Madhu Rye

Madhusudan Vallabhdas Thaker (born 1942), popularly known as Madhu Rye is a Gujarati playwright, novelist and short story writer. Born in Gujarat and educated at Calcutta, he started writing in the 1960s and became known for his stories and plays. His experience at the University of Hawaii introduced him to experimental writing and improvisations as writing aid, which later led to a movement against absurd theatre. He moved to the US in 1974 and has lived there since. He chiefly wrote novels, short stories and plays. His plays were successful and have been adapted into several languages and media. He has adapted his novels into plays and some plays into novels. The most notable is Kimball Ravenswood, which was loosely adapted into a Hindi TV series Mr. Yogi, and a Hindi film, What's Your Rashee? (2009).

Early life and education Madhusudan Vallabhdas Thaker was born in 1942 in Jamkhambhaliya, Gujarat to Vallabhdas and Vijayaben. He completed his primary and secondary education in Calcutta. He studied Intermediate Science at Scottish Church College in Calcutta from 1958 to 1960. He did his Bachelor of Arts from University of Calcutta in 1963. He started out by translating the short stories of Gujarati writer Shivkumar Joshi, in Hindi, under the pen name Madhu Rye. He moved to Ahmedabad in 1967 and joined Navneetlal and Co. as a marketing writer. He went to Honolulu, US in 1970 and studied stagecraft, especially playwriting and direction at the University of Hawaii for two semesters.

Rye settled in the US and started the Gujarati weekly in 1978.

Works Rye is an experimental and modernist writer. He created the style of formless prose writing called "harmonica" for some of his short stories. Kimball Ravenswood (1973) is a story of a non-resident Indian searching for a bride in India, intertwined with mock astrology. Kalpataru (1987) is a futuristic mystery science fiction novel. He also adapted three novels from his own plays; Kamini (1970) from Koi Pan Ek Phool Nu Naam Bolo To (1968), Sabha (1972) from Kumarni Agashi (1975), Saapbaji from Aapne Club ma Malya Hata. They all are psychological thrillers. Mukhsukh (2001) and Sura, Sura, Sura are his other novels.

Plays Koi Pan Ek Phool Nu Naam Bolo To (Tell Me the Name of a Flower, 1968), Kumar ni Agashi (The Terrace, 1975) and Aapne Club ma Malya Hata, Pankor Nake Jaake, Sura Ane Shatrujeet are his plays. Koi pan Ek Phoolnu Naam Bolo To was translated into fourteen languages, and broadcast by the All India Radio His one act play Ashwatthama was once a popular entry in college competitions along with his other one act plays. His play Sura ane Shatrujeet is sporadically performed by amateur groups in Gujarat and Mumbai.

He has also adapted various plays into Gujarati including: George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and its musical adaptation My Fair Lady as a musical Santu Rangilee (1976), Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit as Sharat and Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth as Khelando. . It was also made in Marathi as 'Hi Shekhar Khosla kon Hoto?' . Dr. Padaki also adapted Kumar ni Agashi and performed in Bangalore in English (The Terrace). The Hindi translation was done by Ismat Chugtai as 'Neela Kamra' and the play was directed by late Shafi Inamdar . Both these plays continue to be performed regularly at amateur theatre fest/competitions.

Essays Rye has been an avid writer of essays, published as weekly columns in several publications, such as Navroz, Janmabhoomi, Samkaleen, and Abhiyaan. He writes a weekly column Neele Gagan Ke Tale (Under the Big Blue Sky) in Gujarati daily Divya Bhaskar since 2008.

His essay collections are Neele Gagan Ke Tale, Mann Ki Been, Sepia, Dil Ki Gali, Kefiyat.

Translation He translated three works into Gujarati; The Scarlet Letter, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison and The Light in the Forest. Kahan is his translation of a work by Mrinalini Sarabhai.

Awards He was awarded Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 1972. He received the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak for 1999. He received the Bhupen Khakhar Award in 2004 for his play, Sura Ane Shatrujeet. He also received the Sahitya Gaurav puraskar award in 2020