Narmadashankar Dave

Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave was born on August 24, 1833. Popularly known as Narmad, he was an Indian Gujarati poet, playwright, essayist, orator, lexicographer, and reformer under the British Raj. He is considered the founder of modern Gujarati literature. After studying in Bombay, he quit teaching to earn a living by writing. During his prolific career, he introduced many literary forms to Gujarat. Although he faced economic struggles, he proved himself a devoted reformer. He expressed his opposition to his religious and social orthodoxy. His essays, poems, and plays, and published in several collections. His Mali Hakhikat, the first autobiography in Gujarat, was published after his death. His poem Jai Jai Galavi His Gujarat is now the national anthem of the Indian state of Gujarat. Narmad was born on August 24, 1833, in Surat, Gujarat, to Lalshankar and Navdurga. His family home in Amrilan, Surat, was destroyed in a great fire in 1837 but was later rebuilt.

At age five, he began schooling under Nana Mehta in Breshwar, Bombay. He later enrolled in Surat in the Fakir Mehta and Itcha Mehta schools before moving to Bombay and attending the Gujarat State School of Balgovind Mehta in Pydhonie. He returned to Surat and attended schools in Durgaram Mehta and Puranshankar Mehta. He was initiated in Upanayana when he was eight years old. He began his studies at the English School of his Institute at Elphinstone, Bombay, on January 6, 1845, and entered the university in June 1850. In the same year, he gave his first public speech Mandali Malvathi Thata Labh (Benefits of Forming an Association). His mother died on November 23, 1850, and he dropped out of college. He was appointed the Lander School teacher on May 1, 1851. He recited his early essays in Swadesh's High Tech Chef His Mandali, and in July 1851, he founded the journal Gyansagar. In March 1853, he transferred to a school in Nampala, and in January 1854, Ms. Grubb resigned from the post and went to Bombay. At the urging of his friend Jhaverilal Umiyashankar, he returned to college and, in June 1854, joined a literary group called the Buddhi Vardhak Sabha.

He started studying Siddhant Kaumudi. He became interested in poetry and began writing in September 1855, studying literary metrics the following year. He presided over the Buddhavardhak Grant from March to December 1856[8]. After his second marriage, he dropped out of college in August 1856. He wrote "Pingal Pravesh" in February 1857, dedicating it to his father. He came to Gokuldas Tejpal Vidyalaya as a teacher. He studied Sanskrit literary works such as Kasdi, Chandralok, Nirisimha Champu, Kavya Champu, Prata Purdra, and Adhyatma. He took up his teaching position at the Central School in February 1858. In November 1858, he resigned, deciding to pursue a literary career. From November 1858 to March 1859, he studied Sanskrit grammar and poetry in Pune. Deciding to study independently, he returned to Bombay in March, where in June 1859, he met the Gujarati reformist poet Dalpattram and became involved in the reform movement.

His wife, Dahi Gauri, returned to her parent's home. In 1860, he discussed the remarriage of his widow with the religious leader Jadunaji Maharaj, and the following year he was involved in a case of defamation of Maharaj. Jadunathji later brought it up against journalist Karsandas Mulji. On February 3, 1863, he visited Curtis, Income Tax Commissioner, about the levy. In September 1864, with the help of his friends, he started a fortnightly newsletter called Dandillo, modeled after the British weekly The Spectator. He was a vocal reformer who attacked Hindu society's traditional practices. It lasted until 1869, when it merged with the Sunday Review. On January 18, 1864, his father died at 56. He returned to Surat in July 1865 and took his widow, Savitagauri, to a neighboring house. He published his Narmagadya in September 1865. He was expelled from the caste on August 18 for his reform activities but reinstated on November 21, 1866. The same year, he wrote his first autobiography in Gujarati, his autobiographical work Mari Hakikat.

He published his Nayikavishaypravesh and his Uttam Nayika dedicated to his estranged wife, Dahi Gauri, at the time. In early 1867 he published Narmakavita, a collection of poems. He had his 10,000 debt, which worried him a lot. In 1869 he remarried. In 1870 he published a summary of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Iliad. He published a school edition of Narmagadiya in 1874 and a government edition in 1875. In March 1875, he returned to Bombay again, where he met Dayanand Saraswati, a reformer and founder of Aya Samaj, and became deeply religious. He published his first Gujarati dictionary in March 1876. He founded Vessaraswati on April 16, 1877, at Sarasvati Mandir, Surat. In 1878 Arianiti Darshak, his mandali, staged his play Draupadi his darshan. By 1880 he had become a full "believer" and performed the Upanayana for his son that year. He wrote and performed the play Shri Sarshakuntal in 1881. He published his 1882 translation of the Bhagvad Gita.

Although he was unhappy that he had broken his resolve not to work for others, financial difficulties forced Tejpal of Gokulda to work as Dharmakhata's secretary. He wrote his 1883 play Shri Balkrishnavijay. The stress of the job when he opened the hostel caused his health to deteriorate, and he quit his job on July 19, 1885. After a long illness lasting eight months, he died of arthritis in Bombay on February 26, 1886. Narmad is considered the founder of modern Gujarati literature. He introduced many creative writing styles into Gujarati, including his autobiography, poetry, lexicography, historical drama, and pioneering works in folk literary studies. He was an outspoken journalist and pamphleteer. Narmad was a strong opponent of religious fanaticism and orthodoxy. Almost 50 years before Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru, he promoted nationalism and patriotism with famous songs such as Sahu Chalo Jeetva Jang, wrote about self-government, and used Hindustan, his official language throughout India. I talked about Ni.

His poem Jai Jai Garavi Gujarat, written in the preface to Narmakosh, proudly enumerates all the cultural symbols that make up the identity of Gujarat. These symbols included non-Hindu ones. So Gujarat belongs to all castes, communities, races, religions, and sects. The poem is now the de facto national anthem of Gujarat. Mahatma Gandhi recognized his philosophy of non-violence. His most important collected work is his Narmagadya, a collection of prose. Narmakavita is a collection of poems. His Narmakathakosh, a collection of stories by characters from mythological literature; His Narmakosh, a dictionary. His Mali Hakhikat was Gujarat's first autobiography, published posthumously. His volumes of Narmakavita:1-3 (1858), Narmakavita:4-8 (1859), and Narmakavita:9-10 (1860) were collected in Narmakavita:Book 1 (1862). Later he published Narmakavita: Book 2 (1863).

All his poems got later collected in his Narmakavita (1864). He introduced new themes in contemporary Gujarati poetry, such as social reform, freedom, patriotism, nature, and love. His poem "Jai Jai Galavi Gujarat" (1873) was used as Gujarat's de facto national anthem. Narmad was named Arvachino Ma Adya. His house, Saraswati Mandir, has been restored and is now a museum. Several places in Gujarat are named after him, such as the Central Library in Surat. Busts of him got placed in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat. In 2004, Southern Gujarat University renamed Veer Narmad Southern Gujarat University in his honor. The Literary Honor of Narmad Suvarna Chandrak has been awarded annually since 1940 by Narmad Sahitya Sabha of Surat.

India Post published a special cover to mark his 175th birthday in 2008. He married Gulab, daughter of Surajram Shastri of Sadar Court, Surat, on April 29, 1844. She gave birth to a girl in 1852, who died 15 days later. Gulab herself died on October 5, 1853, after her stillbirth. In May 1856, he married Tripranand Dahi Gauri, his Shastri daughter. She separated from him in 1860. He married a caste widow, Subhadra (later Narmada Gauri), in 1869, breaking the usual taboo against the remarriage of widows. She gave birth to a son, Jaishankar, in 1870. He worked as a Bombay City Clerk, never married, and died of the plague on March 31, 1910.