Shri Gulabdas Broker

A distinguished Hindi and Gujarati writer Shri Gulabdas Broker was bom at Porbunder (Gujarat) on 20th Sept, 1909. He graduated in Literature from Elphinstone College, Bombay. He was active in the Ci*/iI Disobedience Movement of 1930-32 and courted jail for 16 months. He is author of more than two dozen books, including eleven collections of short stories, a collection of one-act plays in Tamil, a full length Hindi play ‘Dhum Rekha,’ two volumes of critical essays, a collection of poems, and a biographical sketch of a pioneer of modern Gujarati literature. He edited a one-act play magazine entitled ‘Ekanki’ and a quarterly about dramas called ‘Gujarati Natya’.

Shri Gulab Das Broker is Member of Advisory Board for Gujarati of Indian Sahitya Akademi; Member of Executive Committee of P.E,N. All India Centre; President of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad (Conference of Gujarati Writers) ; Joint Secretary of Gujarat Lekhak Milan; has presided over the literary section of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad’Sammelan in 1961 and was President of the Reception Committee of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Sammelan-1963. In 1959, he attended the International P.E.N. Congress at Frankfurt (Germany) as a delegate from India. He has visited U.S.A. in 1962 and West Germany in 1963 on invitations from those countries.

Many of his short stories have been translated into various languages of India. Some stories have appeared in German and Swiss magazines and anthologies. A collection of his short stories entitled ‘Of Life and Love’ has appeared in English.

Awards and Prizes : Gold Medal for the best short story of 1943 by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad; First prize (in cash) for the best play written during 1947-54 by Government of Maharashtra ; a cash prize for a short story in the competition sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune in association with Janmabhoomi ; First prize for a volume of short stories by Government of Gujarat in 1963 and for a travelogue volume in 1970. Also ‘Kumar Chandrak’ and many other prizes and awards.
Residence : 26 Swami Vivekanand Road, Vile Parle (West) Bombay-400056, Ph. 572914.0