Ram Ganesh Gadkari
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Ram Ganesh Gadkari (26 May 1885 – 23 January 1919) 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 * * ...
poet, playwright, and humorist from
Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. Ram Ganesh Gadkari was one of the writers the in new age transformation in Marathi literature. He wrote poetry under the pen name ''Govindagraj'' and humorous articles under the pen name ''Balakram''. He wrote plays under his legal name.


Early life

Gadkari was born on 26 May 1885 in a Marathi Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu family in the town of ''Navsari'' of
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
. He died at Saoner near
Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...
on 23 January 1919. His father Ganesh Raghunath asudeoGadkari died on 24 September 1893, and poverty hindered his timely formal education. He finished his high school education at age 19 and enrolled in
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 ...
's Fergusson College. However, flunking in the mathematics examination, he abandoned his formal education at the end of the first year in college, and took up teaching to support himself while pursuing his keen literary interests. Until nine years of his age, he was unable to speak Marathi. Afterwards, he read and studied
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 * * ...
,
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
literature extensively. He critically studied particularly the works of Sanskrit playwrights
Kalidas Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and ...
and Bhavabhuti; modern Marathi poets of his era
Keshavasuta Krishnaji Keshav Damle ( mr, कृष्णाजी केशव दामले) (October 7, 1866 - November 7, 1905) was a Marathi poet from Malgund , Ratnagiri Maharashtra, India, who wrote poetry under the pen name Keshavasuta or Keshavsut ...
and Shripad Krushna Kolhatkar; Marathi poets of earlier times like Dnyaneshwar and Moropant; and English writers like
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
,
Percy Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
, and
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
.


Personal

Ram Ganesh Gadkari was married twice. His first wife Sitabai had left him though according to some contemporaries it was he who had abandoned her. His second wife Rama was younger by some 17 years than him but this too proved to be not a very happy marriage. Gadkari was bitterly disappointed when he realized that marital bliss that he was seeking was not going to come his way.


Literary work

Within his short life span of 35 years, Gadkari produced four complete plays, three unfinished plays, 150 poems, and some humorous articles. (On the day of his death, he had finished writing just a few hours earlier his play ''Bhava Bandhan'' (भावबंधन).) Literary critics have judged all of his works to be of very high caliber.


Completed plays

* Ekach Pyala (एकच प्याला) * Prema Sanyas (प्रेमसंन्यास) * Punyaprabhav (पुण्यप्रभाव) * Bhava Bandhan (भावबंधन) Celebrated playwright, Vijay Tendulkar considers Gadkari the greatest poet-dramatist in any Indian language after Kalidas. He feels that no other than Gadkari had the genius to describe Sambhaji's extraordinary sacrifice in his struggle against the monstrous emperor Aurangzeb. Similarly, another prominent Marathi literary figure, Acharya Atre, considered Gadkari's contribution to Marathi literature and in particular Marathi drama as one of highest order. He was associated with Kirloskar natak company. His drama ''Ekach Pyala'' was performed by 'Balgandharva' as Sindhu after his death in 1919, which was the story of a poor, devoted wife Sindhu and her alcoholic husband Sudhakar. There was some speculation that his play ''Ekach Pyala'' was based upon his personal and real experience with hard drinking, but Acharya Atre has convincingly demolished this speculation in his own autobiographical works and has stated that the one obsession that Gadkari had in his entire life was literature. Acharya Atre knew Gadkari fairly intimately, and therefore this assertion has a reasonable basis.


Unfinished plays

* Garva Nirvan (गर्वनिर्वाण) * Wedyancha Bajar (वेड्यांचा बाजार) * Raj Sanyas (राजसंन्यास)


Poetry

* Vagvaijayanti (वाग्वैजयंती) (collection of poems) * Pimpalpan (पिंपळपान) (collection of poems)


Humor

* ''Balakram'' (बाळकराम) (collection of humorous articles)


Gadkari Rangayatan (Gadkari Drama Theatre) and statue

With a view to preserve the rich cultural heritage of
Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
, the Thane Municipal Council constructed Rangayatan in 1979, a drama theatre, named after Shri Ram Ganesh Gadkari. The theatre has been hosting different plays and cultural programmes since. Also in Pune city in the well-known
Sambhaji Sambhaji Bhosale (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing ...
Park Gadkari's statue has been installed. As a matter of coincidence this park is next door to the city's well-known drama theatre Bal Gandharva Ranga Mandir. The statue was uprooted and thrown into the Mutha river by the activists of the
Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...
extremist group,
Sambhaji Brigade Sambhaji Brigade is a Maratha outfit, based in Maharashtra, India. It is a branch of the Maratha Seva Sangh. The Brigade is named after the Maratha king Sambhaji son of the first Maratha king Shivaji. Known for its controversial and often viol ...
on 3 January 2017 because Gadkari showed Sambhaji in a poor light in his incomplete play 'Rajsanyas'. The Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP), the community to which Gadkari belonged later organized a meeting to protest this incident at the Gadkari Rangayatan.
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
leader
Nitesh Rane Nitesh Narayan Rane (born 23 June 1982) is an Indian politician and a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the Kankavli vidhansabha constituency. He is the head of the non-governmental organisation "Swabhiman Sanghatana". He is the y ...
rewarded the vandals and made inflammatory remarks claiming that he had announced a reward earlier in 2016 for removing the bust, and was proud of the act carried out by the accused.


References


External links

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/pune-maratha-brigade-writer-statue-removed/1/848253.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Gadkari, Ram Ganesh Marathi-language writers 1885 births 1919 deaths Writers in British India