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{{short description|1941 Gujarati novel by Pannalal Patel}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Malela Jeev
| image = Malela Jiv Cover page.jpeg
| image_size =
| caption = Cover page
| author = [[Pannalal Patel]]
| title_orig = મળેલા જીવ
| orig_lang_code = gu
| translator = Rajesh I. Patel
| cover_artist =
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| release_number =
| subject = [[Tragedy|Romantic tragedy]]
| genre = [[Novel]]
| set_in = [[Ahmedabad]], [[Gujarat]]
| publisher = Sanjeevani
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = 1941 (20th ed. in 2014)
| english_pub_date = 2014
| published =
| media_type = Print (Paperback & Hardcover)
| pages = 272 (Gujarati ed. 2014)
| awards =
| isbn = 978-93-80126-00-5
| isbn_note =
| oclc = 21052377
| dewey = 891.473
| congress = PK1859.P28 M3
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| native_wikisource =
| wikisource =
| notes =
| exclude_cover =
| website =
}}

'''''Malela Jeev''''' ({{langx|gu|મળેલા જીવ}}; English: The United Souls) is a [[Gujarati language]] [[romance novel]] written by [[Pannalal Patel]].<ref name="Kapoor2002">{{cite book|author=Subodh Kapoor|title=The Indian Encyclopaedia: Gautami Ganga -Himmat Bahadur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nt4nbp1VIhsC&pg=PA2718|access-date=8 December 2016|volume=9|year=2002|publisher=Cosmo Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7755-266-9|page=2718}}</ref> Alongside ''[[Manvini Bhavai]],'' it is one of Patel's two most widely acclaimed novels. It is a [[Tragedy|romantic tragedy]] of Kanji and Jivi, born in different [[caste]]s. It follows the troubles they face in their love story.<ref name=pp>{{cite thesis |last=Patel |first= Rajesh I.|date= 12 May 2011|title= Translation of Pannalal Patel's "Malela Jeev" from Gujarati into English with critical introduction|chapter=Chapter 2|hdl= 10603/3222|institution=Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies, Saurashtra University|place=Rajkot}}</ref>

== Origin ==
Gujarati writer-editor, [[Jhaverchand Meghani]], had asked Pannalal Patel to write a story for ''[[Phulchhab]]'', a Gujarati daily. Patel then wrote ''Malela Jeev'' in 24 days and it was serialised in the daily ''Phulchhab''. It was later published as a book in 1941.<ref name=ho>{{cite book |last=Patel |first=Pannalal |year=2016 |title=Malela Jeev |location=Ahmedabad |publisher=Sanjeevani Publication |isbn=978-93-80126-00-5}}</ref>

== Characters ==
* Kanji - a gentleman boy, born in a [[Patel]] family.
* Jivi - a beautiful woman, born in a [[Nai (caste)|barber]] family.
* Hiro - Kanji's friend
* Dhulo - a barber, who lives in Kanji's village.

== Plot==
[[File:Kaleshwari Art Fair.jpg|thumb|The [[Kaleshwari Group of Monuments|Kaleshwari Fair]] mentioned in the novel, where Kanji and Jivi first met]]

Kanji and Jivi live in Jogipara and Udharia villages near [[Idar, Gujarat|Idar]] and they belong to different [[caste]]s. They met each other at the [[Krishna Janmashtami|Janmashtami]] [[fair]] and fell in love. They were unable to marry due to coming from different castes. Kanji also has the social responsibility of his elder brother's family. But he finds it difficult to live without Jivi. His friend Hiro suggests having Jivi marry Dhula, the barber in their own village. After a great psychological struggle, Kanji agrees with Hira and get Jivi married to Dhula. But his plan does not bring the expected result. Dhula's suspicious nature, his tyranny, and his poor treatment of Jivi causes Kanji's plan to be unsuccessful. Kanji's God-fearing nature and his indecisive mental state also play a role in his failure. Kanji moves from the village to the city to keep himself away from Jivi. Jivi, meanwhile, is tired of the daily quarrels and beatings and tries to commit suicide. But, by mistake, her tyrannical husband Dhulo loses his life and she falls into an emotional imbalance, yearning for her beloved Kanji. In the end Kanji's worldly love transformed into a spiritual love, and so he comes from the city to be with Jivi.<ref name=pp/><ref name="gujjubhai 2012">{{cite web | author=gujjubhai | title=Malela Jeev Gujarati Natak | website=GujjuBhai | date=2012-09-10 | url=http://www.gujjubhai.in/malela-jeev-gujarati-natak/ | access-date=2016-12-08}}</ref>

==Reception==
The books was well received by readers and critics. Meghani had written, "It is not only the story of Kanji and Jivi but also the story of all of us. It is the sensitive story of the entire society. And herein lies the aesthetic beauty of this novel."<ref name="Vadukut">{{cite web | last=Vadukut | first=God Save The Dork by Sidin | title=Kanji and Jivi - A Tragic Love Story | website=The India Club, Inc. | url=http://www.indiaclub.com/Kanji-and-Jivi--A-Tragic-Love-Story_p_382526.html | access-date=2016-12-07 | archive-date=2018-12-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226071954/http://www.indiaclub.com/Kanji-and-Jivi--A-Tragic-Love-Story_p_382526.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Chandrakant Topiwala]] has written, "It is writer's own local world set in local elements of village reality which is synonymous to the whole world at the level of motion of story elements and psychoanalysis." [[Tribhuvandas Luhar|Sundaram]] had said, "The story in its present form can serve as a representative of Gujarati literature in any [[Indian literature]] and, with some reservations, in [[world literature]]."<ref name="KCG">{{cite journal |last= Dodia|first= Sanjay|date= August–September 2012|title= 'મળેલા જીવ' નવલકથામાં ગ્રામચેતના|url=http://www.kcgjournal.org/humanity/issue3/sanjay.php |journal= Journal of Humanity|volume=1 |issue= 3|access-date=8 December 2016|language=gu|publisher= Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat, Department of Higher Education, Government of Gujarat| issn=2279-0233}}</ref> ''Malela Jeevni Samiksha'' is a criticism of it written by [[Labhshankar Thakar]] with [[Chinu Modi]] and [[Manhar Modi]].<ref name= "agsi">{{cite book|title=અર્વાચીન ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો ઈતિહાસ - આધુનિક અને અનુઆધુનિક યુગ (History of Modern Gujarati Literature – Modern and Postmodern Era)|first=Prasad|last=Brahmabhatt |publisher=Parshwa Publication|location=Ahmedabad|year=2010|pages=43–53|isbn=978-93-5108-247-7|language=gu}}</ref>

It has been reprinted several times; in 1944, 1947, 1950, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016.<ref name=ho/>

==Translation and adaptations==
This novel has been translated into several Indian languages<ref name="Weightman1996">{{cite book|author=S. C. R. Weightman|title=Traveller's literary companion to the Indian sub-continent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEgOAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Print Publ. Ltd|isbn=978-1-873047-30-9|page=209}}</ref> such as in Hindi, [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], [[Kannada]] and as ''Kalasina Jeevithalu'' in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] by [[Vemuri Anjaneya Sarma]]. The novel was translated by Rajesh I. Patel into English as ''Kanji and Jivi: A Tragic Love Story'' in 2014 (Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi).<ref name=pp/><ref>{{cite book|title=Indian and Foreign Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FVDAAAAYAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Publications Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref> It was translated into Hindi as ''Jeevi'' in 1958 by Padmasingh Sharma.<ref name="IL1958">{{cite journal|title=Sahitya Akademi's New Releases in Hindi|journal=[[Indian Literature (journal)|Indian Literature]]|date=April–September 1958|volume=1|issue=2|jstor=23329282}} {{closed access}}</ref>

The novel has also been adapted into several films and plays. ''Ulajhan'' directed by N. R. Acharya was the first Gujarati film adaptation of the novel.<ref name="KCG"/> ''Malela Jeev'' (1956) is a [[Gujarati cinema|Gujarati film]] directed by [[Manhar Raskapur]]. It was scripted by the novelist himself.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen2014">{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT8|date=10 July 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94318-9|page=347}}</ref> ''[[Janumada Jodi]]'', the 1996 blockbuster [[Cinema of Karnataka|Kannada]] film, is based on ''Malela Jeev''.<ref name="Deccan Herald 2016">{{cite web | title=Biopic on former Karnataka CM Devaraj Urs soon | website=Deccan Herald | date=2016-12-07 | url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/550095/biopic-former-karnataka-cm-devaraj.html | access-date=2016-12-07}}</ref> It was also adopted into a play, directed by Nimesh Desai, into Gujarati.<ref name="gujjubhai 2012"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive|malelajiva0000pate}}
* [http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/3222/9/09_chapter%203.pdf English translation of ''Malela Jeev'' by Rajesh I. Patel]
* {{Google Books|id=AGVNAQAAIAAJ}} (Hindi translation)

[[Category:1941 novels]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novels]]
[[Category:Indian romance novels]]
[[Category:Tragedy novels]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language novels]]
[[Category:Third-person narrative novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in Gujarat]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Books about the caste system in India]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Indian novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Indian novels adapted into plays]]

Malela Jeev - Revision history

RooseveltMacCull at 12:23, 2 February 2026