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{{short description|Indian author (born 1940)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Varsha Adalja
| image =Varsha Adalaja 01.jpg
| caption = Adalja at [[Jamnagar]], 1995
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1940|04|10}}
| birth_place = [[Bombay]] (present Mumbai), [[Bombay Presidency]], [[British India]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Novelist|playwright|negotiator}}
| language = Gujarati
| nationality = Indian
| education =
| notableworks = ''Ansar''
| awards = {{plainlist|
*[[Sahitya Academy Award]] (1995)
*[[Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak]] (2005)}}
}}

'''Varsha Mahendra Adalja''' (born 10 April 1940) is an Indian [[Gujarati language]] feminist novelist, playwright and negotiator, who won the 1995 [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati|Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language]] for her novel ''Ansar''. She is also a dramatist, writing for stage plays, screenplays, and radio.

==Early life==
She was born on 10 April 1940 in [[Bombay]] (now [[Mumbai]]) to [[Gunvantrai Acharya]], Gujarati novelist, and Nilaben. Her family belonged to [[Jamnagar]]. She completed B.A. in Gujarati and [[Sanskrit]] from [[Mumbai University]] in 1960.<ref name="gsp">{{cite web|url=http://gujaratisahityaparishad.com/prakashan/sarjako/savishesh/Savishesh-Varsha-Adalaja.html|title=સાહિત્યસર્જક: વર્ષા અડાલજા|last1=Vyas|first1=Daksha|author-link=Daksha Vyas|last2=Topiwala|first2=Chandrakant|author-link2=Chandrakant Topiwala|publisher=Gujarati Sahitya Parishad|language=gu|trans-title=Writer: Varsha Adalja}}</ref> Later she completed M.A. in [[Sociology]] in 1962.<ref name="loc">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/varshaadalja.html|title=Varsha Adalja, 1940-|publisher=The Library of Congress Office|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref name="gsp"/> She studied drama at [[National School of Drama]], Delhi under scholarship. She worked as a spokesperson of [[Akashvani (radio broadcaster)|Akashvani]], Mumbai from 1961 to 1964. She married Mahendra Adalja in 1965. She started writing in 1966. Her sister [[Ila Arab Mehta]] is also a novelist.

==Literary career==
[[File:Varsha Adalaja 002.JPG|thumb|Varsha Adalja at 47th annual conference of [[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]]]]
Varsha Adalja started her literary career as an editor of ''Sudha'', a women's weekly from 1973–1976, and later with ''Gujarati Femina'', another women's magazine from 1989–90. She holds an executive office with [[Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]] since 1978.<ref name="loc"/><ref name="Dutt1999">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC&pg=PA13|title=Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M|author=Kartik Chandra Dutt|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-0873-5|page=13}}</ref><ref name="AGSI">{{cite book|title=અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો ઈતિહાસ - આધુનિક અને અનુઆધુનિક યુગ (History of Modern Gujarati Literature – Modern and Postmodern Era)|last=Brahmabhatt|first=Prasad|publisher=Parshwa Publication|year=2010|isbn=978-93-5108-247-7|location=Ahmedabad|pages=258–260|language=gu}}</ref> She has explored [[lepers]]’ colonies, prison life and has worked among [[adivasis]].<ref name="tameside">{{cite web|url=http://www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/varshaadalja|title=Varsha Adalja visits Tameside|date=15 April 2009|publisher=Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council|location=Tameside|access-date=2 November 2011}}</ref>

==Works==
She has penned 40 books, including 22 novels and seven volumes of short stories.<ref name="tameside"/><ref name="TharuLalita1993">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjZYf9Xf9bcC&pg=PA465|title=Women Writing in India: The twentieth century|author1=Susie J. Tharu|author2=Ke Lalita|publisher=Feminist Press at CUNY|year=1993|isbn=978-1-55861-029-3|pages=465–466}}</ref> ''Shravan Tara Saravada'' (1968) and ''Timirna Padchhaya'' (1969) are her initial novels, followed by ''Ek Palni Parakh'' (1969). ''Panch ne ek Panch'' (1969), ''Avajno Akar'' (1975), ''Chhevatnu Chhevat'' (1976), ''Pachha Farata'' (1991) and ''Pagala'' (1983) are her suspense novels. ''Neelima Mrutyu Pami Chhe'' (1977) is a social as well as suspense novel. ''Atash'' (1976) is a novel on violence in [[Vietnam]]. Her ''Bandivan'' (1986) is about corruption in jails.

Her other novels are:

* ''Ganth Chuutyani Vela'' (1980),
* ''Mrityudand'' (1996),
* ''Matinu Ghar'' (1991),
* ''Shag Re Shakoru'' (2004),
* ''Paratham Pagalu Mandiyu'' (2008) and
* ''Pagalu Mandu Hu Avkashma'' (2005)

Her other novellas are:
* ''Mare Pan Ek Ghar Hoy'' (1971),
* ''Retpankhi'' (1974) and
* ''Khari Padelo Tahuko'' (1983)

''Khari Padelo Tahuko'' also includes another novella ''Ek Karagar'' in its book.<ref name=AGSI/> ''Ansar'' (1992) is her most celebrated novel on [[lepers]].<ref name=AGSI/>

Her short story collections are ''E'' (1979), ''Sanjne Umbare'' (1983), ''Endhani'' (1989), ''Bilipatranu Chothu Paan'' (1994), ''Ganthe Bandhyu Akash'' (1998), ''Anuradha'' (2003) and ''Koi Var Thay Ke...'' (2004). Her selected stories are published as ''Varsha Adaljani Shreshth Vartao'' (1992) edited by [[Ila Arab Mehta]].<ref name=AGSI/>

''Mandodari'' (1998) is a collection of [[one-act play]]s. ''Aa Chhe Karagar'' (1986), ''Tirad'', ''Shaheed'' (2003), ''Vasanti Koyal'' (2006) are her plays. Her novels ''Mare Pan Ek Ghar Hoy'' and ''Retpankhi'' are adapted for short TV series. ''Timirna Padchhaya'' was adapted into three-act play and has more than a hundred shows. She adapted her father's novel as ''Daridranarayan'' as TV series and later as a play. She has produced an award-winning television film on leprosy, ''Ansar''.<ref name="loc"/><ref name=AGSI/>

Her essay collections include ''Prithvi Tirth'' (1994) and ''Akhu Akash Ek Pinjarma'' (2007). Her travelogues are ''Nabh Zukyu'' (2002), ''Ghughave Chhe Jal'' (2002), ''Shivoham'' (2006) and ''Sharanagat'' (2007). She edited ''Amar Premkathao'' (2000).<ref name=AGSI/>

''Crossroad'' was published in 2016. It is a magnum opus historical novel spread over three generations.

==Awards==
She received [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] (1995) for her novel ''Ansar''.<ref name=sahitya>{{cite web | url=http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10318.htm#gujarati | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331234109/http://www.sahitya-akademi.gov.in/old_version/awa10318.htm#gujarati | archive-date=31 March 2009 | title=Sanskrit Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955-2007 | publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] Official website | access-date=29 June 2009 | url-status=dead }}</ref> She also received Soviet Land Nehru Award (1976), Gujarati Sahitya Academy Award (1977, 1979, 1980), Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Award (1972, 1975) and K. M. Munshi Award (1997). She received [[Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak]] in 2005. She has received Nandshankar Mehta Chandrak, Saroj Pathak Prize and Ramnarayan Pathak Short Story Prize for story writing.<ref name="loc"/><ref name=AGSI/>

==See also==
* [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati]]
* [[List of Gujarati-language writers]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{s-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Ramesh Parekh]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = Recipient of the [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati|Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Gujarati]] | years = 1995}}
{{s-aft | after = [[Himanshi Shelat]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adalja, Varsha}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Gujarati]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]
[[Category:National School of Drama alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian short story writers]]
[[Category:Women writers from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Indian women short story writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak]]
[[Category:Novelists from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Indian women essayists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women novelists]]

Varsha Adalja - Revision history

BrockVanhoose67: Starting The Data W/ Refs