Neerav Patel

{{Short description|Gujarati and English language poet (1950–2019)}} {{Infobox writer | name = Neerav Patel | image = | caption = Poets Translating Poets @ Max Mueller Bhavan, Goethe-Institut Mumbai | birth_date = {{birth date|1950|12|2|df=y}}<ref name="The Shared Mirror 2001">{{cite web | title=Neerav Patel « The Shared Mirror | website=The Shared Mirror | date=2001-01-26 | url=http://roundtableindia.co.in/lit-blogs/?tag=neerav-patel | accessdate=2016-10-13 | archive-date=2016-10-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023212804/http://roundtableindia.co.in/lit-blogs/?tag=neerav-patel | url-status=live }}</ref> | birth_place = Bhuvaldi, Daskroi Taluka, Gujarat, India | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|5|15|1950|12|2|df=y}} | death_place = Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India | occupation = Poet, translator, editor | language = Gujarati, English | nationality = Indian | education = Ph.D. | alma_mater = | period = | genre = Free verse | subject = | movement = Dalit literature in Gujarati | notableworks = * ''Burning From Both The Ends'' (1980) * ''What Did I Do To Be Black and Blue'' (1987) * ''Bahishkrut Phulo'' (2006) | spouse = | children = | awards = | signature = Poet Neerav Patel Autograph.svg | years_active = | module = {{Infobox academic | child = yes | nocat_wdimage=yes | doctoral_advisor = D. S. Mishra | thesis_title = Gujarati Dalit Poetry 1978 to 2003: A study | thesis_url= http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/7303 }} }} '''Neerav Patel''' (2 December 1950 – 15 May 2019) was a Gujarati and English language poet, translator and editor; primarily known for his contribution in Gujarati Dalit literature such as ''Burning From Both The Ends'' (1980, English poems), ''What Did I Do To Be Black and Blue'' (1987, English poems) and ''Bahishkrut Phulo'' (2006, Gujarati). He edited ''Swaman'', a journal of Dalit writings in Gujarati.<ref name="Welcome to Muse India 1950">{{cite web | title=Welcome to Muse India | website=Welcome to Muse India | date=1950-10-02 | url=http://www.museindia.com/authprofile.asp?id=369 | accessdate=2016-08-02 | archive-date=2016-10-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023053918/http://www.museindia.com/authprofile.asp?id=369 | url-status=live }}</ref>

== Biography == Neerav Patel was born in Bhuvaldi, a village in Daskroi Taluka of Ahmedabad district, in the Indian state of Gujarat. His birth name was Somo Hiro Chamar.<ref name="Agarwal2009">{{cite journal|last1=Agarwal|first1=Beena|last2=Patel|first2=Neerav|title=Conversing With Neerav Patel|url=http://impressions.org.in/jul09/int_beenaa.html|journal=Impressions (A Bi-Annual Refereed e-Journal English Studies)|volume=III|issue=II|date=July 2009|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522130124/http://impressions.org.in/jul09/int_beenaa.html|archive-date=22 May 2019|issn=0974-892X}}</ref> He changed his name to Neerav Patel because he faced atrocities due to casteism.<ref name="Agarwal2009"/> He earned a PhD in English literature. He served as a Bank Officer. After his retirement, he devoted his time to Dalit literature.<ref name="The Shared Mirror 2001"/>

He started writing poetry in college, in 1967.<ref name="Firstpost 2017">{{cite web | title=Inequity of inequality: A lament in Gujarati | website=Firstpost | date=2017-01-30 | url=http://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/inequity-of-inequality-a-lament-in-gujarati-3514613.html | access-date=2017-06-04 | archive-date=2017-06-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606042552/http://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/inequity-of-inequality-a-lament-in-gujarati-3514613.html | url-status=live }}</ref> He wrote only Dalit poetry based on Dalit people who are suffering atrocities, exploitation, discrimination and segregation.<ref name="Firstpost 2017"/>

He pioneered the movement of Gujarati Dalit literature, publishing the first ever Gujarati Dalit literary magazine ''Akrosh'' in 1978 under the auspices of the Dalit Panther of Gujarat. He edited short-lived Gujarati magazines with others namely ''Kalo Suraj'', ''Sarvanam'', ''Swaman'' and ''Vacha''.<ref name="Poets - Goethe-Institut">{{cite web | title=Poets translating Poets | website=Poets - Goethe-Institut | url=http://www.goethe.de/ins/in/lp/prj/ptp/dic/en14927356.htm | language=la | accessdate=2016-10-13 | archive-date=2016-10-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018200524/http://www.goethe.de/ins/in/lp/prj/ptp/dic/en14927356.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

He died on 15 May 2019 at Ahmedabad following cancer.<ref name="Firstpost2019">{{cite web|last=Maitreya|first=Yogesh|title=Neerav Patel, poet and pioneer of Dalit literature in Gujarat, passes away; but power of his verses lives on|website=Firstpost|date=21 May 2019|url=https://www.firstpost.com/living/neerav-patel-poet-and-pioneer-of-dalit-literature-in-gujarat-passes-away-but-power-of-his-verses-lives-on-6670581.html|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522084926/https://www.firstpost.com/living/neerav-patel-poet-and-pioneer-of-dalit-literature-in-gujarat-passes-away-but-power-of-his-verses-lives-on-6670581.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kothari2019">{{cite journal|last=Kothari|first=Rita|author-link=Rita Kothari|title=Farewell, Neeravbhai|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=54|issue=22|location=Mumbai|date=1 June 2019|url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/22/postscript/farewell-neeravbhai.html|pages=70–71|issn=0012-9976|eissn=2349-8846|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602103717/https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/22/postscript/farewell-neeravbhai.html|archive-date=2 June 2019}}</ref>

==Works== Patel explored Dalit sensibility in his poems.<ref name="Welcome to Muse India">{{cite web|url=http://museindia.com/focuscontent.asp?issid=59&id=5412|title=Welcome to Muse India|website=Welcome to Muse India|accessdate=2016-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820014728/http://museindia.com/focuscontent.asp?issid=59&id=5412|archive-date=2016-08-20|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Prasad2007">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bg0rOOqvBMkC&pg=PA156|title=Dalit Literature: A Critical Exploration|author1=Amar Nath Prasad|author2=M. B. Gaijan|date=1 January 2007|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-817-3|location=New Delhi|page=156|accessdate=4 January 2017}}</ref> He published two poetry collections in English, ''Burning From Both The Ends'' (1980) and ''What Did I Do To Be Black and Blue'' (1987). He published an anthology of Gujarati poems ''Bahishkrut Phulo'' in 2006.<ref name="Welcome to Muse India 1950" /> His other works are ''Severed Tongue Speaks Out'' (2014) and ''Wanted Poets'' (2019, posthumous).

==Recognition== He received the Mahendra Bhagat Prize (2004–2005) from Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, and the Sant Kabir Dalit Sahitya Award (2005) from the Government of Gujarat.<ref>{{cite book|last=Parmar|first=Manoj|title=Pratiti|date=October 2017|publisher=Rannade Prakashan|location=Ahmedabad|page=276|isbn=978-93-86685-28-5}}</ref>

==See also== * List of Gujarati-language writers

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/inequity-of-inequality-a-lament-in-gujarati-3514613.html Translated poems of Neerav Patel on Firstpost] * [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321971013_In_Conversation_with_Neerav_Patel In Conversation with Neerav Patel] (Interview of Neerav Patel in 'Le Simplegadi')

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Neerav}} Category:1950 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Poets from Gujarat Category:Indian male poets Category:Gujarati-language poets Category:People from Ahmedabad district Category:Indian magazine editors