa Chhe Karagar'' (1986), ''Tirad'', ''Shaheed'' (2003), ''Vasanti Koyal'' (2006) are her plays. Her novels ''Mare Pan Ek Ghar Hoy'' and ''Retpankhi'' are adapted for short TV series. ''Timirna Padchhaya'' was adapted into three-act play and has more than hundred shows. She adapted her father's novel as ''Daridranarayan'' as TV series and later as a play. She has produced an award-winning television film on leprosy, ''Ansar''.

Her essay collections include ''Prithvi Tirth'' (1994) and ''Akhu Akash Ek Pinjarma'' (2007). Her travelogues are ''Nabh Zukyu'' (2002), ''Ghughave Chhe Jal'' (2002), ''Shivoham'' (2006) and ''Sharanagat'' (2007). She edited ''Amar Premkathao'' (2000).

''Crossroad'' was published in 2016. It is a magnum opus historical novel spread over three generations.

Awards

She received Sahitya Akademi Award (1995) for her novel ''Ansar''. She also received Soviet Land Nehru Award (1976), Gujarati Sahitya Academy Award (1977, 1979, 1980), Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Award (1972, 1975) and K. M. Munshi Award (1997). She received Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 2005. She has received Nandshankar Mehta Chandrak, Saroj Pathak Prize and Ramnarayan Pathak Short Story Prize for story writing.

See also

* List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati
* List of Gujarati-language writers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adalja, Varsha
1940 births
Living people
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati
20th-century Indian women writers
20th-century Indian essayists
Gujarati-language writers
University of Mumbai alumni
National School of Drama alumni
20th-century Indian novelists
20th-century Indian short story writers
Women writers from Maharashtra
Indian women short story writers
Indian women novelists
Writers from Mumbai
Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak
Novelists from Maharashtra
Indian women essayists