Veteran folk artiste who mentored many, Joravarsinh Jadav dies at 85

“He was unwell for the past ten days and had been admitted at a hospital due to thyroid issues. After treatment, he recovered and was discharged from the hospital but again complained and was about to be re-admitted. He died around 5 am on Friday,” Jadav’s son Narendrasinh Jadav told The Indian Express.

Born on January 10,1940, at Akru village in the Dhandhuka taluka of Ahmedabad district, Jadav was honoured with several awards, including the Meghani Suvarna Chandrak and the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Award, Javerchand Meghani Award, established the Gujarat Folk Art Foundation and encouraged many folk artistes.

He was also holding the position of Vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi.

“We would fondly call him ‘Bapu’. He gave national and international platforms to more than 3,000 folk artistes, like me, from most of the interior parts of Gujarat. He would pick the smallest of folk artists from tribal villages, such as Bhavai, and provide them a platform. He was always a phone call away, even late at night. I had nothing before I met him and today my entire family is into various dance forms – only due to him. He was our heart,” said 55-year-old Bharat Bariya, international classical dance artiste, choreographer, actor and a trainer from Panchmahal.

One of the artistes who performed while Jadav was taken for his last rites in the Vadaj crematorium, Bharat has worked for “more than half of his life” with him. “Since the age of 25, I have been working with Bapu. He was such a simple soul and would be a child among children and an adult among grown-ups,” Bharat added.

Another artiste, Akshay Patel (51), artistic director of Nrityavali, a dance group in Ahmedabad told The Indian Express, “Bapu would pick artists from every corner of Gujarat, gave them platforms and awarded them. He would not consider any artiste small or big. I have never seen an artiste like him…”

Under his guidance, many were able to present their art in more than 50 countries, including Dubai, America, Canada, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago. In recent years, he had started rewarding differently-abled artists.