Ram Balkrushna Shewalkar (2 March 1931 – 3 May 2009) was a

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 * * ...

orator, writer, and literary critic from

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. He was born on 2 March 1931 in

Achalpur Achalpur, formerly known as Ellichpur and Illychpur, is a city and a municipal council in Amravati District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the second most populous city in Amravati District after Amravati and seventh most populous ...

in Amravati district of Maharashtra.

Career

Shewalkar obtained post graduate college degrees in

and Sanskrit literature. He taught Sanskrit in a college for some years, and served for more than 25 years as the principal of a college at

Wani Wani may refer to: *Vani (custom), a child marriage custom in tribal areas of Pakistan *Wani (dragon), a Japanese dragon translated as "sea monster", "crocodile", or "shark" *Wani (scholar), a legendary scholar, sent from Korea to Japan during the ...

in Yavatmal district. In the 1980s, musician and singer Hridaynath Mangeshkar presented to the public in Maharashtra a popular musical program ''Amrutacha Ghanu'' which was based on the poetic compositions of Dnyaneshwar. Just before his musical presentations, Shewalkar would present a scholarly commentary on Dnyaneshwar’s works. The commentary received much acclaim in the Marathi-speaking public in Maharashtra. Shewalkar's first literary work was an anthology titled ''Asoshi'' (असोशी) (1956). He wrote 59 books, literary reviews, and anthologies. His scholarship pertained to Ramayana and Mahabharata; the works of poet saints of Maharashtra, including Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, and Ramdas; and modern personalities like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...

. "निवडक मराठी आत्मकथा" and "अंगारा" are the titles of two of his books. Website: www.ramshewalkar.com

Recognition

Shewalkar was a member of the Maharashtra State Film Censor Board for eleven years.

Nagpur University Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU), formerly Nagpur University, is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of India's oldest universities, as well as th ...

awarded him an honorary D. Litt. degree. He received Dinanath Mangeshkar Kusumagraj award, Nag Bushan award, and Jeenvrati Puraskar of Vidarbha Sahitya Sangh. He presided over Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Panaji in 1994. Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shewalkar, Ram Balkrushna Marathi-language writers 1931 births 2009 deaths People from Amravati district Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan