On Thursday, 6th June 2019 a milestone occurred in the history of Gujarati Journalism. The weekly column ‘Int ane Imarat’ (brick & the edifice) written by Kumarpal Desai, published on the editorial page of ‘Gujarat Samachar’ – the leading Gujarati newspaper in Gujarat completed 65 years without having missed a single edition.
The litterateur, ‘Jaybhikhu’ (Balabhai Desai) started this column on 5th June 1954. He passed away on 24th December 1969. His son Kumarpal took up the commitment to write for the column under the same heading and has been doing so for almost 50 years and has truly kept his father’s value based heritage alive for the past half-century.
Since Kumarpal Desai started, he has never missed a single issue. He has maintained the high standard of creative writing reflecting the thoughts of the society. ‘Int ane Imarat’ has established its own identity amongst several regular weekly columns published by the paper.
Mahesh Thakar, the learned and experienced journalist of Gujarat Samachar says – “We have not seen such a versatile and gifted columnist in our national language Hindi or in English. He dives deep to the bottom of the subject and comes up with pearls. His articles are well researched and thought out, demonstrating the quality of his professionalism as a journalist.
Ramesh Tanna, the current editor and also journalist of repute remarks that ‘Int ane Imarat’ column is a milestone of journalism and its writer Kumarpal Desai is an ideal icon for any young columnist.
Gujarati Journalism will be always indebted to Jaybhikhkhu and Kumarpal Desai.