Sabarmati: Jnanpith awardee late Gujarati author Pannalal Patel’s autobiography Jindagi Sanjeevani, which he had written in Gujarati in 1986, has been adapted into English by her granddaughter Natasha Patel Nema.

“I congratulate Natasha Patel Nema for coming up with Shri Pannalal Patel’s autobiography in English. It is a story that needs to reach more people and I am confident the book will be a big success,” Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said at the book release function.

“Writing my grandfather Shri Pannalal Patel’s autobiography was a life-changing experience for me in the real sense. His life was a truly inspiring story. I had heard his story while growing up, but reading Jindagi Sanjeevani gave me goosebumps. I can only imagine the kind of struggles he had to face while growing up. He lost both parents at a very young age, had to drop out of school, worked as a domestic help to support himself and lost other people he was close with, but he never let the spark within him die. He never gave up and we know the heights he reached,” Ms Natasha Patel Nema said on the occasion.

“How my grandfather overcame all the challenges that life threw at him is a story that is relatable and inspiring even today. It is a story that needs to be told to a wider and bigger audience, especially the youth, which was the reason I decided to write his autobiography in English. I have attempted my best to retain the flavour of the original Gujarati autobiography my grandfather wrote, and I am confident it will strike a chord with the readers,” she said further.

Pannalal Patel was born in 1912 but lost his father when he was just two. He was raised by his mother amid great difficulties. After his mother’s passing away, he was forced to quit school and had to work as a servant and oilman for seven years to sustain himself and support his family. He started writing at the insistence of his school friend and famous author Umashankar Joshi. Very soon, Pannalal Patel was able to establish himself as an important figure in the Gujarati literary world.

In a writing career spanning over five decades, Pannalal Patel wrote 61 novels, 26 short story collections, and many other works. He was honoured with the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India, in 1985. Pannalal Patel passed away at age of 77 in 1989.