Jhaverchand Meghani's birth anniversary : 28th August 2015

"મોર બની થનગાટ કરે, મન મોર બની થનગાટ કરે. ઘનઘોર ઝરે ચહુ ઓર, મારું મન મોર બની થનગાટ કરે. બહુ રંગ ઉમંગનાં પીંછ પસારીને બાદલસું નિજ નેનન ધારીને મેઘમલાર ઉચારીને આકુલ પ્રાણ કોને કલ-સાદ કરે. મારું મન મોર બની થનગાટ કરે." - Poem by Jhaverchand Meghani, originally written by Rabindranath Tagore. (Click here to read full poem in Gujarati with English lyrics and translation)

Jhaverchand Meghani (b. 28 August 1896 - d. 9 March 1947) was a noted poet, writer, social reformer and freedom fighter from Gujarat. He is a well-known name in the field of Gujarati literature. He was born in the police quarters in the outskirts of Chotila village in Saurashtra. His father Kalidas Meghani used to work with the police in British Kathiawar agency police. He finished his matriculation in 1912 and completed his BA in 1917. He started his career in Kolkata and joined Jeevanlal and Co. in 1918 as Personal Assistant and fondly called Paghadee Babu by his colleagues and workers alike. He was soon promoted as the Manager of the company's factory at Belur, Crown Aluminium. In 1919 he went to England for a four-month tour. After coming back to India he continued to work in Kolkata for 2 and half-year. Later he returned to Saurashtra and joined the editorial board of the weekly Saurashtra in 1922.

In 1930, he was sentenced for 2 years in jail for writing the book 'Sindhudo' that contained songs to inspire the youth of India that was participating in the struggle for Independence against the British Raj. It is during this time that he wrote 'Kavya Triputi' based on Gandhiji's visit to London for the round table conference. During this period he also started writing short stories independently and served as editor for 'Phoolchaab' magazine. Mahatma Gandhi gave him the title of Raashtreeya Shaayar (National Poet). Besides this he received many awards like Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak (1929) and Mahida Paaritoshik (1946) in literature. He authored more than 100 books. His first book was a translation work of Rabindranath Tagore's ballad Kathaa-u-Kaahinee titled Kurbani Ni Katha (Stories of martyrdom) which was first published in 1922. He contributed widely to Gujarati folk literature. He went from village to village in search of folklores and published them in various volumes of Saurashtra Ni Rasdhar. He was also the Editor of Phulchhab Newspaper of Janmabhoomi group (which is being published till date from Rajkot).