Narmadashankar Dave

Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave
Born	August 24, 1833(1833-08-24) Surat, Gujarat, India
Died	February 26, 1886(1886-02-26) (aged 52) Bombay Presidency, India
Pen name	Narmad
Occupation	Poet, Novelist
Nationality	India
narmad.com

Narmadashankar Lalshankar Dave (Gujarati: નર્મદાશંકર લાલશંકર દવે) (August 24, 1833 – February 26, 1886), popularly known as Narmad, was a Gujarati author, poet, scholar and public speaker.

Biography

Narmad was born in Surat on August 24, 1833. He introduced many creative forms of writing in Gujarati. He wrote pioneering work in such forms as autobiography, poetry, lexicography, historical plays and research in folk literature. He was also an outspoken journalist and a pamphleteer. Narmad was a strong opponent of religious fanaticism and orthodoxy. He promoted nationalism and patriotism - with famous songs like Sahu Chalo Jitva Jang, wrote about self-government and talked about one national language, Hindi, for all of India, nearly five decades before Mohandas Gandhi or Nehru. He wrote a poem Jai Jai Garavi Gujarat in which he listed with a sense of pride all the cultural symbols that go into constituting the Gujarat identity. These symbols include even the things non-Hindu, implying that Gujarat belongs to all the castes, communities, races, religions and sects that inhabit Gujarat. It was this devout poet whose debt Gandhi acknowledged for his philosophy of non-violence. With the help of some friends, Narmad published a newsletter called Daandiyo, modeled after The Spectator, a weekly British magazine. He died of arthritis on February 26, 1886.

Works

• Narmagadya (નર્મગદ્ય) - Collection of Essays
• Narmakavita (નર્મકવિતા) - Collection of Poems
• Narmakathakosh (નર્મકથાકોશ)
• Maari Haqeeqat (મારી હકીકત) - Autobiography It is first autobiography of Gujarati Literature
• Daandiyo (ડાંડિયો) - Newsletter

Honors

In 2005, the name of South Gujarat University was changed to Veer Narmad South Gujarat University by the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat, Narendra Modi.

External links

• Narmad website
• Dandiyo newsletter (scanned copy)
• Article about Narmad in Gujarat Samachar
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
• Biographical blogpost about Narmad

Persondata
Name	Dave, Narmadashankar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 24, 1833
Place of birth	Surat, Gujarat, India
Date of death	February 26, 1886
Place of death	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India