Bhagwati Kumar Sharma, renowned author and journalist passes away

Bhagwatikumar Sharma (84), the renowned author and journalist, has passed away in Surat, Gujarat on September 5, 2018. Born in May 1934, Sharma authored novels, short stories, poetries, essays and articles during his 65-year career. Some of his famous Gujarati novels include ‘Aarti Ane Angara’ (1957), ‘Man Nahi Mane’ (1962), ‘Rikta’ (1968), ‘Vyaktamadhya’ (1970) and ‘Samaydvip’ (1974), among others. He received Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1984 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1988 for his novel ‘Asooryalok’. In 2017, the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi honoured him with the ‘Sahityaratna’ Award. He had also worked in different genres of poetry such as ghazal, geet and sonnet. His first ghazal collection, ‘Sambhav’, was published in 1974, followed by ‘Chhando Chhe Pandada Jenan’ (1987), ‘Nakhdarpan’ (1995), ‘Jhalhal’ (1995) and ‘Adhi Aksharnu Chomasu’ (2002), among many others.