Amritlal Vegad Biography 
Amritlal Vegad was an Indian writer belonging to Gujarati and Hindi literature. He lived in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh during the period, 3 October 1928 – 6 July 2018. He passed away most recently in 2018 aged 89. Vegad was awarded with Sahitya Akademi Award in 2004 for his travelogue – Saundaryani Nadi Narmada. He was a recipient of numerous honours and awards including Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sahitya Award, Rashtrapati Award, Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan award etc for his writings in Gujarati and Hindi languages. He was also an environmental activist, who dealt with issues such as water pollution of rivers like Narmada, and his ideas are well reflected in his works as well.
Amritlal Vegad was born on 3 October 1928 of Madhapar of present day Kutch district, Gujarat. His father was a railway contractor. The family was settled in Jabalpur, where his father Govamal Jivan Vegad worked as a railway contractor for Bengal Nagpur Railway. Vegad’s education was completed at Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan, where he got opportunity to study from some of the renowned gurus of the times like Nandalal Bose. It was from Bose, Vegad learnt the lessons how to enjoy the beauty of nature and conserve it. He trained in water colours, and later painted in oil colours.
As a writer, the travelogue - Saundaryani Nadi Narmada is his most celebrated work. He has also written books on Narmada river such as "Amritasya Narmada" and "Teere Teere Narmada", and stood for protecting the river from pollution. He made his first Parikrama (walking on foot) across the banks of Narmada river in 1977 at age of 49 and did the last one in 1999. He includes sketches for his published books.
Published: January 10, 2019
Updated: January 10, 2019
