Gaura Pant | |
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| Born | (1923-10-17)17 October 1923 Rajkot, Gujarat, India |
| Died | 21 March 2003(2003-03-21) (aged 79) New Delhi, India |
| Pen name | Shivani |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Indian |
Gaura Pant (17 October 1923[1] – 21 March 2003), better known asShivani, was aHindi writer of the 20th century and a pioneer in writing Indian women-centric fiction. She was awarded thePadma Shri for her contribution toHindi literature in 1982.[2]
She garnered a following in the pre-television era of 1960s and 1970s, and her literary works such asKrishnakali, were serialised in Hindi magazines likeDharmayug andSaptahik Hindustan.[3] During the career, she wrote over 30 novels, prominently 'Bhairvi', 'Krishnakali', 'Chaudhan Phere', 'Atithi', 'Kalindi' and 'Akash'.[4] Through her writings, she also made the culture ofKumaon known to the Hindi speakers in India. Her novelKariye Chima was made into a film, while her other novels includingSurangma,Rativilaap,Mera Beta, andTeesra Beta have been turned into television serials.[5]
Gaura Pant 'Shivani' was born on 17 October 1923, theVijaya Dasami day inRajkot,Gujarat, where her father, Ashwini Kumar Pande was a teacher with the princely state of Rajkot. He was aKumaoniBrahmin. Her mother was a Sanskrit scholar, and the first student ofLucknow Mahila Vidyalaya. Later her father became the Diwan with the Nawab ofRampur and the member of Viceroy's Bar Council,[6] thereafter the family moved to the princely state ofOrchha, where her father held an important position. Thus Shivani's childhood had influences from these varied places, and an insight into women of privilege, which reflected in much of her work. At Lucknow, she became the first student of the local Mahila Vidyalaya Lucknow (Lucknow University).[7]
In 1935, Shivani's first story was published in the Hindi Children's magazineNatkhat, at age twelve.[8] That was also when the three siblings were sent to the study atRabindranath Tagore'sVisva-Bharati University atShantiniketan. Shivani remained at Shantiniketan for another 9 years and left as a graduate in 1943. Her serious writings started during the years spent at Shantiniketan. It was this period that she took to writing whole-heartedly and had the most profound influence in her writing sensibilities,[9] a period she recounts vividly in her book,Amader Shantiniketan.[10]
Shivani was married to Shuk Deo Pant, a teacher who worked in the Education Department ofUttar Pradesh, which led to the family travelling to various places includingAllahabad and Priory Lodge inNainital, before settling inLucknow, where she stayed till her last days.[7] She had four children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Her husband died at an early age, leaving her to take care of the four children. She had three daughters, Veena Joshi,Mrinal Pande and Ira Pande, and a sonMuktesh Pant[11]
In 1951, her short story,Main Murga Hun ('I am a Chicken') was published inDharmayug under the pen name Shivani. She published her first novelLal Haveli in the sixties, and over the next ten years she produced several major works which were serialised inDharmayug. Shivani received thePadma Shri for her contribution to Hindi literature in 1982.[2]
She was a prolific writer; her bibliography consists of over 40 novels, many short stories and hundreds of articles and essays. Her most famous works includeChaudah Phere,Krishnakali,Lal Haveli,Smashan Champa,Bharavi,Rati Vilap,Vishkanya,Apradhini. She also published travelogues such asYatriki, based on her London travels, andChareivati, based on her travels to Russia.[12]
Towards the end of her life, Shivani took to autobiographical writings, first sighted in her book,Shivani ki Sresth Kahaniyan, followed by her two-part memoir,Smriti Kalash andSone De, whose title she borrowed from the epitaph of 18th-century Urdu poetNazeer Akbarabadi:[13]
Shivani continued to write till her last days, and died on 21 March 2003 in New Delhi, after a prolonged illness.[4]
Upon her death, thePress Information Bureau said that "the Hindiliterature world has lost a popular and eminent novelist and the void is difficult to fill".[14]
In 2005, her daughter, Hindi writer Ira Pande, published a memoir based on Shivani's life, titledDiddi My Mother's Voice.Diddi in Kumaoni means elder sister, and that's how her children used to address her, as she really was a friend to them.[15] In 2021,IIT Kanpur established the Shivani Centre for the nurture and re-integration of Hindi and other Indian languages.[16][17] In 2023, making her birth centenary, a literary festival was organised at IIT Kanpur.[18]
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