Dadudan Gadhavi

Dadudan Gadhavi, known to his audiences as Kavi Daad, was a Gujarati poet and folk singer whose verses passed into the repertoire of folk performers across the state. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of literature and education, from Gujarat ^[1].

Heir to a tradition

Gadhavi was born on 11 September 1940 in Ishwariya village, in what is now Gir Somnath district ^[2]. Through his mother’s and father’s families he inherited the craft and grammar of Charani folk poetry, a line that included the poets Isardas and Suryamall Mishran ^[2].

Tevar and the songs that followed

His first collection, Tevar, was so well received that two generations of folk singers made their names singing his poems ^[2]. The best loved is “Kalja kero katko maro”, in which a father bids farewell to his daughter at her wedding; it moved Keshubhai Patel, then chief minister, to start the Kunvarbai nu Mameru scheme of financial help ^[2]. Another poem, in which a stone begs the sculptor to leave it on the battlefield where India’s soldiers fell rather than carve it into an idol, became a well-known patriotic piece ^[2].

He published ten collections of poetry in all ^[2]. He wrote of the Hiran river and of Mount Girnar, and a Hindi bhajan to Lord Shiva, “Kailas ke nivasi”, travelled far beyond Gujarat ^[2].

On stage and radio

Gadhavi was a favourite at the lok dayro, the evening gatherings of folk song and storytelling, where he sang and recited his own work ^[2]. He was a top-grade singer of All India Radio and sat on its audition committee in Rajkot, presenting fading forms such as Maniyaro and Katha Geet ^[2]. He also helped collect Charani manuscripts now kept at Saurashtra University ^[2].

He received the Gujarat government’s Lok Kala Puraskar in 1998, its award for best film lyricist for 1986, and the Dula Bhaya Kag award for Gujarati folk literature ^[2].

Gadhavi died in April 2021, three months after the award was announced, at the age of 81 ^[3]. The award was presented at the investiture ceremony posthumously ^[2].