Pannalal Patel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pannalal Nanalal Patel
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | 7 May 1912 Mandli village British India, (now in Dungarpur, Rajasthan) |
| Died | 6 April 1989 (aged 76) Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Notable works |
|
| Notable awards |
|
| Spouse | Valiben |
Pannalal Nanalal Patel (born May 7, 1912 – died April 6, 1989) was a famous Indian writer. He is well-known for his amazing stories and novels in Gujarati literature. He wrote more than 20 collections of short stories, like Sukhdukhna Sathi (1940). He also wrote over 20 novels about society, including Malela Jeev (1941) and Manvini Bhavai (1947).
Pannalal Patel also wrote many novels based on old myths and legends. In 1985, he won the important Jnanpith Award for his novel Manvini Bhavai. Some of his books were turned into plays and movies, and even translated into other languages.
Contents
About Pannalal Patel's Life
"Life appears to me like that of a spider that makes his own web, using his own saliva. The spider progress through life on the strands of his own web. I, too, have gone about in this world, finding my own ways, learning and changing. what I know of life has come from experience."
Pannalal Patel was born on May 7, 1912. His birthplace was Mandli village, which is now in Dungarpur, Rajasthan. His parents were Nanasha (also known as Nanalal) and Hiraba. He was the youngest of four children in his family.
His father was a farmer who loved to tell stories. He would often recite tales from the Ramayana and other old myths to the villagers. Because of this, their home was known as an "abode of learning." Sadly, his father passed away when Pannalal was a child. His mother, Hiraba, then raised all the children.
Pannalal faced challenges in his schooling because his family was poor. He only studied until the fourth grade at Sir Pratap High School in Idar. During his school days, he became good friends with his classmate, Umashankar Joshi, who also became a famous writer.
For a short time, Pannalal worked as a manager at a company in Dungarpur. He wrote his very first novel while he was working as a helper in a home in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
In 1936, he met his old friend Umashankar Joshi by chance. Umashankar encouraged him to start writing. Pannalal then wrote his first short story, Sheth Ni Sharda (1936). After that, his stories were published in many Gujarati magazines.
In 1940, he became well-known for his first novel, Valamana (The Send-off). This was followed by his famous works like Malela Jeev (1941) and Manvini Bhavai (1947). Later, in 1971, he started his own publishing company called Sadhana in Ahmedabad with his two sons. In his later years, he mostly wrote novels based on Hindu myths and epic stories.
Pannalal Patel passed away on April 6, 1989, in Ahmedabad. He died after a serious health issue.
Pannalal Patel's Works
Pannalal Patel wrote a huge number of books. He wrote 61 novels and 26 collections of short stories, along with many other writings. He often used the local language and sayings from the Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat in his stories.
Love was a very important theme in many of his novels. He showed the everyday life of people in rural Gujarat in a very real way. His stories often focused on villages, the people living there, their dreams, hopes, and problems.
Malela Jeev (1941) is one of his best novels. It tells a story of love that couldn't happen between Kanji and Jivi because they belonged to different castes. His novel Manvini Bhavai (1947) is seen as a powerful picture of rural life in Gujarat during the early 1900s.
He also wrote novels about city life, though these are less known than his rural stories. Some of his other novels include Bhangyana Bheru (1957) and Kanku (1970). He even wrote a detective novel called Angaro (1981).
In his later years, Pannalal Patel wrote many stories based on characters from famous Indian epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana. He also wrote about characters from the Puranas and other Hindu mythological stories. He kept the original tales but often added new meanings to them.
Pannalal Patel wrote more than 450 short stories. Some of his short story collections include Sukh Dukhna Sathi (1940) and Vatrakne Kanthe (1952).
He also wrote plays. Jamairaj (1952) is a collection of short plays. He wrote original three-act plays like Dholia Sag Seesamna (1963). Some of his novels were also turned into plays.
Books for Young Readers
Pannalal Patel also wrote many books especially for children and teenagers. These include:
- Vartakillol (Volumes 1-2, 1972, 1973)
- Balkillol (Volumes 1-10, 1972)
- Rishikulni Kathao (Volumes 1-4, 1973)
- Devno Didhel (Volumes 1-5, 1975)
- Mahabharat Kishorkatha (1976)
- Ramayan Kishorkatha (1980)
- Shri Krishna Kishorkatha (1980)
- Satyayugni Kathao (Volumes 1-5, 1981)
His book Alapzalap (1973) tells the story of his own childhood and teenage years.
Translations and Film Adaptations
Pannalal Patel's famous novel Malela Jeev has been translated into many Indian languages, such as Punjabi and Kannada. It was also translated into English as The United Souls in 2011. His novel Manvini Bhavai was translated into English as Endurance: A Droll Saga (1995).
Some of his novels and short stories were made into films. Malela Jeev was adapted into movies and plays many times. The first Gujarati film based on his novel was Ulajhan. The Gujarati film Malela Jeev (1956) and Kanku (1969) were both directed by others, but Pannalal Patel himself wrote the scripts for these films. The 1996 Kannada film Janumada Jodi is also based on Malela Jeev.
Awards and Recognition
Pannalal Patel received several important awards for his writing.
- In 1950, he was given the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak.
- In 1985, he won the prestigious Jnanpith Award. He was the second writer from the Gujarati language to receive this award, after Umashankar Joshi in 1967.
- In 1986, he received the Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar.
