Gujarati litterateur Bholabhai Patel dies

Gujarati literature woke up to the loss of one of its most eminent contributors on Sunday following the death of Bholabhai Patel, who suffered a heart attack at around 10 in the morning.

Poet, travel writer and polyglot, Patel wore many hats with élan. But for friends and contemporaries, Patel was a humble human being with a heart of gold.

Patel, who was born on August 7, 1934 in Soja village close to Gandhinagar, was the president of the Gujarat Sahitya Parishad.
He initially worked as a primary teacher and later headed the Hindi department of the Gujarat University. Patel, who was fluent in Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and German, was needless to say a lover of language.

But it was his travelogues that earned him wide-spread popularity across the length and breadth of Gujarat. Patel is also credited with bringing literature from other states to Gujarat, through his translation from Bengali, Assamese and Oriya languages.

"Patel was one of those who strived hard to take Gujarati literature from the classes to the masses. His efforts at translating the work written in other languages was aimed at this," said veteran journalist, Bhikesh Bhatt who had known Patel for many years.

Patel was also known for his literary travelogues in Europe and the US. "He was a nature lover and it reflected in his travelogues.

But what set him apart was his need to explore the literary roots of a place. It would be impossible to imagine Patel visiting a place that had given birth to a known author and not digging out all there was to know about it," said Bhatt.

The 78-year-old, Padma Shri awardee had also done a comparative study in Indian literature after winning a fellowship from the Visva-Bharati University. Patel a winner of the KK Birla Foundation fellowship was also awarded the Ranjit Ram Swarnim Chandra award in 1995, the highest honour in Gujarati literature.

Author of over 52 books, Patel was an expert on the works of Kalidas and Rabindranath Tagore. "Thanks to his translation work, Bholabhai put Gujarat in touch with the literary treasure from the rest of India," said chief secretary of Gujarat Sahitya Parishad, Rajendra Patel.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and GPCC president Arjun Modhwadia expressed sorrow at the passing away of the literary veteran. Patel is survived by a wife and three children. But for his fans, the author will continue to live through his work.