Arun kolatkar was born on november 1, 1931, in kolhapur, a large heartland city of the state of maharashtra. Arvind krishna mehrotra surveys arun kolatkars bilingual. Literature in the indian languages appears to possess a substantial by significant poetic writing, significant at least in. Indian writing in english, i have made a choice of arun. In 195557, poet arun kolatkar was in living madras. He wrote prolifically, in both marathi and english, publishing in magazines and anthologies. Arun kolatkar and narrating the bilingual position chase mowery monmouth college this study examines the influx of the english language into the indian literary sphere and its impact upon bilingual writers.
He is one of the few bilingual poets who caught the attention of critics and readers at. Arun kolatkar with an observant eye wearing the rationalists spectacle, has observed the events, situations, traditions, customs and rituals performed by the people at the barren land jejuri. Kolatkar was, among other things, one of the great cartographers of bombay. Arun kolatkar and narrating the bilingual position chase. Jejuri poem inspiration and process in architecture.
The poem the priest from jejuri appeared in marathi on pages 8889 of the 1977 special issue of rucha on kolatkar even as a book of poems in english, published by the small clearing house press, won the commonwealth poetry prize that year. Arun kolatkar is a maharashtrian poet writing both in english and marathi. He attended rajaram high school, in marathi marathi medium. Shahane for giving me permission to reproduce writing from arun. Kala ghoda poems by arun kolatkar is a seasonable book. Kolatkar was one of the postindependence bilingual poets who combined their mother tongues with international styles to create new poetic traditions. Download arun kolatkar and literary modernism in india books, in this first scholarly work on indias great modern poet, laetitia zecchini outlines a story of literary modernism in india and discusses the traditions, figures and events.
Kolatkar was one of the postindependence bilingual poets who. In arun kolatkar and literary modernism in india, laetitia zecchinis remarkable book on one of indias best poets and his legacy, we are reminded of this modern impulse, embodied by kolatkar, to reach out across disciplines, genres, epochs and languages and to poach material from one territory to the other. Jejuri, published by a small press in 1976, received the commonwealth poetry prize. Let us look at a short and quirky poem by arun kolatkar, one that. Poems 2009 and in marathi are arun kolatkarchya kavita 1976, chirimiri 2003, bhijki vahi 2003 and droan 2004. Writing in both marathi and english, his poems found humor in many everyday matters. The writer is a padma shri and a 1990 recipient of the sahitya akademi award. In a country blooming with not just bilingual authors but bilingual denizens, a bilingual writer. Arun kolatkar 19322004 was born in the town of kolhapur in the western indian state of maharashtra and attended the jj school of art in bombay, the city in which he was to pursue a long and successful career as an art director in advertising. Jejuri is a site of pilgramage in author arun kolatkars. As can be seen from the wrapper on this dec2006 3d reprint of the 2004 book, there is a loud buzz about kolatkar s poetry, and this particular book. He graduated in 1949 and enrolled in a college at the j. Anjali is an energetic and engaging writer and her prose rarely takes a turn towards academese.
Arun kolatkar 19312004 was one of indias greatest modern poets. Saranya subramanian is a writer and theatre practitioner based in bombay. Khandoba is an incarnation of lord shiva and regarded as a god of jejuri who is held in a great reverence by dhangars one of the oldest tribes. Express photo by prashant nadkar on february 6, at an event held to honour bhalchandra nemades jnanpith award for the first part of his tetralogy, hindujagnyachi samruddha adgal, the authors comment dismissing salman rushdie, triggered a retort. Arun kolatkars epic poem, jejuri, celebrates life in an indian city from its streets to its shrines. Bhagya to cast even a fleeting glance across arun kolatkar s oeuvre is analogous to losing yourself in a city the reader as a flaneur in sprawling labyrinthine pathways trafficking in art and filth, in the seaside banter of bombay, and in pilgrimages out, to the dark heart of religion. He has presented them with minute details in order to show the cultural decay, superstitious nature of the pilgrims and tradition bound. In 195557, poet arun kolatkar was in living madras, painting. The second example is arun kolatkaris jejuri, which includes poems that traverse repeatedly across linguistic lines. I am delighted that this invaluable new edition makes kolatkar s work available to an international readership. There was english and western art in his world through his fathers influence and exposure to indian art through the company he kept as a young adolescent in kolhapur, and the young arun kolatkar grew up in a multilingual context. His poetry seems to be surreal which readers may seem to prevent entrance to the meaning of the poem. Jejuri, arun kolatkar s sprightly, clearsighted, deeply felt poem cycle, is widely recognized in india as a modern classic. Indian english poetry is the most flourishing and significant form of.
The kolatkwr eloquently depicts the true picture of victimization. Arun kolatkar and bilingual literary culture northwestern university press, 2016 is also being published in india by speaking tiger publications in 2017. Arun kolatkar s epic poem, jejuri, celebrates life in an indian city from its streets to its shrines. The poet uses a very simple common imagea beggar, in this case, an old woman, who is found begging outside the horseshoe shrine. Linguistic perspectives and existential anxiety in arun. Like all other marathi and english versions by kolatkar, this book as well is published by ashok shahanes prass publication. The advent of the british brought with it their language that became an integral part of indian culture, and such was the influence of the language that indians started to write their own literature in english. A study of arun kolatkar s jejuri arun kolatkar 19322004, mumbais most successful art director and a visualizer in advertising jargon, won the prestigious commonwealth writer s prize in 1977 for his poem jejuri, published in 1977. Despite the fact that this bookendswith a series of close readings of kolatkar s poems, the project itself is committed to finding the right critical tools to understand the work of this bilingual, multivocational poet. Save time by spreading curation tasks among your team. Awardwinning writer and poet jeet thayils second novel the book of chocolate saints is about the fictional character newton francis xavier perhaps loosely modelled on dom moraes to whom the book is dedicated. Arun kolatkar arun kolatkar poems poem hunter evoking the towns crowded streets, many shrines, and mythic history of sages jeejuri godsfrom arrival in the town of jejuri to departure. Arun kolatkar who was a visual artist and designer by profession, looked at aspects of ordinary indian reality seriously as capable of being made interesting by an unusual perspective or by the addition of some imagined details from 60s onwards. Arun kolatkars craft of poetry with special reference to his jejuri.
Arun kolatkar 1 november 1932 25 september 2004 arun balkrishna kolatkar marathi. Arun kolatkar was one of indias greatest modern poets. Arun balkrishna kolatkar 19322004 was an indian poet who wrote in both marathi and english. Essay reading bombay through arun kolatkars kala ghoda. Arun kolatkar poems pdf arun kolatkar was one of indias greatest modern poets. This paper is a stylistic reading of a mythical text from arun kolatkars. Maharashtra, especially in bombay, and the connection of the little magazines and their writ. Bombay hindi is an idiosyncratic identity of specific cultural group in mumbai. What brings them together, despite the divide of geographical location and cultural contexts, is their writing practice.
Arvind krishna mehrotra on arun kolatkar s bilingual poetry and life arun kolatkar was a secret writer. Much of his poetry found humor in the incidences of everyday. Download arun kolatkar and literary modernism in india books, in this first scholarly work on indias great modern poet, laetitia zecchini outlines a story of literary modernism in india and discusses the traditions, figures and. Modern writers reflect indian ethos through local theme, idioms and. It is one of the great treasures of mosern indian literature. In order to accomplish this aim, kolatkar s poetry forms the core of close readings in the second half of the book while. His poems reveal a keen eye for observation and deciphering things. Arun kolatkar, little magazines and the bombay bohemians. Apr 26, 2020 its an academic book and therefore unconscionably expensive but if youre interested the entire book is available online as a pdf legally. Arun kolatkar arun balkrishna kolatkar 19322004 was an indian poet who wrote in both marathi and english. Panna jain, arun kale, anil kapoor, mohammed khan, arun kolatkar, arun nanda kersy katrakwikipedia jejuri is the name of a series of poems written in 1976 by arun kolatkar, an indian poet who wrote in marathi and english. Arun kolatkar was generally a modernist poet who wrote in both marathi and english during the 1950s and 1960s.
The bus by arun kolatkar famous poems, famous poets. Oct 10, 2020 improbably enough, arun kolatkar once lived briefly in madras, painting and hawking clay pots between 1955 and 1957. From the day he started writing in the early 1950s until his death in 2004 he wrote in two languages, marathi and english, and came up with strikingly different metaphorsdifferent from shelleys and jarrellsfor poetry and poetic composition. It is one of the wellknown poems in indian english literature. Arun kolatkar sometimes reflected on what it is to be arun kolatkar. The book itself is a posthumous tribute to friendship, painstakingly edited by arvind krishna mehrotra, who has tried to include all of kolatkar s work in one place all his poems in english as well as translations of the poems originally. In a country blooming with not just bilingual authors but bilingual denizens, a bilingual writer s attempt to. Anjali nerlekarsbombay modernis a close reading of arun kolatkars canonical poetic works that. He was winner of the commonwealth writers prize in 1977 with his first book of poetry in english. Arun kolatkar was born on 1st november 1932, at kolhapur, to a traditional marathi brahmin family. Influenced by the avante garde movements of the west, kolatkar was radically experimental with his works. Arun kolatkar 19312004 is one of the greatest indian poets of the postindependence era. This collection of poems published in 1976 received the commonwealth writers prize in 1977. Linguistic perspectives and existential anxiety in arun kolatkar s poems his poetry represents the quintessence of modernism and left profound influence modern marathi poets.
I have selected this poem from arun kolatkar s collected poems, published by bloodaxe in 2010. A sequence of stunningly simple but haunting poems, jejuri is one of the great books of jejuri is a site of pilgramage in author arun kolatkar s. He wrote prolifically, in both marathi and english, publishing in magazines and anthologies from 1955, but did not bring out a book of poems until he was 44. Oct 05, 2020 arun kolatkar s epic poem, jejuri, celebrates life in an indian city from its streets to its shrines. Kolatkar 19322004 became a leading literary light in india, writing in marathi and in english about the contradictions of the developing subcontinent. Kolatkar first burst into the limelight with his collection jejuri 1977. Through a bilingual and materialist reading of the poetry by marathienglish poet arun kolatkar, the book shows how the genre of poetry emerged in bombay in the post. Despite his inspiring and profound creativity it is ironical that his greatness has not been adequately acknowledged or recognized even after 7 years of his death. He was winner of the commonwealth writer s prize in 1977 with his first book of poetry in english. His poetry had an influence on modern marathi poets.
Kolatkar was a dynamic writer who, as amit chaudhari puts it, was writing extraordinary marathi poems, about the extremities of urban and psychological experience, which seem to be the product. Arun kolatkar 19322004, who was a bombay brahmin and a bilingual poet in. A modern indian poet, arun kolatkar comments on contemporary society through this poem. May 26, 2020 arun kolatkar arun kolatkar, an indian poet of post independence india, was held from maharashtra, a state in india, he was a bilingual poet, wrote both in marathi and english and had influenced marathi poets of seventies. Jejuri is a site of pilgramage in author arun kolatkar s. It is also a commentary by an insider on the bombay poets nissim ezekiel, adil jussawalla and arun kolatkar. Openoffice writer herzlich willkommen im naturparkhaus texelgruppe. Pdf ambiguities of modern existence a study of arun. His style of writing is unforgiving and brutally honest. Pdf arun kolatkar and literary modernism in india free book. Jejuri is a site of pilgramage in author arun kolatkar s native state of maharashtra, and jejuri the poem is the record of a visit to the town a place that is as crassly commercial as it is holy, as modern and ruinous as it is ancient and enduring. Arun kolatkar 19322004 was a poet from maharashtra who wrote in both marathi and english. Arun kolatkar wrote the poem about jejuri is a small town in western maharashtra, situated at a distance about thirty miles from pune.
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