{{Short description|Indian writer (1926–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}} {{Infobox writer | name = Dhiruben Patel | image = Shri Dhirubahen patel (2).jpg | caption = Patel in 2013 | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1926|05|25}} | birth_place = Baroda, Baroda State, British Raj (now Vadodara) | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2023|03|10|1926|05|29}} | death_place = Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India | occupation = {{ubl|Novelist|Play writer|Film writer|Translator}} | language = Gujarati | citizenship = Indian | notableworks = ''Agantuk'', ''Nirbandh Nibandho'' | awards = {{ubl|Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak|Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati}} }}
'''Dhiruben Gordhanbhai Patel''' (25 May 1926 – 10 March 2023) was an Indian novelist, playwright, and translator.
== Life == Dhiruben Gordhanbhai Patel was born on 29 May 1926 in Baroda (now Vadodara, Gujarat) to Gordhanbhai Patel, a journalist with the Bombay Chronicle, and Gangaben Patel, a political activist and member of the All India Congress Committee. Her family belongs to Dharmaj village near Anand. She grew up and lived in Santacruz, a suburb of Mumbai. She was educated at the Poddar school in Mumbai. She completed higher education from Elphinstone College. She completed a B.A. in English in 1945 and an M.A. in 1949 from Bhavan's College. She taught English in college at Dahisar in 1963-64 and later taught English literature at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.<ref name="gsp">{{cite web|url=http://gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/sarjako/savishesh/Savishesh-Dhiruben-Patel.html|title=સાહિત્યસર્જક: ધીરુબ sha|author-link=Daksha Vyas|publisher=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad|language=gu|trans-title=Writer: Dhiruben Patel}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.mid-day.com/articles/older-people-deserve-their-space-which-is-often-denied-to-them-noted-writer-dhiruben-patel/15435162|title = 'Older people deserve their space, which is often denied to them,' noted writer Dhiruben Patel|last = Raikar-Mhatre|first = Sumedha|date = 9 July 2014|work = Mid-Day|access-date = 12 December 2014}}</ref><ref name=AGSI>{{cite book|title=અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો ઈતિહાસ - આધુનિક અને અનુઆધુનિક યુગ (History of Modern Gujarati Literature – Modern and Postmodern Era)|first=Prasad|last=Brahmabhatt |publisher=Parshwa Publication|location=Ahmedabad|year=2010|pages=248–251|language=gu|isbn=978-93-5108-247-7}}</ref>
Patel briefly worked with Anand Publishers. Subsequently, she founded Kalki Prakashan, a publishing house in 1963-64. From 1966 to 1975, she edited ''Sudha'', a Gujarati journal. She later served as the President of the Gujarat Sahitya Sabha. She served as the President of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 2003―2004, and one of her plays, ''Bhavni Bhavai'', has been adapted into a film.<ref name=AGSI/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = "Dhiruben Patel" in Women Writing in India vol 1|last =Tharu, Susie |first = Ke Lalita and|publisher = Feminist Press at CUNY|year = 1993|isbn = 9781558610293|pages = 224–226}}</ref><ref name="museindia">{{cite web|url= http://www.museindia.com/authorprofile.asp?myr=2007&issid=12&id=408|title= Dhiruben Patel|publisher= Muse India|access-date= 12 November 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120615165357/http://www.museindia.com/authorprofile.asp?myr=2007&issid=12&id=408|archive-date= 15 June 2012|url-status= dead}}</ref>
Patel died on 10 March 2023, at the age of 96.<ref>{{cite news |title=ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યને મોટી ખોટ, સાહિત્યકાર ધીરુબેન પટેલનું 97 વર્ષની વયે અવસાન |url=https://www.gujaratimidday.com/news/gujarat-news/article/a-great-loss-to-gujarati-literature-writer-dhiruben-patel-passed-away-at-the-age-of-97-189567 |access-date=10 March 2023 |publisher=Gujarati Midday |date=10 March 2023}}</ref>
== Works == Dhiruben Patel has written several collections of short stories and poetry as well as novels, radio plays, and stage plays. Her work was influenced by Gandhian ideals. Critics Susie Tharu and Ke Lalita have written, "Although Dhiruben does not consider herself a feminist, like the novelist Kundanika Kapadia, she believes that the root cause of women's inferior status lies in their own mental conditioning."<ref name=":0" /> Her early work in particular deals with the lives of women and their relationships, and what Tharu and Lalita have also described as the "quest for selfhood".<ref name=":0" /> Her later work has been primarily for children and young adults, and she advocated literature for children despite the easy availability of information on the internet.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.thehindu.com/books/foray-into-english/article2023774.ece|title = Foray into English|last = Iyer|first = Aruna V|date = 16 May 2011|work = The Hindu|access-date = 12 December 2014}}</ref>
Dhiruben Patel initially wrote in Gujarati. In 2011, her novel ''Agantuk'' was translated by Raj Supe into English as ''Rainbow at Noon''. In an interview, Patel said she agreed to let Supe translate it because "... he would understand my hero and his struggles as he has travelled the same path."<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.thehindu.com/books/wonder-women-all-write/article2150156.ece|title = Wonder Women all write|last = Kulkarni|first = Reshma S|date = 4 July 2011|work = The Hindu|access-date = 12 December 2014}}</ref> A recent collection of poetry, ''Kitchen Poems'' was written in English, and was first recited by her at the Neemrana Literary Festival in 2002. These were later published and then translated into German by Peter D O'Neil, and into Marathi by Usha Mehta.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.punemirror.in/others/leisure/Kitchen-confidential/articleshow/31576904.cms|title = Kitchen Confidential|last = Raikar-Mhatre|first = Sumedha|date = 14 October 2012|work = Pune Mirror|access-date = 12 December 2014}}</ref> She then translated the same poems into Gujarati as ''Kitchen Poems'' (2016).{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
Her novels and novellas include:
*''Vadavanal'' (1963) *''Vasno Ankur'' (1967) *''Vavantol'' (1970) *''Shimla Na Phool'' (1976) *''Ek Bhalo Manas'' (1979) *''Vamal'' (1980) *''Andhali Gali'' (1983) *''Gaganna Lagan'' (1984) *''Kadambarini Maa'' (1988) *''Ek Phool Gulabi Vat'' (1990) *''Ek Dal Mithi'' (1992) *''Hutashan'' (1993) *''Agantuk'' (1996).<ref name="AGSI" /> *''Sanshaybij'' (1998) *''Paying Guest'' (1998) *''Atitrag'' (2000) *''Andhali Gali'' (1983) is a psychological novel that gives insight into the life of a woman, named Kundan, who decides to marry at the age of forty-five.<ref name="Basiya2012">{{cite journal |last=Basiya |first=Rajesh V. |title=Dhiruben Patel's Aandhali Gali: a Psychoanalytical Insight into the Emotions of a Woman |journal=Language in India |date=June 2012 |page=321 |url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A299536406/AONE?sid=wikipedia |access-date=28 April 2019|volume=12|issue=6|via=Academic Onefile}} {{Subscription required}}</ref>
Her short story collections are *''Adhuro Call'' (1955) *''Ek Lahar'' (1957) *''Vishrambhakatha'' (1966) *''Tadh'' (1976) *''Javal'' (2001).<ref name="AGSI" /> *''Dhiruben ni Tunki Vartao'' (2019)
''Kitchen Poems'' (2011) is a collection of poems in English, translated by her into Gujarati in 2016
Her plays include ''Pahelun Inam'' (1955), ''Pankhino Malo'' (1956), ''Vinashna Panthe'' (1961), ''Manno Manelo'' (1959), and ''Akash Manch'' (2005). ''Namani Nagarvel'' (1961) and ''Mayapurush'' (1995) are collections of one-act plays and radio plays respectively.<ref name=AGSI/>
Patel also wrote humour, including ''Pardukhbhanjak Pestonjee'' (1978), which is a collection of humorous adventure stories of character Pestonjee, ''Gaganna Lagan'' (1984), ''Kartik Ane Bija Badha'' (1988), a collection of her humorous essays, and ''Kartik Rang Katha'' (1990).<ref name=AGSI/>
Patel contributed to children's literature. She wrote a collection of children's stories, ''Kishor Varta Sangrah'' (2002), and poetry for young children, ''Mitra Na Jodakna'' (1973). ''Anderi Ganderi Tipari Ten'' is her one of her famous and celebrated{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} children's plays. She translated Mark Twain's novels ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' in two parts (1960, 1966) and ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' in 1967.<ref name=AGSI/>
''Dhiruben na Nirbandh Nibandho'' is a collection of essays, while ''Choras Tipu'' is a collection of stories for children including: *''Gaada ne paida jevda rotla ni vaat'' *''Kaku Maku ane puchhadi ni Panchat'' *''Kinu Kaankhajuro'' *''Minu ni Mojadi'' *''Doctor ni fee'' *''Budbudsalak ane Trimtramdhadak''
==Awards== Patel received the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak award in 1980. She received the K. M. Munshi Suvarna Chandrak award in 1981 and the Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar award in 2002, both by Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. She received the Nandshankar Suvarna Chandrak award and the Darshak Award in 1996. She won the 2001 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language for her novel ''Agantuk''.<ref name="gsp"/><ref name=AGSI/><ref name=sahitya>{{cite web | url=http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10318.htm#gujarati | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331234109/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10318.htm#gujarati | archive-date=31 March 2009 | title=Sanskrit Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007 | publisher=Sahitya Akademi Official website | url-status=dead }}</ref>
==See also== * List of Gujarati-language writers
== References == {{reflist}} {{Commons category}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ach|aw}} {{s-bef | before = Vinesh Antani}} {{s-ttl | title = Recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati | years = 2001}} {{s-aft | after = Dhruv Bhatt}} {{s-end}}
{{Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Dhiruben}} Category:1926 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati Category:Indian women short story writers Category:Indian women dramatists and playwrights Category:People from Vadodara Category:20th-century Indian novelists Category:20th-century Indian translators Category:20th-century Indian short story writers Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Category:Indian children's writers Category:Indian humorists Category:Women writers from Gujarat Category:Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak Category:Novelists from Gujarat Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Gujarat Category:Indian women humorists Category:Presidents of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Category:20th-century Indian women novelists