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{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Malayanil
| image = Kanchalal Vasudev Mehta Malayanil.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Malayanil
| birth_name = Kanchanlal Vasudev Mehta
| birth_date = {{birth year|1892}}
| birth_place = [[Ahmedabad]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1919|06|24|1892|||df=y}}
| death_place = Ahmedabad
| occupation = Story writer, poet
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| education = [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Bombay]]
| period =
| spouse = {{marriage|Bhanumati|1912||end=}}
| awards =
| signature =
}}

'''Kanchanlal Vasudev Mehta''' (1892 – 24 June 1919), better known by his pen name '''Malayanil''', was a [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] short story writer from [[British India]] known for his humorous pieces. He was a pioneer of modern short story writing in Gujarati.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Das|first=Sisir Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sHklK65TKQ0C&q=Malayanil&pg=PA658|title=History of Indian Literature|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|year=2005|isbn=9788172010065|pages=309, 658|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Mehta2001">{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=[[Gujarati Vishwakosh]]|title=મલયાનિલ|last=Daru|first=Manoj|publisher=Gujarat Vishvakosh Trust|editor-last=Thaker|editor-first=Dhirubhai|editor-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|edition=1st|volume=XV|location=[[Ahmedabad]]|date=January 2002|pages=356–357|language=gu|oclc=248968453}}</ref>

==Biography==
Mehta was born in 1892 in [[Ahmedabad]] to a Sathodara [[Nagar Brahmin|Nagar]] family. His father had a high-ranking position in a [[cotton mill]]. He completed his primary and secondary school education in Ahmedabad. He [[Matriculation#India|matriculated]] in 1908 and completed his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in Science from the [[University of Mumbai|University of Bombay]] in 1912.<ref name="Mehta2001" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://opinionmagazine.co.uk/details/2712/malayanil-vaartaakalaanun-shikhar-sar-karnaar-pratham-gujarati-vaartaakaar|title=મલયાનિલ : વાર્તાકલાનું શિખર સર કરનાર પ્રથમ ગુજરાતી વાર્તાકાર|last=Pandya|first=Munikumar|date=22 June 2017|website=Opinion|publisher=Opinion Magazine|language=gu|via=Nirikshak|access-date=23 February 2020}}</ref> He could not sit in on an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in Literature examination in [[Mumbai|Bombay]] (now Mumbai) due to his poor health.<ref name=":2" /> He was interested in [[Sanskrit literature|Sanskrit]] and [[English literature]] since childhood. After graduation, he worked in a [[Match|matchstick]] factory in Ahmedabad. He passed the first year examination of [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]] in 1913 and the second year examination in 1916.<ref name="Mehta2001" /><ref name=":2" />

He was active in his Sathodara Nagar community's reform committee. He wanted to join [[Gujarat Sahitya Sabha]], the [[Servants of India Society|Gokhale Society]], and the [[Indian Home Rule movement|Home-rule League]] so he left Ahmedabad and moved to Bombay. In 1916, he took a job as a lawyer in [[solicitor]] Bhaishankar Kanga's firm.<ref name="Mehta2001" />

He was interested in reading, music and painting. He married Bhanumati, then aged 12, in 1912. They lived in Bombay for a short time but returned to Ahmedabad due to his ill health.<ref name=":2" />

He died on 24 June 1919 in Ahmedabad from [[appendicitis]].<ref name="Mehta2001" /><ref name=":2" />

==Works==
While studying for his BA in Science from 1909 to 1912, he published poems and comedic stories in various magazines such as ''Sundarisubodh'', ''Vartavaridhi'' and ''Bhakt'' under the pen name '''Golmatol Sharma'''. When he became influenced by English literature, he started writing modern short stories under the pen name Malayanil in 1913.<ref name="Mehta2001" />

Malayanil was a pioneer of modern Gujarati short story writing.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sivasankari|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PVjAAAAMAAJ&q=Malayanil|title=Knit India through literature|publisher=Eastwest Books|year=1998|volume=III|pages=278|isbn = 9788186852118|language=en}}</ref> He came in contact with [[Haji Mohammed Allarakha Shivji]] who encouraged him to write a short story; "Govalani" was published in Shivji's magazine ''Visami Sadi'' in 1918. It is generally considered the first modern short story in Gujarati.{{efn-ua|Malayanil's contemporary [[Dhansukhlal Mehta]] and [[Ranjitram Mehta]] also wrote short stories but Malayanil's "Govalani" is considered as the "perfect specimen" of modern short story. So there is a general consensus that he pioneered the modern short story writing in Gujarati.<ref name=":1" />}} Critic Manoj Daru has praised the story for its humour, characterisations, theme, and plot. It is free from the contemporary style of didactic stories.<ref name="Mehta2001" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Chokshi|first1=U. M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKLiAAAAMAAJ&q=Malayanil|title=Gujarat State Gazetteer|last2=Trivedi|first2=M. R.|publisher=Director, Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Gujarat State|year=1991|pages=400|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAQIAQAAIAAJ&q=Malayanil|title=Language and Literature|publisher=Directorate of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State|year=1971|pages=371|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Pathak|first=Ramnarayan Vishvanath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8pjAAAAMAAJ&q=Malayanil|title=Khemi and Other Stories|publisher=[[Gujarat Sahitya Akademi]]|year=2002|page=vii|language=en|translator-last=Dalal|translator-first=Anila|author-link=Ramnarayan V. Pathak|translator-link=Anila Dalal}}</ref> His other well known short story is "Rajnu Gaj".<ref name=":2" />

His short story collection ''Govalani Ane Biji Vato'' was published posthumously in 1935 by his wife Bhanumati. It includes 22 short stories written between 1913 and 1918.<ref name="Mehta2001" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Broker|first=Gulabdas|url=https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/Language%20and%20Literature/chapter_4.pdf|title=Maharashtra Gazetteers: Language and Literature|publisher=Directorate of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State|year=1971|series=Maharashtra State Gazetteers|location=Mumbai|pages=371|chapter=Chapter 4: Gujarati|author-link=Gulabdas Broker}}</ref> He also wrote about 250 poems including some humourous ones.<ref name="Mehta2001" /> "Puna Viramno Pashchatap" (1914) is his one-act play.<ref name=":2" />

==See also==
* [[List of Gujarati-language writers]]

==Notes==
{{notelist-ua}}

==References ==
{{Wikisourcelang|gu|મલયાનિલ|Malayanil|}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{GujLit author}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malayanil}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Writers from Ahmedabad]]
[[Category:Indian humorists]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language poets]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]

Malayanil - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Add: isbn. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:20th-century Indian poets‎ | via #UCB_Category 32/1078