Chinu Modi

{{Short description|Indian Gujarati-language poet, novelist, short story writer and critic (1939-2017)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name=Chinu Modi

| image= Chinu Modi.jpg

| caption =At Ahmedabad, 1999

| pseudonym = Irshad

| birth_name = Chinu Chandulal Modi

| birth_date={{birth date|1939|9|30|df=y}}

| birth_place=Vijapur, Gujarat, British Raj

| death_date= {{death date and age|2017|3|19|1939|9|30|df=y}}

| death_place=Ahmedabad, India

| occupation= poet, novelist, short story writer, critic

| education = * Master of Arts

Ph.D

| alma_mater =

| period=postmodern Gujarati literature

| language = Gujarati, Urdu

| nationality=Indian

|movement= * Hotel poets group

'Re' Math

|notableworks=

Ashwamedh (1986)
Bahuk (1982)
Kalakhyan (2003)

| signature=Autograph of Chinu Modi.svg

| awards=

|module = {{Listen |embed= yes |filename=Dr Chinu Modi voice.ogg|title= Chinu Modi's voice |description= "Shwasma Chhalkay Chhani Gandh To", a Gujarati poem by Chinu Modi}}

}}

Chinu Modi, (30 September 1939 – 19 March 2017), also known by his pen name Irshad, was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short story writer and critic from Gujarat, India. Educated in languages, he taught at various institutions and established himself as a poet and author. He was a recipient of several awards including Sahitya Akademi Award, Vali Gujarati Award and Narsinh Mehta Award.{{cite encyclopedia |title= Modi Chinu Chandulal |encyclopedia= Gujarati Sahitya Kosh (Encyclopedia of Gujarati Literature) |year=1990 |publisher=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad |volume=2 |location=Ahmedabad }}

Life

=Early life=

{{multiple image

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| width = 110

| footer = Young Chinu Modi

| image1 = Young Chinu Modi.jpg

| image2 = Chinu Modi and Manhar Modi (cropped).jpg

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Modi was born in Vijapur on 30 September 1939 to Chandulal and Shashikantaben. His family belonged to Kadi.{{cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-ahmedabads-art-fraternity-under-one-roof-to-celebrate-chinu-modis-75th-bday-1895947|title=Ahmedabad's art fraternity under one roof to celebrate Chinu Modi's 75th b'day|date=30 September 2013|work=DNA News|access-date=15 July 2014|archive-date=20 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720073013/http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/report-ahmedabads-art-fraternity-under-one-roof-to-celebrate-chinu-modis-75th-bday-1895947|url-status=live}} He completed his primary education in Vijapur and secondary education from Sheth Hasanali High School in Dholka near Ahmedabad. He completed his matriculation in 1954.{{cite web|url=http://gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/sarjako/savishesh/Savishesh-Chinu-Modi.html|title=Chinu Modi|publisher=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad|access-date=15 July 2014|language=Gujarati|archive-date=19 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719121940/http://gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/sarjako/savishesh/Savishesh-Chinu-Modi.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો ઈતિહાસ - આધુનિક અને અનુઆધુનિક યુગ (History of Modern Gujarati Literature – Modern and Postmodern Era)|first=Prasad|last=Brahmabhatt |publisher=Parshwa Publication|location=Ahmedabad|year=2010|pages=95–98|language=gu|isbn=978-93-5108-247-7}}

He completed a B.A. in Gujarati and History in 1958 from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad, an LL.B. in 1960 from Sir L.A. Shah Law College in Ahmedabad, and an M.A. in Gujarati and Hindi subjects in 1961 from Gujarat University. He earned a Ph.D. in 1968 from Gujarat Vidyapith for his research Gujarati Bhashama Khandakavya (narrative poetry in Gujarati language). His guide for Ph.D. was Mohanbhai Shankharbhai Patel.

=Career=

File:Chinu Modi in 1995.jpg

He joined H. A. Arts College in Ahmedabad and worked from 1961 to 1963. He taught at colleges in Talod and Kapadvanj later. In 1965, he joined Swaminarayan Arts College in Ahmedabad and taught until 1975. He served as a scriptwriter at Indian Space Research Organization, Ahmedabad from 1975 to 1977. In 1977–1978, he worked with Mansa College and Sabarmati Arts College. He joined L. D. Arts College in 1978 as a part-time professor. In 1994, he joined School of Languages, Gujarat University as a Reader and retired in 2001. He had also served as Dean-in-charge of Department of Journalism, M. S. University, Baroda from 1992 to 1994. He worked as a freelancer in field of advertising for few years.

He was a chairman of Kriti Film Cooperative Society from 1979 to his death. He was awarded Writer Fellowship from Department of Culture, New Delhi in 1979.

=Death=

He suffered from acute breathlessness. After a heart attack on 16 March 2017, he was admitted to HGC hospital located at Mithakhali, Ahmedabad as he was suffering from multiple organ failure.{{cite web | title=Noted Gujarati poet Chinu Modi critical | website=The Times of India | date=2017-03-18 | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/noted-gujarati-poet-chinu-modi-critical/articleshow/57697075.cms | access-date=2017-03-19 | archive-date=18 May 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518193754/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/noted-gujarati-poet-chinu-modi-critical/articleshow/57697075.cms | url-status=live }} On 19 March 2017, he returned to his home at Paldi, Ahmedabad where he died in the evening.{{cite web | title=PM Narendra Modi mourns death of Gujarati language poet Chinu Modi | website=The Financial Express | date=2017-03-19 | url=http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-mourns-death-of-gujarati-language-poet-chinu-modi/594538/ | access-date=2017-03-19 | archive-date=20 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320053731/http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-mourns-death-of-gujarati-language-poet-chinu-modi/594538/ | url-status=live }} His body was donated to NHL Medical College as per his wish.{{cite web | title=Renown Gujarati poet Chinu Modi passes away | website=DeshGujarat News from Gujarat | date=2017-03-19 | url=http://deshgujarat.com/2017/03/19/renown-gujarati-poet-chinu-modi-passes-away/ | access-date=2017-03-28 | archive-date=29 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329053229/http://deshgujarat.com/2017/03/19/renown-gujarati-poet-chinu-modi-passes-away/ | url-status=live }}

Works

Modi was a pioneering{{Clarify|reason=vague|date=May 2017}} poet and also an acclaimed playwright, critic, fiction writer and translator. His works are translated into English, Hindi and other Indian languages and his plays are staged several times.{{cite web | title=Eminent Gujarati poet Chinu Modi chosen for Sahitya Akademi award | website=NetIndian | date=2014-01-04 | url=http://netindian.in/news/2014/01/04/00027405/eminent-gujarati-poet-chinu-modi-chosen-sahitya-akademi-award | access-date=2017-02-09 | archive-date=11 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155121/http://netindian.in/news/2014/01/04/00027405/eminent-gujarati-poet-chinu-modi-chosen-sahitya-akademi-award | url-status=live }}

[https://rekhtagujarati.org/poets/chinu-modi/all Gujarati famous Poetry of Chinu Modi | RekhtaGujarati]

He had written both metrical and non-metrical form of poetry. His main contribution was in ghazal poetry. Along with ghazals, he had written in various genres; geet, sonnet, free verse and Khandakavya (long narrative poem).

He started writing poetry in 1955. Vyatan (1963) was his small and first poetry collection. His other poetry collections which consist of metrical and nonmetrical poems are Urnanabh (1974), Shapit Vanma (1976), Deshvato (1978), Kshano Na Mahelma, Darpan Ni Galima (1975), Irshadgadh (1979), Afawa (1991), Inayat (1996) and Nakashanagar (2001), Vi-nayak (1996), Ae (1999), Saiyar (2000), Shwetsamudro (2001), Gatibhas (2012), Agha Pachha Shwas (2007) and Khara Zaran{{when|date=March 2016}}. Bahuk (1982), based on Nalakhyan of Mahabharata, is a long narrative poem written by him. Kalakhyan (2003) is also long narrative poem composed in the Akhyana-style.{{cite book |last=Trivedi |first=Dr. Ramesh M. |date=2015 |title=Arvachin Gujarati Sahityano Itihas (History of Modern Gujarati Literature) |location=Ahmedabad |publisher=Adarsh Prakashan |page=351 |isbn=978-93-82593-88-1}} His all muktak poetry, a subgenre of ghazal poetry, was published as A-mrut Muktako in 2016.{{cite news |url=http://m.navgujaratsamay.com/celebrating-gujarat/art-culture/-/articleshow/52456938.cms |title=ચિનુ મોદીના 'અ-મૃત મુક્તકો'નું લોકાર્પણ |date=27 May 2016 |access-date=26 February 2017 |website=Navgujarat Samay |language=gu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227151617/http://m.navgujaratsamay.com/celebrating-gujarat/art-culture/-/articleshow/52456938.cms |archive-date=27 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}

Modi is noted in Gujarati literature for his experimental plays. Dayal Na Pankhi (1967) is his first collection of one-act plays composed in a verse form and absurd style, followed by Callbell (1973), Hukam Malik (1984), Jalaka (1985), Ashwamedh (1986), Raja Midas (1992). Jalaka centred around the Jalaka, a character from the Ramanbhai Nilkanth's Raino Parvat while Ashwamedh deals with extreme lust of woman and her sexual interaction with Horse. His other plays are Navalsha Heerji (1995), Khalifano Vesh Yani Aurangzeb (1993), Naishadhray (1996), Shukdan (2000), Memory Lane (2008), Matsyavedh (2006), Dholido (2008), Buddhidhan (2008), Natyavali (2014).{{cite web | title='Memory lane' brought the light of other days around | website=DNA News Syndication | date=28 September 2014 | url=http://dnasyndication.com/showarticlerss.aspx?nid=NO2em3dPulsgV6n6I1cXl5JLvU7PAVwvX%2Fx23qpkROTbJf%2Fg%3D | access-date=31 March 2017 | archive-date=29 March 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329080317/http://dnasyndication.com/showarticlerss.aspx?nid=NO2em3dPulsgV6n6I1cXl5JLvU7PAVwvX%2Fx23qpkROTbJf%2Fg%3D | url-status=live }} His Shukdan is a Gujarati adaptation of Edmond Rostand's French tragi-comedy Cyrano de Bergerac and it is directed by Chintan Pandya.{{cite web | title=Theatre: "Shukdan" by Chinu Modi, Directed by Chintan Pandya | website=Alliance Française Ahmedabad | date=2014-03-23 | url=http://ahmedabad.afindia.org/events/theatre-shukdan-by-chinu-modi-directed-by-chintan-pandya/ | access-date=2017-04-17 | archive-date=18 April 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418083902/http://ahmedabad.afindia.org/events/theatre-shukdan-by-chinu-modi-directed-by-chintan-pandya/ | url-status=live }}

Modi debuted in novel with Shaila Majmudar (1966; an autobiographical novel), followed by Bhaav-Abhaav (1969), Bhavchakra (1975), Leela Naag (1971), Hang Over (1985), and Pahela Varsad No Chhanto (1987), Kalo Angrej (1992), Manas Howani Mane Cheed (1996), Pichho (2004), Lisoto (2000), Daheshat (2004), Chukado (2004), Padchhayana Manas (2008), Nindrachar (2008).

Dabi Muththi Jamani Muththi (1986) and Chhalang (1997) are his collections of short stories.

Mara Samkalin Kavio (1973) and its expanded edition Be Dayaka: Char Kavio (1974) are a criticism of poetry of Manilal Desai, Ravji Patel, Labhshankar Thakar and Manhar Modi. His thesis Khandkavya-Swaroop ane Vikas (1974), Krishnalal Shridharani (1979) and Madhyakalin Gujarati Kavitanu Mulyankan (2008) are his other works. He edited Chandravadan Mehta's selected poetry in Chadho Re Shikhar Raja Ramna (1975). He also edited ghazal collections, Gami Te Gazal (1976) and Gujarati Pratinidhi Gazalo (1996). He had translated Vasantavilas, a medieval Gujarati fagu. He co-edited Madhya Yugin Urmikavyo (1998), a compilation of medieval Gujarati poems, with Chimanlal Trivedi.{{cite book|author=D. S. Rao|title=Five Decades: The National Academy of Letters, India : a Short History of Sahitya Akademi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JDsBBDoMccC&pg=PA50|access-date=22 April 2017|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-2060-7|page=50|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329080311/https://books.google.com/books?id=8JDsBBDoMccC&pg=PA50|url-status=live}}

Jalsa Avtar (2014) is his memoir.

He started Hotel Poetry Club, also known as, Hotel Poets Group, where he used to encourage young friends to read, write and to critique.{{cite web | title=Poet Chinu Modi passes away | website=The Times of India | date=1973-07-29 | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/poet-chinu-modi-passes-away/articleshow/57721859.cms | access-date=2017-03-28 | archive-date=26 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326193135/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/poet-chinu-modi-passes-away/articleshow/57721859.cms | url-status=live }}

Awards

File:Chinu Modi and Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.jpg

Modi won the Ushnas Prize (1982–1983) for his book Bahuk. He received the Kalapi Award in 2000, the Narsinh Mehta Award in 2008 and the Vali Gujarati Award in 2010. He was awarded the Teansmedia Award in 2004. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati writers in 2013 for his gazal collection Khara Zaran.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarati-poet-Chinu-Modi-gets-Sahitya-Akademi-Award/articleshow/28386666.cms|title=Gujarati poet Chinu Modi gets Sahitya Akademi Award|date=4 January 2014|access-date=15 July 2014|work=The Times of India|archive-date=5 January 2014|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20140105080212/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gujarati-poet-Chinu-Modi-gets-Sahitya-Akademi-Award/articleshow/28386666.cms|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Chinu Modi to get Sahitya Akademi award|url=http://deshgujarat.com/2014/01/05/chinu-modi-to-get-sahitya-akademi-award/|date=5 January 2014|access-date=15 July 2014|work=DeshGujarat|archive-date=15 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715221745/http://deshgujarat.com/2014/01/05/chinu-modi-to-get-sahitya-akademi-award/|url-status=live}}

Personal life

File:Poet Chinu Modi with his wife Hansa.jpg

He married Hansa on 21 June 1958 who predeceased him on 2 March 1989.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} They had a daughter, Nimisha Bhatt, and two sons, Ingit Modi and Utpal Modi.