Within two months, five well-known literary stalwarts of Gujarati literature passed away creating a vacuum in the vernacular literary field. In a solemn gesture, Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, Gujarati Sahitya Sabha, Vishwakosh Trust, Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, and Kavilok Trust organized a ‘shraddhanjali’ at Parishad Hall on Tuesday.
The programme was a tribute to Priyakant Parikh, a noted novelist and writer of ‘Swapn Prayan’, ‘Koi Nu Minthal Koi Na Haath’; Hemant Desai, poet and critic having contributed works like ‘Mahek Najaro Ni’ and ‘Sonal Mrug’; Bhupat Vadodariya, journalist, founder of Gujarati magazine ‘Abhiyaan’ and known for his spiritual writing; Dushyant Pandya, translator and scholar of Greek epics, and Natvar Pandya, known as ‘Ushnas’ one of the most senior wellknown poet who has contributed works like ‘Prasoon’ and ‘Naipathyai’.
Rajendra Patel, chief secretary of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, said, “Unfortunately, we lost five stalwarts of Gujarati literature within short span of two months. By this shraddhanjali programme, Parishad attempts to relive the memories of these scholars.”
Known scholars and litterateurs Kumarpal Desai, Raghuvirsingh Chaudhari, Prakash Shah, Dhuni Mandalya and Praful Raval spoke on the occasion and paid homage to the scholars by sharing their memories.
