Vevishal

by Jhaverchand Meghani

The Promised Land (Vevishaal), an immensely popular Gujarati novel to this day, first appeared in weekly installments in the newspaper Phoolchhab and was published in book form in 1938. The Promised Land's presentation of a well developed and diverse set of characters is supplemented by vivid portrayals of the 1930s' lifestyles of Gujaratis in Mumbai and the small villages of Saurashtra. Trans. by Ashok Meghani.

Hardcover

About the author

Jhaverchand Meghani (Gujarati: ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણી; August 28, 1896 – March 9, 1947) was a noted poet, litterateur, social reformer and freedom fighter from Gujarat. He is a well known name in the field of Gujarati literature. He was born in Chotila. Mahatma Gandhi spontaneously gave him the title of Raashtreeya Shaayar (National Poet).[1] Besides this he received many awards like Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak and Mahida Paaritoshik in literature. He authored more than 100 books. His first book was a translation work of Rabindranath Tagore's ballad Kathaa-u-Kaahinee titled Kurbani Ni Katha (Stories of martyrdom) which was first published in 1922. He contributed widely to Gujarati folk literature. He went from village to village in search of folk-lores and published them in various volumes of Saurashtra Ni Rasdhar.[2] He was also the Editor of Phoolchhab Newspaper of Janmabhoomi group (which is being published till date from Rajkot).
A sample of his collection of folk tales from Saurashtra has recently been published in an English, with the translation done by his son Vinod Meghani. The three volumes published so far are titled A Noble Heritage, A Shade Crimson and The Ruby Shattered.[3]

Reviews

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vevishal- The promised hand captures the socio-economic dynamics of Saurashtra in the pre- Independence era of the 20th century, and was serialized in Phoolchhab weekly in 1938 where Meghani was the editor. The story revolves around Saurashtra and Mumbai. At that time many Gujaratis used to go to Mumbai for work or business. It's a perfect story to keep promises alive and to love unconditionally and have patience. It was interesting to know the culture and people of that time. It also depicts the constant struggle and rift between wealthy and ordinary folks.

This book was amongst 10 great titles of modern Indian literature to get translated in Russian and Mandarin. The current central government wanted to encourage these books to wider audience. Luckily I have already read Parva by Bhyrappa in Kannada and Arogyaniketan by Tarashankar Bandhopadhyay in Bengali as they were part of those 10 books.

This was my first book by Jhaverchand Meghani. I am a fan of Gujarati literature. I especially love the writings of KM Munshi and Dhurv Bhatt.

[Hardik Devani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story from 1938..
And yet such forward looking..
An epitome of Gujarati fiction stories..
It may have been developed as an ad-hoc story on a news paper column but in a book this covers it a range of culture, values, emotions and well dramatized situations.
Must read..

As been said..
Who touches this, touches not a book, but Life...!!

[Dimitra Muni · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best book in Gujarati literature.

[Madhvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

only one word for this. A Masterpiece!

[Jignesh Ahir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read novel

[Pranav Pandya · Rating 4 out of 5]

મેઘાણી એવાં તો અદ્ભૂત દૃશ્યો રચે છે, એવી તો સરસ ઉપમાઓ આપે છે, એવાં તો અલંકૃત વાક્યો સર્જે છે કે મારા મનમાં એમના માટે સપ્રેમ, સાદર, અને સાશ્ચર્ય ક્યારેક અભદ્ર એવા ઉદ્ ગારો નીકળી પડે છે! અને એ અભદ્ર ઉદ્ ગારો જ મારા જેવા નિમ્ન કક્ષાના બેવકૂફ તરફથી એમને આપી શકાતા સર્વોચ્ય માનનું સ્વરૂપ લે છે! આ લેખકને જો ના વાંચ્યો ને, તો ગુજરાતીની મજા લેવાનું ચૂકી ગયા એમ માનજો!
હું સ્વીકારું છું કે શરૂઆતમાં વાર્તા કદાચ કોઈ ટીવી સીરિયલ જેવી આજે લાગી શકે છે, પણ જે સિફતથી ઝવેરચંદ માણસોને આલેખે છે, એમના અંતરને આપની સમક્ષ ઉઘાડા મૂકે છે, તેમાં એક ટીવી સીરિયલની તકલાદી અભિનેતાઓ વાળી "mass produced" થાતી વાર્તાની વાસ નહી, પણ એક આખા કાળના માણસોને જાતે જોઈ ચૂકેલા એક અભ્યાસુની મેહનતની નોખી સુવાસ આવે છે. આ વાર્તાને મોકો આપો અને મેઘાણીની લિજ્જત માણો.

[Shaurya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is a portrait of the Gujarati society of yesteryears. Some of the ideas presented in the book are ahead of their time. It's a very good look at how far we have come as a society and how far we still have to go.

[Diven Dhimmar · Rating 4 out of 5]

ગાંધીયુગના સમાજજીવનનું વાસ્તવિકીકરણ શૈલીમાં રજુઆત, બે કુટુંબમાં સ્થથપાયેલા સંબંધની મધ્યે સત્યનું ત્રાજવું ભારે હોય એની વાત કરતી અને કેવી સમાજવ્યવસ્થા હોવી જોઈએ, તેનું નિરુપણ કરતી અદ્ભુત નવકથાલક્ષી ટૂંકી વાર્તાઓનો સંગ્રહ...

[Bhavik Rathod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ups and Downs, Bottom to Top. An amazing journey of an amature and pure love story. Detailing and writing skills of Meghaniji 👌

[Atmiya Prajapati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice!

[Hiren Vasoliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a story that you think something is going to happened in next page, but nothing is going that way, it's a simple linear story, you will love to read it.