“DHUMKETU”–PRINCE OF GUJARATI
SHORT
STORY
A
great master of the Gujarati short story and novel, and a versatile creative
genius who successfully wielded the pen in all branches of literature except
poetry–that
is how we may describe Shri Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi alias ‘Dhumketu.’
His passiing away on March 11 last year at Ahmedabad at the age of 72 has
created a void in Gujarati literature which it is indeed hard to fill.
Born
on December 12, 1892 at Veerpur, a remote little village in Saurashtra,
Gaurishankar had to struggle hard for his secondary education. Facing still
heavier odds, he took his B. A. in 1918 from the Bahauddin
College, Junagadh.
In
his childhood, he used to wander about on the outskirts of his village or in
the hills nearby. He had a great attraction for streams, rivulets, valleys and
ravines where he spent a great deal of his time, drinking deep in the beauty of
nature around him. His intense love of nature, which caught him in its grip,
was enriched in his later life by his visits to the Himalayas, to Simla,
Nainital, Kashmir and other beauty spots in the country.
As
a student, he came into close contact with Shriman Natturam Sharma of Bilkha
Anandashram in Saurashtra. The well known Vedantist exercised a profound
influence on the young, boy. Inspired by him, he attempted poetry, but finding
it immature and unsatisfying, gave it up. The creative urge in him, however,
would not let him alone. Struggling to discover a suitable medium for the
expression of his ideas, he made himself familiar with European fiction and
found it eminently to his liking. Daksha-yajna-bhanga, his first short
story, attracted the attention of a large number of readers and of literary
critics in particular. Encouraged by the response, he wrote stories in
quick succession and soon secured a place as an original writer.
His
creative activity received an impetus never known before. With the publication
in 1926 of his first collection of short stories, Tanakha Part-I, a new
star appeared in the firmament of Gujarati literature. The short story remained
Dhumketu’s passion, and forte, all his life. He has, to his credit, over a
dozen collections of short stories, chief among them being Tanakha (Parts
I, II, III and IV), Pradeep, Tribheto, Akashdeep, Meghbindu and Vankunj.
Some of his stories have been translated into several Indian and foreign
languages.
Before
Dhumketu, Ranjitram Mehta, Dhansukhlal Mehta ‘Malayanil’ and Kanaiyalal Munshi
had, to a degree, cultivated the field of the short story, modelled on the
English pattern. To Dhumketu, however, goes the credit of giving the Gujarati
short story a beauty of form and content, possessing varied and rich experience
of life, and full of creative urge and power of imagination. Dhumketu broke new
ground in the field of the short story both in content and form. Before him,
the life of the well-to-do and the higher middle class was, as it were, the
subject-matter of Gujarati short story. Dhumketu extended its horizons. He
depicted life of all strata of society. He drew for his stories incidents and
characters from history and mythology. Life of the artists, who were martyrs to
their intense love of art, was also his favourite theme, which recurred in his
stories with an added charm. But he represented, in the main, the life of the
illiterate, innocent people belonging to the so-called lowest strata of
society, their joys and sorrows, their emotions and passions, their loves and
their longings, their magnanimity, faith and idealism, their innate humanity
and the spiritual beauty of their life. Marked by a new sensibility a new
vision of life, deep sympathy and rare art, his stories won him a permanent
place in the hearts of the people. ‘Bhaiys Dada’ depicting the tragic pathos of
the life of an old signalman, ‘Post Office’ portraying the life of the
grief-stricken Ali Dosa, a hunter, separated from his daughter, whose
long-awaited letter he never receives and, who dies in agony, and
Govind-nun-Khetar’ representing village life, have become milestones in
Gujarati literature. One ascends in them high pinnacles of art never attained before.
Dhumketu
portrayed the reality of life by his lively imagination invested it with
emotion, and touched it with a romantic idealism. His
stories cast an irresistible spell by the freshness of their theme, style and
technique, a rich variety of incident, plot and situation, and their motely
world of distinctly individual characters, brilliant and idealistic. Dhumketu
is in a class by himself as far as the ability to create atmosphere by a few
deft touches, racy style and varied rhythm, and, above all, the beautiful
poetry that pervades his stories are concerned.
Although
Dhumketu excels in the short story, his achievement as a novelist can be ranked
only as second to his success as a short story writer. His contribution to the
novel has been substantial both in quality and quantity. His first novels, Prithvish
and Rajmugat, depict life in the native states. In Ajit and Parajay,
he has worked out his concept of village reconstruction which is at once
romantic and idealistic.
Dhumketu
has published nearly thirty novels based on the Chalukya and the Gupta periods
of Indian History. Chief among the novels of the Chalukya period are Vachinidevi,
Ajit Bhimdev, Chauladevi, Rajsanyasi, Karnavati, and Jaisinh Siddharaj, in
which this romantic artist has tried to revive the past glory of Gujarat. Chauladevi
is, by common consent, regarded as his masterpiece. His novels of the
ancient Indian period include Amrapali, Vaisali, Samrat Chandragupta and
Samrat Asoka.
These
novels are historical in the sense that history provides the background to
them. In this respect, he carries forward the tradition Kanaiyalal Munshi set
up in his historical novels. Artistic weaving of the plot, lively
characterization, vivid representation of incidents, scintillating dialogue,
charming language and romantic idealism are some of the features of his novels.
After
Kanaiyalal Munshi and Ramanlal Desai, Dhumketu occupies a notable place in the
history of the Gujarati novel.
His
other notable works include Jeevanpanth and Jeevanrang, an
autobiography in two volumes; Pagadandi, a travelogue; Thandi Krurata
ane Bijan Natako and Padagha, plays; and Pangosthi, Sarjan ane
Chintan, light and familiar essays.
Dhumketu
blazed a new trail in the field of the Gujarati short story and will forever be
enshrined in our memory as a master story-teller.