Vibhut Shah

Vibhut Shah (born 1933) is a contemporary Gujarati novelist, playwright and short-story writer. Born in Nadiad and educated at Ahmedabad, Vibhut Shah is a law graduate and also holds a Diploma in Library Science. He served as a Librarian at the High Court of Gujarat for twenty-six years. He started writing more as a hobby than as a mainstream profession from mid sixties and has, ever since, published many collections of short stories, one act plays and novels. He has won eleven awards in his writing career from various institutions - predominantly from the Government organisations. He had been quite active in the Gujarati theatre movement and also wrote radio plays. Some of his best-selling books are Asangati, Ambiya-Bahar, Kartak Kare Shringar and Angaar - Ashlesh. All his books have been published by R. R. Sheth Publications.

Vibhut Shah was born on June 23, 1933 in Nadiad, Gujarat State of India. He was the second child of his parents. His siblings are Navin- elder brother and Asha- younger sister. His father was a successful lawyer in Nadiad and his mother predominantly spent life looking after the family. As a child, he attended the local public schools in Nadiad and Kheda. In his early childhood, he did not receive much support and attention from his father although he gave his children a prosperous living till he died in 1946 when Vibhutbhai was 13 years old. He studied Bachelor of Arts with English Literature and graduated from Gujarat University, Ahmedabad in 1953. He also attained a law degree and a diploma in Library Science in 1963. In 1957, he moved to Jamnagar from Ahmedabad to join Jamnagar Medical College as a librarian. While he was studying his bachelor's degree in Ahmedabad, professors Niranjan Bhagat and S.R Bhatt contributed remarkably in developing Vibhutbhai's interest in contemporary literature and inspired him to write his first short-story Dhummas Ni Shristi in 1959.

1959 - 1965

Vibhutbhai's first short story was Dhummas Ni Shristi that he penned in 1959 and was later published in Yuvak magazine in 1960. He wrote several other short stories during 1960- 1963 some of them were published in local magazine Kumar and newspaper Sandesh. His writing halted when he went to Vadodara for two years from 1962 to 1963 to study Library Science from M.S. University.

1965 - 1968

In 1965, he joined High Court of Gujarat, Ahmedabad to serve as a Chief Librarian. He resumed writing again with the short stories that he penned during 1966- 1968 which were later published in magazines like Navneet Samarpan, Kruti, Srirang and Ruchi. While he was studying law in Jamnagar's law college, he wrote his first radio play Pratishodh in 1965 for the Best Radio-Play Competition by Ahmedabad's radio station Aakashvani. The radio play was a success and he wrote about one hundred more plays over the years for the radio station, which they broadcast on regular basis.

1968 - 1987

Vibhut Shah's first short story collection Tekariyo Par Vasant Bethi Chhe was published in 1968 which was very well received by critics and earned him recognition in Gujarati literature. He also won the Best Book of The Year second prize for this book from Gujarat Government in 1969. He wrote his first one-act plays collection Laal Piro Ane Vadari in 1970, which received the Best One Act Plays Collection of The Year award by Gujarat Government. This book was also later included as a curriculum course in Bachelor of Arts discipline in Saurastra University in 1972. After the success of Laal Piro Ane Vadari, he penned the second one-act plays collection titled Shanti Na Pakshi in 1974 that also received the Best One Act Plays Collection of The Year award by the Gujarat Government in 1975. In 1979, his three-act play Bheena Bheena Dankh ran successfully twenty shows in Ahmedabad produced by Natyadeep - the institute he established to perform Gujarati plays in the state.

1988 - 2005

After the vast recognition and acclaim for Vibhutbhai's literature work of short stories and one-act plays, he ventured into writing novels. His first novel was Asangati that he wrote during 1987 - 1988. The novel was a huge success and won Vibhutbhai the Best Novel of the Year award in 1989 by Gujarat Sahitya Akadami - a private autonomous institution at Gandhinagar sponsored by The Government of Gujarat. Following the success of his first novel, he authored several other novels during the later years of 1989 to 2005 that earned him recognition and established his name in contemporary Gujarati literature as a novelist. His novels during this period include Saptaparna (1989), Amavasya (1990), Sambhavami (1992), Agnimegh (1993), Ambiya-Bahar (1995), Kartak Kare Shringar (2001), Angar-Ashlesh (2003) and Na Sur Na Sargam (2005).

During this period, Vibhutbhai also penned two One-act Plays collections namely Mamuni Na Shyam Gulab and Nat Kedar in 1990 and 1992 respectively. He also wrote two Short-stories collection books Flower Vase (1988) and Kunjar (1994). Flower Vase won the first prize of Best Short-stories Collection Award by Gujarat Sahitya Akadami in 1989 and Mamuni Na Shyam Gulab was awarded a second prize of Shri Batubhai Umarvadia Award for Best One-act play in 1992. This award was tenth award that he had won for his contribution to Gujarati literature.

2005 - Present

After a long hiatus, Vibhut Shah released his latest short stories collection titled Shesh Kathachakra in April 2012. This was a collection of the stories, which he penned over the span of several years.

The awards won by Vibhut Shah during his writing career

Novels published in Gujarati newspapers

During Vibhutbhai's active writing career, some of his novels were published in Sunday edition of leading Gujarati newspapers making his name well known amongst avid Gujarati novel readers. Vibhutbhai's first novel ever published in a newspaper was 'Saptaparna' in 1989 when Mr Hasmukh Gandhi, the then chief editor of the newspaper Samakalin, contacted Vibhutbhai to seek his consent to publish the novel in Samkalin's Sunday edition. This novel was also published simultaneously in the newspaper Jansatta and was very well received. After 'Saptaparnas positive feedback from readers, these two newspapers published another novel of Vibhutbhai 'Sambhavami in 1992. This trend continued with several other novels appearing in later years in leading newspapers like Gujarat Samachar, Sandesh, Jansatta and Mumbai Samachar. The novels thus published were 'Ambiya-Bahar' in Sandesh (1994), 'Kartak Kare Shringar' in Jansatta (1998–99), 'Angar Ashlesh' in Gujarat Samachar (2003) and 'Na Sur Na Saragam' in Mumbai Samachar (2004–05).

Inclusion in study courses

Vibhutbhai's first one-act plays collection 'Laal Piro Ane Vadari' was included as a curriculum course in Bachelor of Arts discipline in Saurastra University in 1972. In 1993, the radio-play he wrote for Akashvani radio station 'Fakt Pandar Minute' (Only Fifteen Minutes) was also included as one of the short study courses for tenth grade Gujarati language course by Gujarat Secondary Education Board (GSEB), Gandhinagar and it stayed for twelve years.

Plays

In 1978, there was a telefilm made based on Vibhutbhai's first radio-play 'Pratishodh' and was later telecast on the local television channel of Ahmedabad called 'Ahmedabad Doordarshan'. Another three-act play, that Vibhutbhai wrote, 'Jambli Rang Ni Kanya' (Purple coloured girl) was also staged in Ahmedabad in 1998 by the institute 'Rangbahar'. Other National Blind Institute of Mumbai produced an audio cassette-set of his novel 'Amavasya' for blind people in 2004-05. In July 2008, Vibhut Shah's short story 'Manasnu Maun' (The face of a man) was selected by Shri Suresh Dalal as one of the best short stories in Gujarati in his compilation "Varta-Viswa" published in August 2010.

Other contribution to Gujarati literature

During his very active writing years, Vibhutbhai also served in the judges panel of One Act Plays Competition organised by INT drama institute of Mumbai in association with the leading Gujarati newspaper Gujarat Samachar wherein amateur artists from the Gujarat colleges participated. He also wrote critical reviews of these competitions for Gujarat Samachar newspaper from 1989 to 2006.