Gaura Pant aka Shivani is a name that is known to every enthusiastic reader of Hindi Literature. Thousands of people have got to know about the Kumaon region through her simple and heart-touching stories.
Gaura Pant was born on 17th October 1924, at Rajkot in Gujarat. Her family later moved to Orchha, where her father was Diwan with the Nawab of Rampur. Her childhood had the influence of various places, which can later be seen in her work. In 1935, she published her first story in children’s magazine ‘Natkhat’ at the young age of twelve.
She completed her education at Tagore’s Visva-Bharti University at Shantiniketan. Her love for writing emerged during her stay at Shantiniketan. It was during this tenure that she decided to pursue writing not only as a leisurely activity but as a profession as well.
Every writer takes up a pen name, by which they are known. Gaura Pant was known as ‘Shivani’. Shivani came into existence after the publishing of her short story ‘Main MurgaHoon’ in the magazine ‘Dharmayug’ in 1931. She wrote women-centric stories mainly about the upper-class societies often having a tragic destiny. Her stories had a bit of Bengali influence on them due to her stay at Shanti Niketan. She published her first novel ‘Lal Haveli’in 1960 and over these ten years, her works were serialized in Dharmayug.
Her work touched the readers’ hearts with its simplicity and one could imagine the episodes taking place in her stories as a part of their own life. She would take the reader’s mind to the villages of Kumaon and let the story unfold. Such was the beauty of her writing. Some of her famous works include ‘ChaudhaPhere’, ‘Krishnakali’, ‘Lal Haveli’, ‘ShamshanChampa’, ‘Rati Vilap’ etc.
Towards the end of her mortal journey, she took up autobiographical writing, in her book ‘Shivani kiShresthKahaniyan’. gaura pant books become popular in no time. She took her last breath on 21 March 2003 in New Delhi. Gaura Pant Shivani has become immortal through her work and has been inspiring generation after generation.