Vasubahen (23 March 1924 ― 13 December 2020), born Vasubahen Ramprasad Bhatt, was

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 Gu ...

story writer and novelist 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. She was a director of various

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

stations in Gujarat as well as a Chairman of the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board.

Biography

Vasubahen was born on 23 March 1924 at

Baroda 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 ...

(now Vadodara) to Ramprasad Balkrishna Shastri and Sarasvatiben. Her father was a political secretary of

Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal Gae ...

Baroda State Baroda State was a state in present-day Gujarat, ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty of the Maratha Confederacy from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India in 1949. With the city of Baroda (Vadodara) as its c ...

. She was the fifth among seven siblings. Her family was a native of

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

and her maternal family belonged to Amod village near

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

. She completed her school education from Baroda. She completed Grihita Gama (equivalent to

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

) in Gujarati, Psychology and Sociology from S. N. D. T. College (now

SNDT Women's University SNDT Women's University, also called by its full name Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, is a women's university in the city of Mumbai, India. The university headquarters are at Churchgate in South Mumbai, while the ma ...

). She then studied for a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order for ...

. She joined

(now Akashvani) in 1949, later served as the Director at Ahmedabad,

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

and Vadodara and retired in 1982. She was a Chairperson of the Juvenile Welfare Board, Ahmedabad and a Chairman of the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board. She had also served as the President of Gujarat Stree Kelvani Mandal and the Children Academy. She also presided over the ''Anandam''. She was an actress as well. She died in Ahmedabad on 13 December 2020 following prolonged illness.

Works

She was a story writer. She started writing during her student life. ''Pariksha Ke Karkasha?'' was her first story. ''Pandade Pandade Moti'' was her first story collection. It was followed by other story collections such as ''Sarsij'' (1996), ''Divase Tara Rate Vadal'' (1968), ''Manaraj'' (1973), ''Ghadik Ashadh Ghadik Fagan'' (1980) and ''Be Ankhni Sharam'' (1996). ''Zakalpichhodi'' (1959) is a novella on the life of a female. Her stories are translated in Hindi, English,

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

Awards

She had received the Delhi Award for artistic programmes on Akashvani in 1978. Her short story collection ''Pandade Pandade Moti'' (1963) and biography ''Yoganuyog'' (2002) were awarded by 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasubahen, Bhatt 1924 births 2020 deaths Gujarati-language writers People from Vadodara 20th-century Indian short story writers Writers from Gujarat SNDT Women's University alumni Indian women writers Indian novelists All India Radio women 20th-century Indian women

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References