Appreciation

So rich are the agonies and the ecstasies of the sensitive mind, that most poets are not able to emancipate themselves from their narcissism. Meghani, schooled in the Gandhian era and the struggle for independence, has tried in this poem to hold the poet by the scruff of the neck and make the poet hear the silent screams of a suffering humanity.

About The Author

Zaverchand Meghni, B.A.(1897 – 1947) was born in Chotila, a town in the district of Surendranagar, North Gujarat, although his native place was Bagasara, district Amreli in Saurashtra. After a stint as a teacher, he started his career after graduation in Kolkata as a private secretary in an aluminium factory, and visited Britain with the owner of the factory. Later he returned to Saurashtra and joined the editorial board of a periodical. He joined the freedom struggle, and was sentenced. He had a career as a journalist and he was associated with one periodical after another in Mumbai and Gujarat. Meghani married twice. His first wife died tragically; his second wife was from Nepal. Meghani had an affinity with nature on account of visits to his father’s place near the Gir forest. He also roamed widely in Saurashtra and gathered a vast amount of folk stories, songs and other materials. Meghani’s poetic adventure began in school, but regular writing began when he was around 25. During his stay in Bengal he got exposed to Tagore’s poetry and to the Baul folk songs. He was also influenced by Kalapi, a romantic poet of Saurashtra, and by Mahatma Gandhi. Meghani published many volumes of stories, novels, folk tales, poems, children’s songs, and translations. He was a recipient of the Ranjitram Gold Medal. He came to be known as ‘Saurashtri Litterateur’ and also as ‘National Shayar’.