Rajendra Shukla | |
---|---|
![]() Ahmedabad, May 2017 | |
Born | Rajendra Anantrai Shukla 12 October 1942 Bantva, Junagadh State, British India |
Occupation | Poet |
Language | Gujarati |
Nationality | Indian |
Education | Master of Arts |
Notable awards |
|
Spouse | Nayna Jani |
Signature | |
![]() |
Rajendra Anantrai Shukla (born 12 October 1942) is a Gujarati poet. He taught at various places before voluntarily retiring. He published several poetry collections which won him several major Gujarati literary awards.
He was born on 12 October 1942 in Bantwa village near Junagadh, Gujarat, India. His family is native of Wadhwan. He completed his primary education from Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Bantwa and Majevadi. He completed his secondary education from Junagadh and Ahmedabad. He started his college education from Bahauddin College, Junagadh. He completed B. A. in 1965 in Sanskrit and Prakrit from L. D. Arts College, Ahmedabad and M. A. in the same subjects in 1967 from School of Languages, Gujarat University. He taught at various institutions until 1982. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Shukla is married to Nayana Jani, a Gujarati poet. [5] After teaching Sanskrit at Dahod, he left teaching voluntarily in 1982 to educate his children without schooling as an experiment. He resides in Ahmedabad. [3] [4]
He studied poetry from Takhtasinhji Parmar along with Manoj Khanderia and Shyam Sadhu. [6]
He is influenced by the poetry of Narasinh Mehta, a saint-poet of medieval Gujarat as well as modernist poetry of Re Math poets. [1] [4] His first poem was published in Kumar magazine in 1962. [4] He has published several poetry collections: Komal Rishabh (1970), Antar Gandhar (1981) and five volumes of Gazal Samhita (2005). Swavachakni Shodh (1972) is his long poem. [3] [4]
Shukla was awarded by the Government of Gujarat for the best anthology of poetry of 1970 for Komal Rishabh which he shared with poet Ramesh Parekh. He was again awarded by the Government of Gujarat for the best anthology of poetry of 1981 for Antar Gandhar. He was also awarded Kavi Nhanalal Prize in 1981 and Uma-Snehrashmi Prize, 1980–1981 for Antar Gandhar. He is a recipient of Gujarat Sahitya Academy Award for Ghazal Samhita as the Best Anthology of Gujarati poetry in 2005. He also received the Narsinh Mehta Award, the highest award being given to contemporary poet in 2006. He was awarded Sanskar Chandrak in 1980 and Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 2006. He also received Sahitya Academy Award for Ghazal Samhita in 2007. He also received Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 2008, Vali Gujarati Gazal Award in 2009, Lekharatna award and Kalapi Award in 2001. [3] [2] [4] [7] [8]
Narsinh Mehta, also known as Narsinh Bhagat, was a 15th-century poet-saint of Gujarat, India, honored as the first poet, or Adi Kavi, of the Gujarati language. Narsinh Mehta is member of Nagar Brahman community. Narsinh became a devotee of Krishna, and dedicated his life to composing poetic works described as bhakti, or devotion towards Krishna. His bhajans have remained popular in Gujarat and Rajasthan for over 5 centuries. Most notably, his composition Vaishnav Jan To was Mahatma Gandhi's favorite and became popular with freedom fighters across India.
Rajendra Keshavlal Shah was a lyrical poet who wrote in Gujarati. Born in Kapadvanj, he authored more than 20 collections of poems and songs, mainly on the themes of the beauty of nature, and about the everyday lives of indigenous peoples and fisherfolk communities. In his poems using Sanskrit metrics, he was influenced by Rabindranath Tagore. He is considered one of the giants of post Gandhi-era in Gujarati literature.
Ravishankar Raval (1892–1977) was a painter, art teacher, art critic, journalist and essayist from Gujarat, India. He worked for the magazine Vismi Sadi until it closed in 1921, and then founded the cultural magazine Kumar.
The history of Gujarati literature may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, other than its composers.
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 awarded since 1928.
Dhirendra Pritamlal Mehta is a Gujarati novelist, poet, critic and editor who received the 2010 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language for his novel Chhavni.
Manoj Khanderia was an Indian poet and a Ghazal writer of Gujarati language.
Ramesh Parekh (1940-2006) was a Gujarati poet and lyricist from Gujarat, India. He was one of the most popular poets of modern Gujarati poetry. Though government servant by profession, he had deep interest in literature and music. He contributed heavily in field of poetry including geet, ghazal and non-lyrical poetry. He also wrote stories and contributed in Gujarati children's literature.
Raghuveer Chaudhari is a novelist, poet and critic from Gujarat, India. He has also worked as a columnist for numerous newspapers, such as Sandesh, Janmabhumi, Nirikshaka and Divya Bhaskar. He was a teacher at the Gujarat University until his retirement in 1998. His most significant contributions have been in Gujarati language but he has also written Hindi articles. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977, for his novel trilogy Uparvas. He received Jnanpith Award, considered to be India's highest literary award, in 2015. In 2019, he was awarded a D.Lit. by Gujarat University.
Dhiru Ishwarlal Parikh was an Indian Gujarati poet, short story writer and critic. He was an editor of Kavilok and Kumar, Gujarati literary magazines.
Nalin Chandrakant Raval was a Gujarati poet and short story writer from India. Born in Ahmedabad and educated in languages, he taught in colleges. He published five poetry collections along with short stories. He received several awards including Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak.
Rajesh Vyas, better known by his pen name Miskin, is a Gujarati poet from India. Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, he completed his doctorate in Gujarati literature. He writes ghazal poetry and columns in various publications.
Harshad Trivedi is a Gujarati language poet, short story writer, critic and editor from Gujarat, India. He was an editor of Shabdasrishti, an organ of Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, from 1995 to 2015. Trivedi has served in different positions at several Gujarati literary institutions. As of 2023, he is a president of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.
Hardwar Goswami is a Gujarati language poet, writer, and playwright from Gujarat, India. He wrote the poetry collection Hawa Ne Kinare (2005), and his poems have been published in several Gujarati magazines. He won the Yuva Gaurav Award in 2009 for his contributions to Gujarati poetry.
Harsh Brahmbhatt is a Gujarati language poet and writer from Gujarat, India. He has also made significant contributions to the Urdu ghazal form. He is a recipient of several awards, including the Shayda Award, Kalapi Award, Kumar Suvarna Chandrak and Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak.
Chandrakant Sheth is a Gujarati poet, essayist, critic, translator and compiler from Gujarat, India. His pen names include Aryaputra, Nand Samavedi, Balchadra and Daksh Prajapati. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati in 1986 for his book Dhoolmani Paglio.
Radheshyam Sharma 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 (1968) and Swapnatirtha (1979). His other significant works include Aansu Ane Chandaranu (1963), and Gujarati Navalkatha, a work of literary criticism on Gujarati novels. Sharma was awarded the Gujarati literary honours Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, in 2004, and Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak, in 1995.
Jayant Sukhlal Kothari was a Gujarati literary critic from India.
Jayant Himmatlal Pathak was a Gujarati poet and literary critic from Gujarat, India. He was the president of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad from 1990 – 1991. He received several awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Kumar Suvarna Chandrak, the Narmad Suvarna Chandrak, the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak and the Uma-Snehrashmi Prize. The Jayant Pathak Poetry Award is named after him.
Hariprasad Gangashankar Shastri was an Indian scholar, historian, epigraphist, Indologist and editor primarily known for his work on the political and cultural history of Gujarat state. He spent much of his career at the B. J. Institute of Learning and Research, Ahmedabad, as a lecturer, professor, deputy director and then as director.