Chandravadan Mehta

Chandravadan Chimanlal Mehta
Born	April 6, 1901 Surat, British India
Died	1992
Occupation	Playwright, Critic, Self-writer, Poet,Travel writer
Language	Gujarati
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Gujarati
Citizenship	Indian
Notable works	Natya Gathariyan
Notable awards	Sahitya Academy Award (1971) Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1984)
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Chandravadan Chimanlal Mehta, (Hindi: चंद्रवदन मेहता Gujarati: ચંદ્રવદન મહેતા; April 6, 1901 – 1992),^[1] also referred as C. C. Mehta or Chan. Chi. Mehta,^[1] was a Gujarati playwright, critic, self-writer, poet and travel writer, based in Vadodara.^[2]

Life

Chandravadan Mehta was born on 6 April 1901 in Surat.^[1] His primary education was in Vadodara and secondary education in Surat.^[1] He matriculated in 1919 and completed Bachelor of Arts from Elphinstone College in 1924. In 1928, he joined Mahatma Gandhi in Bardoli Satyagraha. He also joined Navbharat as an editor in 1928. From 1933 to 1936, he taught at New Era High School, Mumbai. He joined Akashvani in 1938 and became the director of Akashvani, Ahmedabad in 1954.^[3]

Works

His play Aag Garhi (Fire Engine), about an ailing fireman, marked the rise of amateur theatre movement in Gujarati theatre.^[4][5][6] Mehta went to write over 25 plays, numerous one act plays and radio plays; then in 1970, he himself translated his most known work, Aag Garhi as Iron Road.^[7]

Legacy

In 1960, at Vienna Conference at the International Theatre Institute under the aegis of UNESCO, he moved a resolution to celebrate March 27, as World Theatre Day.^[2] A play based on his life, Trijo Purush was written by Raghuveer Chaudhari.^[8]

Awards

He received Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1936 and Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 1942. He rejected Kumar Chandrak awarded to him in 1950. in 1962, he was awarded Padma Shri.^[3]

He won the 1971 Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language for his travelogue Natya Gathariyan.^[1][9] He was also awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Playwriting in Gujarati in 1971, given by India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.^[10] In 1984, he was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship the highest honour conferred by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.^[11]

References

1. Topiwala, Chandrakanth. "સાહિત્યસર્જક: ચંદ્રવદન મહેતા" [Writer: Chandravadan Mehta] (in Gujarati). Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.
2. "First Gujarati theatre group came up in 1878". The Times of India. Mar 27, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
3. Tevani (1 January 2003). C.C. Mehta. Sahitya Akademi. p. 92. ISBN 978-81-260-1676-1.
4. Hochman, p. 37
5. Chambers, p. 382
6. Tevani, p. 50
7. George, p. 179
8. Śaileśa Ṭevāṇī (1 January 2003). C.C. Mehta. Sahitya Akademi. p. 87. ISBN 978-81-260-1676-1.
9. "Sanskrit Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007". Sahitya Akademi Official website. Archived from the original on 2008.
10. "SNA: List of Akademi Awardees". Sangeet Natak Akademi Official website.
11. "SNA: List of Sangeet Natak Akademi Ratna Puraskarwinners (Akademi Fellows)". Official website.

Bibliography

• Stanley Hochman; McGraw-Hill, inc (1984). "Indian theatre". McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. VNR AG. ISBN 0070791694.
• Colin Chambers (2006). The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 1847140017.
• Shailesh Tevani (2003). C.C. Mehta: Makers of Indian Literature Series. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 8126016760.
• K. M. George (1995). "Modern Gujarati Drama". Modern Indian Literature: An Anthology. Plays and prose. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 8172017839.

See also

• List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati – List of Gujarati language writers who have won the Sahitya Akademi Award.