Vijaygupta Maurya

Vijaygupta Maurya
Native name વિજયગુપ્ત મૌર્ય
Born Vijayshankar Morarji Vasu (Gujarati: વિજયશંકર મુરારજી વાસુ)
(1909-03-26)26 March 1909
Porbandar, Gujarat
Died 10 July 1992(1992-07-10)
Cause of death Parkinson's disease
Other names Himachal (Gujarati: હિમાચલ), Soham (Gujarati: સોહમ્), Chanakya (Gujarati: ચાણક્ય), Muktanand VishwaYatri (Gujarati: મુક્તાનંદ વિશ્વયાત્રી), Pandit Kaushik Sharma (Gujarati: પંડિત કૌશિક શર્મા), V. M. Vasu (Gujarati: વિ. મુ. વાસુ), Goswami Shree Vijayraiji (Gujarati: ગોસ્વામી શ્રી વિજયરાયજી), Vijaytung (Gujarati: વિજયતુંગ), Vachaspati (Gujarati: વાચસ્પતિ), Indradhanu (Gujarati: ઇન્દ્રધનુ), VasantVijay (Gujarati: વસંતવિજય)
Alma mater Bhavsingh High School, Porbandar; Mumbai University
Occupation Journalist and author
Years active 1945–1991
Employer Janmabhumi, Parkruti Magazine
Known for Pioneering science journalism in Gujarati
Children Nagendra Vijay, Bhardvaj Vijay
Parent(s) Motibai, Morarjibhai

Vijaygupta Maurya (Gujarati: વિજયગુપ્ત મૌર્ય) was a pioneer science writer in Gujarati. He wrote thousands of articles popularising science as well as several books.

Life

Early life

Vijaygupta Maurya was born as Vijayshankar Morarji Vasu (Gujarati: વિજયશંકર મુરારજી વાસુ) in Porbandar, Gujarat in 1909. He completed his high school education at Bhavsingh High School in Porbandar, India. He studied law in Mumbai, India and returned to Porbandar in 1933 to start his law practice. Four years later he took a position as judge in a British court. However, due to his passion for bird watching he wrote regular articles for Prakruti (Gujarati: પ્રકૃત્તિ) magazine on birds[1]

In 1944, the freedom fighter in British India named Dr. Vasant Avsare (Gujarati: ડૉ. વસંત અવસરે) came to Porbandar and asked Vijaygupta Maurya to fight for his case. However, as Vijaygupta Maurya was already at the position of judge, he could not do so. This prompted Vijaygupta Maurya to resign from his position and took Dr. Avsare's case as a regular lawyer. This ended Vijaygupta Maurya's career as judge and he decided to stay in Mumbai. He found a job as a typist for the salary of Rs. 0.75 per month at Gordhandas ni Pedhi (Gujarati: ગોરધનદાસ શેઠની પેઢી).[2][1]

Career as Journalist and Writer

In between financial struggles he kept writing for Prakruti magazine. After a few years, he got an opportunity to write for the Gujarati newspaper Janmabhumi. He started writing articles about birds and other animals for the last page of Janambhumi Pravasi with limited space and eventually grew to become editor/writer of entire page and wrote on varied subjects from the universe, science, marine life, plant life and so on.[2]

Later years

In 1973, he left Janmabhumi Pravasi and became a freelance journalist writing for various magazines. He also wrote several books during that time that included the theme of serving interesting factual information rolled up in stories as well as other books based on true stories. His career as a writer spanned over 46 years, however it didn't help him much financially. During later years he encountered several physical problems including poor vision, continuous back pain and Parkinson's disease. After a long illness he died in July 1992.[2]

Family

His sons, Nagendra Vijay and Bhardvaj Vijay, has accepted similar goals and career as their father. Nagendra Vijay started writing at the age of 14 and pioneered the first Gujarati science magazine Scope and later Safari magazine. His grandson, Harshal Pushkarna, has also continued work on spreading science and knowledge by currently running Safari magazine.[1]

Selected Books

Some of the Gujarati books authored by Vijaygupta Maurya[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Khambhayata, Lalit (22 February 2010). "વિજયગુપ્ત મૌર્ય જીવંત જ્ઞાનકોષને શતાબ્દિવંદન!". Divya Bhaskar. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Pushkarna, Harshal. "Vijaygupta Maurya", Gujarati: એક નજર આ તરફ..., 22 March 2009, accessed 7 December 2010.
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