Krishnalal Shridharani

Krishnalal Shridharani Biography

Krishnalal Shridharani was a noted writer and freedom fighter from Bhavnagar. Known as a dramatist and poet, he was also known as a journalist. He is a recipient of the prestigious Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in the year 1958. Apart from his fiction works, he also contributed several non-fictional books belonging to English language. My India, My America (1941) accounts his experiences during his life at US. An accomplished playwright, he wrote 16 plays. Peela Palash, Piya Gori, Dusku, Dungali no Dado, Sonpari, Vijali, Vrushal, Mor na Inda and Padmini are among his most successful plays.

Krishnalal Shridharani was born on 16 September 1911 in Umrala near Bhavnagar on 16 September 1911. He spent his childhood days at Junagadh. After schooling he studied at Gujarat Vidyapith and was also associated with freedom struggle movement since early 1930s. He participated in Dandi March of 1930, followed by Dharasana Satyagraha for which he got arrested and jailed. He later completed his graduation from Viswabharati in 1933. On the advice of Tagore and James Pratt he went to US for higher studies the following year. By the year 1940, he completed Master’s, MS and PhD from US and returned to India six years later.

As a writer he started off as a columnist for Amrita Bazar Patrika in 1945. He got married to noted dancer Sundari K. Shridharani, the founder and director of Triveni Kala Sangam and then settled in India. He headed history and economics department of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad in 1946. As a columnist his articles and columns regularly appeared in many leading journals such as The New York Times and Vogue. War without Violence, The Journalist in India, Smiles from Kashmir and Story of The Indian Telegraph are among his non-fiction English books.

Published: N/A

Updated: March 06, 2016