Balakrishna Bhagwant Borkar (30 November 1910 – 8 July 1984) was a poet from

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, India. Bā Bha Borkar, also known as Ba-ki-baab, started writing poems at an early age. The author Vi SA Khandekar was an early champion of Borkar's poetry. Borkar joined Goa's fight for freedom in the 1950s and moved to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, where he worked for the radio. Most of his literature is written in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

, though his Konkani output is also considerable. He excelled as a

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

writer as well. His long poems ''Mahatmayan'', an unfinished poem dedicated to Gandhi), and ''TamaHstotra'' (upon the possibility of blindness due to

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and old age) are famous. One of his famous poems is "Mazha Gaav", meaning "My village". After Borkar's death,

Pu La Deshpande Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (alternatively written as Pu La Deshpande; 8 November 1919 – 12 June 2000), popularly known by his initials ("Pu. La.") or as P. L. Deshpande, was a Marathi writer and humorist from Maharashtra. He was also an ac ...

and his wife Sunitabai performed public readings of Borkar's poetry.

Life and career

Balkrishna Bhagwant Borkar was born on 30 November 1910 in the village of Borim, Goa situated on the banks of the Zuari river. The atmosphere in his house was very pious and there used to be recitals of bhajans, kirtans, holy scripts and songs of saints of Maharashtra. As a household rule every child was supposed to learn new Abhangs by heart. It is said that Borkar once forgot to learn a new Abhang and when it was his turn to recite, he composed an Abhnag on the fly. People who were listening were astonished and could not believe that young Borkar could have done this and he was asked to compose one more Abhang. He surprised them again by composing one more Abhang and ended it with the verse "''Baki Mhane''" (so says Baki). Borkar's mother tongue was Konkani and he did his schooling till the second grade in Marathi medium. Goa at that time was under the colonial rule of the Portuguese and Baki had to complete his further education in Portuguese language. He acquired a Portuguese Teachers Diploma. He could not continue his formal education beyond that point because of lack of funds and had to find himself a job. He worked as teacher in various schools in Goa from 1930 to 1945. Later he left for Bombay (Mumbai) where he edited Konkani periodicals ''Amacha Gomatak'' and ''Porjecho Awaj''. In November 1955 he joined ''Aakashwani'' (

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

) and worked there until his retirement in 1970. Bakibaab's first collection of poems "''Pratibha''" was published in 1930. He was just 20 years of age at that time. He was enthralled by nature, especially Goa's natural beauty and it is aptly depicted in his poems and work. When Dr. Rammanohar Lohia went to Goa in 1946 to announce the liberation movement, Bakibaab jumped into the freedom struggle without a moment's notice. His composition ''Goyan Lohia Aaylore'' (Lohia has come to Goa) became quite famous. Leaving behind a household of ten supported by him and sacrificing a secure government job, he jumped in wholeheartedly into the movement and took up the mission to spread patriotism through his poems. Bakibaab forte was his diverse sensibility, his multi-coloured imagery and easy with which he could showcase the joys and sorrows of life. His works were about nature, patriotism, about body and soul, sensuous and meditative, about individual and society. He was poet of Goa, poet of Maharashtra. He was poet of India. He was awarded

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, India's fourth highest civilian award, by the then President

S. Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...

in # recognition of his distinguished service in the field of Literature & Education. He was also awarded the ''Tamrapatra'' (Copper Plaque) in 1974 by the Government of India for his meritorious services to the cause of India's freedom. Bakibaab died on 8 July 1984.

Published works – Marathi

Poetic work *"Pratibha" (1930): Publisher: Kashinath Shridhar Nayak (Mumbai) *"Jeevansangeet" (1937) Bharat Gaurav Granthmala (Mumbai) *"Dudhsagar" (1947) *"Anand Bhairavi" (1950) Continental Prakashan (Pune) *"Chitraveena" (1960), 4th edition 1985, Mauj Prakashan (Mumbai) *"Borkaranchi Kavita" (1960), Mauj Prakashan (Mumbai) *"Guitar" (1965), 2nd edition 1984, Mauj Prakashan (Mumbai) *"Chaitrapunav" (1970), Mauj Prakashan (Mumbai) *"Chandanvel" (1972), 2nd edition 1984, Editors: Kusumagraj and G.M. Kulkarni, Continental Prakashan (Pune) *"Meghdoot" (1980) – Translation of Kalidas's work, Shrividya Prakashan (Pune) *"Kanchan Sandhya" (1981), Mauj Prakashan (Mumbai) *"Anuragini" (1982), Suresh Agency (Pune) *"Chinmayee" (1984), Suresh Agency (Pune) *"Borkaranchi Prem Kavita" (1984), Editor: R.C. Dhere, Suresh Agency (Pune) *"Kaivalya Che Zaad" (1987), Suresh Agency (Pune) Short stories *"Kagadi Hodya" (1938), Shri Shivaji Mudranalay, Nave Goy *"Chandnyache Kavadse" (1982), Majestic Book Stall, Mumbai *"Pavala Purta Prakash" (1982), Alok Prakashan, Kolhapur *"Ghumtavarle Parve" (1986), Bandodkar Publication House, Goa Novels *"Mavalta Chandra" (1938) Maharashtra Granth Bhandar, Kolhapur. 3rd edition 1986 Bandokar Publishing House, Goa *"Andharantil Laataa" (1943) Damodar Moghe, Kolhapur. 2nd edition 1986 Bandodkar Publishing House, Goa *"Bhavin" (1950) Continental Prakashan, Pune *"Priycama" (1983) Suresh Agency, Pune Biographies *"Anandyatri Ravindranath: Sanskar Ani Sadhana" (1964), 2nd edition Suresh Agency (Pune) *"Mahamanav Ravindranath" (1974), Pune University Translations *"Jalte Rahasya" (Stephen Ewing) 1945, V.N. Moghe, Kolhapur *"Kachechi Kimaya" (Stephen Ewing) 1945, P.R.Dhamdhere, Pune *"Bapuji Chi Ozarti Darshane" (Kakasaheb Kalelkar) 1950 *"Amhi Pahilele Gandhiji" (Chandrashekhar Shukla) 1950 *"Majhi Jeevan Yatra" (Autobiography-Janki Devi Bajaj) 1960, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai Edited work *"Rasyatra" – Kusumagraj's poems (1969) Continental, Pune

Published works – Konkani

Poetic work *"Painjana", 1960, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai. *"Sasaay", 1980, Kulagar Prakashan, Madgaon. *"Kanthamani", Jaag Prakashan, India Translations *"Geeta Pravachan" (Vinoba), Pardham, Pavnar, 1956 *"Geetay", 1960, Popular, Mumbai *"Vasavdutt-Ek Pranay natya" (Arvind Ghosh), 1973, Jaag Prakashan, Priol (Goa) *"Paigambar" (Khalil Jibran), 1973, Jaag Prakashan, Priol (Goa) *"Sanshay Kallol" (G.B. Deval), 1975, Jaag Prakashan, Priol (Goa) *"Bhagwan Buddh" (Dharmanand Kossambi), Sahitya Academy *"Konkani Kavya Sangraha", 1981, Sahitya Academy Literature *"Ba. Bha. Borkar: Vyakti and Vangmay" – Manohar Hirba Sardessai 1992, Gomantak Marathi Academy, Panaji *"Mandovi"- Kavivarya Ba.Bha. Borkar 60th birthday special issue, 1970, Editor: Shriram Pandurang Kamat, Goa.

Awards

*1934 – Gold Medal Marathi Sahitya Samellan for Poetry *1950 – Gold Medal Gomantak Marathi Sahitya Samellan for Novel "Bhavin" *1950 – President – Kokani Sahitya Samellan *1957– President – MarathiKavi Samellan, Solapur *1961-President – Tagore Centinary Sahitya Shakha *1956 -President – Gomantak Marathi Sahitya Samellan *1963-President Sahityakar Sansad, Allahabad *1964–1970 – President- Institute Menezes Braganza, Panaji, Goa *1963 – Member of the Sahitik Shistamandal to Sri Lanka *1967 – Padmashri – Government of India *1968 – President – Akhil Bharatiya Kokani Parishad *1970– President-Second Marathi Sahitya Parishad's Sahitya Samellan, Mahabaleshwar *1970-President- 20th Mumbai Subarban Sahitya Samellan *1970 – President- 72 nd Annual Function of Mumbai Marathi Granthasangralaya

References

External links

*
Recital of Borkar's poetry by his nephew Dr. Ghanashyam Borkar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borkar, Poet Marathi-language poets Marathi-language writers Poets from Goa 1910 births 1984 deaths Goa liberation activists 20th-century Indian poets Indian male poets Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education People from North Goa district 20th-century Indian male writers Konkani-language poets Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Konkani