Dhumketu biography

Indian writer (1892–1965)

For other uses, see Dhumketu.

Gaurishankar Govardhandas Joshi (1892–1965), better known by his pen name Dhumaketu, was an Indian Gujarati-language writer, who is considered one of the pioneers of the Gujarati short story. He published twenty-four collections of short stories, as well as thirty-two novels on social and historical subjects, and plays and travelogues. His writing is characterised by a dramatic style, romanticism and powerful depiction of human emotions.

Early life

Gaurishankar was the third son of Govardhanram Joshi and was a Baj Khedawal Brahmin by birth. He was born on 12 December 1892 at Virpur, a place near Rajkot and Gondal (now in Gujarat, India). Gaurishankar served at Virpur School drawing a salary of four Rupees per month. During this period he was asked to read biographies, historical novels etc. before Khatijabibi, who was the wife of Ishan. This habit made Guarishankar take a deep interest in literature. He has also written famous English poems, chapters including The Letter which is still popular.

In 1908, he went to Bilkha, a place close to Junagadh. He married Kashiben, the daughter of Gaurishankar Bhatt. There was Nathuram Sharma's Ashram in Bilkha. It had a large library which helped him graduate with Sanskrit and English in 1920. He served as a clerk at Gondal in railway for a year. In 1923, he left the government job and went to Ahmedabad and started teaching at the private school run by Ambalal Sarabhai, father of Vikram Sarabhai. During this period his literary activities blossomed. His pen name Dhumketu (Nom – de – plume) became well known in Gujarati literature. He died on 11 March 1965.

Works

He is considered one of the pioneers of the Gujarati short story. He wrote 492 short stories. A collection of his short stories with the title Tankha was publ

Dhumketu (Bengali: ধূমকেতুdhūmkētu, "comet") was a bi-weekly magazine edited by Kazi Nazrul Islam which was first published on 11 August 1922. The magazine was started with a four-page format, later elaborated to eight pages. The last issue of the magazine was published in March 1923. Many of the popular poems of Nazrul including Anandamoyeer Agamane, Dhumketu etc.were published in this magazine. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay also contributed to the magazine.

Editorial board

Kazi Nazrul Islam edited several special issues of the magazine including the Muharram issue in August 1922, the Agamani issue on 26 September 1922, Puja Issue on 22 September 1922, the Diwali issue on 20 October 1922 and the Congress issue on 27 December 1922. While Nazrul was in jail, Biren Sen Gupta and Amaresh Kanji Lal edited the magazine.

Anti-British publication

In the Puja Issue of the Dhumketu magazine published on 22 September 1922, Nazrul wrote an anti-British political poem named Anandamoyeer Agamane (English:The Advent of the Delightful Mother). On 23 January 1923, Nazrul was arrested by the police of the Bengal Presidency on charge of sedition for his statements in the poem. Nazrul demanded complete freedom from the British government in the poem. Following the arrest, the 27 January 1923 issue of the paper was named as the Nazrul issue. After this issue, the publication was temporarily suspended. Later, it appeared again under Biren Sen Gupta and Amaresh Kanji Lal as the editors.

After the arrest, Nazrul was transferred to Hooghly Jail from Presidency Jail. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment by th

“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 Joshialias ‘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 fi

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A recently published collection of Dhumketu's short stories, titled 'Ratno Dholi', translated in English by Jenny Bhatt, gives the readers a glimpse into Dhumketu's richly woven tales and depicts how Dhumketu contributed to the modern form of Gujarati Short Stories.

There are few in the league of Anton Chekov, Leo Tolstoy, Flannery’O Connor, O’Henry, or Rabindranath Tagore who can tell extraordinary stories about ordinary people, in limited words that short stories permit. Often deemed as a difficult literary medium, and packed with heightened emotional intensity, short stories are also the most entertaining kind of literature.

In India, the landscape of short stories has been shaped by literary giants like Premchand, R.K Narayan, and Mulk Raj Anand. However, another lesser-known, yet equally talented short story writer, and a famous Gujarati literary figure — Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi, who is known by his penname Dhumaketu — has also made a significant contribution to the styles and techniques of modern Indian short stories in the 1900s.

A recently published collection of Dhumketu’s short stories, titled Ratno Dholi, translated in English by Jenny Bhatt, gives the readers a glimpse into Dhumketu’s richly woven tales and depicts how Dhumketu contributed to the modern form of Gujarati Short Stories.

At the beginning of the book, Bhatt introduces readers to Dhumketu and calls him ‘a pioneer of Gujarati short story’ who has written more than 500 short tales, collected in twenty-four volumes. Apart from that, the author has also penned twenty-nine historical novels, seven social novels, numerous plays, travelogues, essays, literary criticism, and memoirs. Dhumketu also translated writers and poets like Kahlil Gibran, Rabindranath Tagore, and others.

However, his most well-known and frequently anthologized work of all