Labhshankar Thakar

Labhshankar Jadavji Thakar, also known by his pen names Lagharo and Vaidya Punarvasu (14 January 1935 – 6 January 2016), was a Gujarati poet, playwright and story writer from India. Educated in languages and Ayurveda, he taught at colleges before starting practice of Ayurveda. He had a modernist approach in literature and was heavily influenced by absurd theatre and the traditions of experimental literature. He chiefly wrote plays and poetry.

Life

Thakar was born on 14 January 1935 in Sedla village near Surendranagar, Gujarat. He was a native of Patdi village of Surendranagar district. He completed Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati in 1957, Master of Arts in 1959. He taught at various college in Ahmedabad and simultaneously studied Ayurveda. He received Diploma in Suddha Ayurveda in 1964. Later he started an Ayurvedic clinic and continues his practice.

He died on 6 January 2016 at Ahmedabad after prolonged illness.

Works

Thakar was a modernist author of Gujarati literature. He along with Madhu Rye belongs to Rye School, a modernist tradition of Gujarati literature under influence of existentialism challenging traditional literature styles.

Poetry

Thakar initially wrote poetry in traditional metres and gradually shifted to more experimental one. He emphasized on process of poetry rather than final piece of poetry. He was more interested in the absurdism than the realism.

His Vahi Jati Pachhal Ramya Ghosha (1965) was in traditional metres but soon he wrote modern long poem Manasni Vaat (1968) exploring new styles. His Mara Namne Darwaje (1972) and Boom Kagalma Kora (1974) deals with absurdity and illogicality of life. Pravahan (1986) is long poem about process of poetry formation paralleled with excretion of feces. Kalagranthi (1987) is the collection of six poems.

Plays

Thakar was heavily influenced by Theatre of the Absurd and Samuel Beckett. He along with playwright Subhash Shah, wrote Ek Undar ane Jadunath based on Samuel's Waiting for Godot in 1966. His first one-act play Asatyakumar Ekagrani Dharpakad was published in collection of one-act plays, Make Believe (1967). His collection of one-act plays, Mari Jawani Maza (1973) is in absurd style. Bathtub ma Machhali (1982) has an overtone of satire and irony. His Pilu Gulab ane Hu is two-act play about the agony of an actress who is craving for true love.

He was active in workshops for playwrights called Aakanth Sabarmati.

Other

Akasmat (1968) and Kon? (1968) are his novels. Malela Jeevni Samiksha and Inner Life (1969) are his works of criticism. His works of journalism are collected in Ek Minute (1986) and Kshana Tatkshana (1989). Maari Ba (1989) is a biographical work about his mother. He also wrote several books on Ayurveda.

He published several magazines including Kriti and Unmoolan.

Awards

He received Kumar Chandrak in 1962 and Narmad Chandrak also. He was also awarded Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak in 1980 which he returned due to personal reasons and later accepted it in 1994. He was awarded Sahitya Akademi award in 1991 for his poetry, Tolan Aawaz Ghunghat. He also received Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar from Gujarati Sahitya Akademi in 2002.