Veteran Gujarati journalist Kanti Bhatt suffers stroke, dies at 88 in Mumbai

Though Bhatt decided to take a plunge into journalism in the late 1960s as a financial journalist in Mumbai, he later became a freelance journalist while also writing columns for various organisations. Gradually, Bhatt attained prominence as a prolific columnist, writing on diverse subjects.

As per an estimate, he must have written more than 45,000 articles in his journalistic career. Bhatt was also founding editor of one of the leading Gujarati magazines, Abhiyan, launched with his wife Sheela, also a veteran journalist and member of the Editors Guild of India.

Bhatt had very recently announced his retirement from writing a regular column in a leading Gujarati daily.

Last month, on July 20, Bhatt’s family and friends had organised a function in Mumbai to celebrate his achievements. At that function, Bhatt had danced wholeheartedly to the tunes of raas-garba, Ashu Patel, a close associate of Bhatt, said.

Ashu said, “Kantibhai’s health was fine until recently. In fact, on July 20, he danced and sang songs with us at a function to celebrate his achievements. On Friday, he had a brain stroke that also caused damage to his heart. Following that, he died on Sunday.”

Bhatt is survived by his wife, Sheela Bhatt, who worked as an editor with this paper, The Indian Express.

Ashu, whom Bhatt used to call his ‘Manas Putra’ said that his mentor had a tremendous passion and dedication for writing and reading articles on diverse subjects. Ashu said it was a testament to the fact that Bhatt was a vociferous reader that “while his dead body was lying at home before the funeral, a book that he had bought was delivered today.”

Ashu also spoke of the Bhatt’s desire to write a novel. “He had never written a novel. And on his last birthday – July 15, he told me that he wanted to jointly write a novel with me,” Ashu said.

Ashu, a journalist and columnist himself, said that another interesting aspect of Bhatt’s personality was that he used to mentor many young people into journalism. On July 20, Ashu, hoping to continue that tradition, had announced that he would establish the ‘Kanti Bhatt – Sheela Bhatt Foundation’ to help budding journalists.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over Bhatt’s demise. In a tweet earlier today, Modi said, “The world of readers has suffered a big loss due to the death of columnist and journalist Kanti Bhatt whose column used to make the mornings informative.” Modi also expressed condolences to the grief-ridden family and readers of Bhatt.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also condoled the death of Bhatt.

“Shree Kantibhai Bhatt has a priceless contribution to Gujarati journalism and column writing. Kantibhai impressed a number of generations through his personality and writing skills. His death has created a void that can’t be filled. I express my sentiments towards his family and readers.”