Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi (12 December 1892 – 11 March 1965), best known by his pen name, Dhumketu, was a great writer belonging to Gujarati literature. A Pioneer of Gujarati short stories, his poignant tale “The Post Office” is celebrated globally. He wrote 492 short stories in total, and published 24 short story collections, 32 novels based on social and historical subjects, and a few plays and travelogues. Tankha Mandal, published in 4 volumes, is among his major works.
Dhumketu: The Visionary Pioneer of Modern Gujarati Short Stories
Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi, alias Dhumketu, was born on 12 December 1892 in Virpur, Rajkot State in British India. He was born into a Baj Khedawal Brahmin family, as the third son of Govardhanram Joshi. After completing his studies, he worked as a school teacher in his village, on a monthly salary of four rupees per month. During those years, he got interested in reading, and he got drawn towards the beauty of biographies and historical novels.
In 1908, he went to Bilkha, a place close to Junagadh. He got married to Kashiben, the daughter of Gaurishankar Bhatt. During his college years, a large library belonging to Nathuram Sharma’s Ashram in Bilkha, helped him a lot in his studies. Gaurishankar finally graduated in Sanskrit and English in 1920.
After graduation, he served as a clerk at Gondal in the railway for a year. He left the government job in 1923 and then taught at a private school started by Ambalal Sarabhai, an Indian industrialist from Ahmedabad. It was during these years that he turned more active in his writing career.
He took the pen name ‘Dhumketu’, which means ‘Comet’. He contributed nearly 500 short stories, touching human lives, apart from writing novels, children’s books, plays, essays, satire and travelogues. Four volumes of his celebrated short story collections, Tankha, first published in 1926, are considered a milestone in Gujarati literature. He created characters drawn from different statuses and professions in life.
Major works of Dhumketu
The magical short stories woven by Dhumketu in the pre-independent era and the later years influenced people, their culture and social life so much. Before the writer Dhumketu came into prominence, short stories in Gujarati literature were largely moralistic, linear tales or simple fables. From humble village labourers and coachmen to intellectuals and aristocrats, he portrayed people belonging to different secs of society in his stories. His dramatic style, romanticism and powerful depiction of human emotions through his stories place his name among the most celebrated short story writers of Gujarat.
His major short story collections include Mallika Ane Biji Vartao, Tribheto, Aakashdeep, Sandhyatej, Parivesh, Anamika, Chhello Jhabakaro, Vanchhaya, Vanrekha, Jaldeep, Vankunj, Vanrenu, Mangaldeep, Chandrarekha, Nikunj, Avashesh, Pradeep, Sandhyarang, Vasantakunj, and Pratibimba. He also authored a collection of English poems, with The Letter being the globally celebrated one.
He published the biography work of the Jain scholar and poet, Hemachandra, titled Kalikalsarvagnya Hemchandracharya (1940). His historical novels are grouped in two series, namely Chalukya Yuga Granthavalis and Gupta Yuga Granthavalis. He published 29 historical and 7 social novels. Many of his historical novels adapted Kanaiyalal Munshi’s dramatic devices.
He was given Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1935, the highest award in Gujarati literature, which he refused. He received Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 1949. He wrote books for children, novels, biographies, reflective essays, satires and plays. He passed away on 11 March 1965, aged 72.
His Masterpiece: The Post Office
The short story, written in English, tells the story of Coachman Ali, a lonely old man who walks to the local post office every single day for years, enduring the clerks’ mockery, hoping for a single letter from his only daughter, Miriam. The Post Office achieved international acclaim. It was chosen to represent Indian literature in the famous American anthology Stories, From Many Lands, showcasing the finest short fiction, compiled from sixty countries.
Also read: Meet ‘Granthkeet’ Nagindas Parekh: The Scholar Who Bridged Gujarati and Bengali Literature
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