Gieve Patel

Gieve Patel (born 18 August 1940) is an Indian Parsi poet, playwright, painter, as well as a practising physician. He belongs to a group of writers who have subscribed themselves to the 'Green Movement' which is involved in an effort to protect the environment. His poems speak of deep concerns for nature and expose man's cruelty to it. His works include poems, How Do You Withstand (1966), Body (1976) and Mirrored Mirroring (1991). He has also written three plays, Titled Princess, Savaska and Mr. Behram.

Patel was born in 1940 in Mumbai. His Parsi parents were from a small village called Nargol in southern Gujarat.His father was a dentist and his mother was a doctor's daughter. He started his education at St. Xavier's High School and Grant Medical College, Mumbai. He lives in Mumbai where he is a general practitioner.

Patel's poetical works include Poems, first launched by Nissim Ezekiel, followed by How Do You Withstand, Body and Mirrored Mirroring. His plays include Princes, Savaksa and Mr Behram. A common theme throughout Patel's work is the relationship between the Parsi community to which he belongs and their feudal relationship with the tribal Warlis.

He held his first art show in Mumbai in 1966, and went on to have several major exhibitions in India and abroad. Patel participated in the Menton Biemale, France in 1976. India, Myth and Reality, Oxford in 1982; Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy, London 1982. Patel belongs to an avant-garde grouping of artists based in Bombay and Baroda.

Patel has also exhibited for Contemporary Indian Art, Grey Art Gallery, New York City, 1985, Indian Art from the Herwitz collection Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, 1985 and Coups de Coeur Geneva, 1987.

He has been conducting a poetry workshop in Rishi Valley School for more than a decade. He edited a collection of poetry which was published in 2006. His poetry is included in Anthology of Contemporary Indian Poetry (BigBridge, United States). One of his Poems "Licence" from the collection How do you Withstand is included in the anthology Confronting Love edited by Arundhati Subramanyam and Jerry Pinto.

He has been translating poems from the 17th century Gujarati poet Akho into English.

• University
• Poems. Nissim Ezekiel, 1966
• How Do You Withstand, Body. Clearing House, (1976 )
• Mirrored, Mirroring. Oxford University Press, 1991
• On Killing a Tree

• The Golden Treasure of Writers Workshop Poetry (2008) ed. by Rubana Huq and published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta