Kusumagraj


Vishnu Vāman Shirwādkar, popularly known by his pen name, Kusumāgraj, also known as Vi. Vā. Shirwadkar, was an eminent Marathi poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer, apart from being a humanist, who wrote of freedom, justice and emancipation of the deprived, In a career spanning five decades starting in pre-independence era, he wrote 16 volumes of poems, three novels, eight volumes of short stories, seven volumes of essays, 18 plays and six one-act plays. His works like the Vishakha, a collection of lyrics, inspired a generation into the Indian freedom movement, and is today considered one of the masterpieces of Indian literature, apart from his play, Natsamrat, which has an important place in Marathi literature. He was the recipient of several State awards, and National awards including the 1974 Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi for Natsamrat, Padma Bhushan and the Jnanapith Award in 1987; he also served as the President of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at Margao in 1964.

Early life and education

Kusumagraj was born into a Deshastha Brahmin family in Pune on 27 February 1912 as Gajanan Ranganath Shirwadkar. Upon being adopted, his name was changed to Vishnu Waman Shirwadkar. He later adopted the sobriquet 'Kusumagraj'. He pursued his primary education in Pimpalgaon and high school education in the New English School of Nashik, which is now called J.S. Rungtha High School of Nashik. He passed matriculation from Mumbai University. In 1944, he married Manoramanée.
He is connected with Rajaram college Kolhapur.

Career

While Shirwadkar was at the H. P. T. College in Nashik, his poems were published in the Ratnakar magazine. In 1932, at the age of 20, Shirwadkar participated in a satyagraha to support the demand for allowing the entry of the untouchables in the Kalaram Temple at Nashik.
In 1933, Shirwadkar established the Dhruv Mandal and started writing in a newspaper called Nava Manu. In the same year, his first collection of poems, Jeevanlahari, was published. In 1934, Shirwadkar obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marathi and English languages, from the H. P. T. College in Nashik.
Shirwadkar joined Godavari Cinetone Ltd. in 1936 and wrote the screenplay for the movie Sati Sulochana. He also acted in the movie as Lord Lakshmana. However, the film failed to be a success.
He later worked as a journalist. He wrote in periodicals such as Saptahik Prabha, Dainik Prabhat, Saarathi, Dhanurdari, and Navayug. 1942 was a turning point in the career of Kusumagraj, as the father-figure of Marathi literature, Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar, published Kusumgraj's compilation of poetry, Vishakha at his own expense, and in his preface describing Kusumagraj as a poet of humanity, wrote, "His words manifest the social discontent but retain the optimistic conviction that the old world was giving way to a new one." Its publication coincided with the Quit India Movement, and carried the message of freedom and stood against slavery, and soon its words became popular with young men and women; in time it was to become his lasting legacy to Indian literature.
After 1943, he started adapting the plays by literary giants like Oscar Wilde, Moliere, Maurice Maeterlinck and Shakespeare, especially his tragedies, and which played an important role in boosting Marathi theatre of the period. This continued into the 1970s when his masterpiece Natsamrat, styled after Shakespeare's play King Lear, was first staged in 1970, with Sriram Lagoo as the lead. In 1946, he wrote his first novel Vaishnav and his first play Doorche Dive. From 1946 to 1948, he also edited a weekly called Swadesh.
While temperamentally he ranged from reclusive to exclusive, he had a keen social sense and championed the cause of the downtrodden without involving himself in ground level activities. In 1950, he founded the Lokahitawādi Mandal in Nashik which is still in existence. He also edited certain academic textbooks for school students.
However, Kusumagraj's main claim to fame was as a poet and writer. In 1954, he adapted Shakespeare's Macbeth as Rajmukut, 'The Royal Crown' to Marathi. It starred Nanasaheb Phatak and Durga Khote. He also adapted Othello in 1960. He also worked as a lyricist in Marathi cinema.
His work reflected the changing social milieu, from being the reflection of national uprising during Indian freedom struggle and in the post-independence era it got steeped into rising social-consciousness amongst Marathi writers, which marked the advent of modern Dalit literature.
Shirwadkar was also an active participant in the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement.

Awards and recognition

To honour his work in Marathi Literature, every year the birthday of Kusumagraj, 27 February, is celebrated as "Marathi Bhasha Din".
He died on 10 March 1999 in Nashik, where his home also served as the office of the 'Kusumāgraj Pratishthān''.

Writings

Collections of poems
कणा
ओळखलत का सर मला?’ पावसात आला कोणी,
कपडे होते कर्दमलेले, केसांवरती पाणी.
क्षणभर बसला नंतर हसला बोलला वरती पाहून,
‘गंगामाई पाहुणी आली, गेली घरट्यात राहुन’.
माहेरवाशिणीसारखी चार भिंतीत नाचली,
मोकळ्या हाती जाईल कशी, बायको मात्र वाचली.
भिंत खचली, चूल विझली, होते नव्हते नेले,
प्रसाद म्हणून पापण्यांवरती पाणी थोडे ठेवले.
कारभारणीला घेउन संगे सर आता लढतो आहे
पडकी भिंत बांधतो आहे, चिखलगाळ काढतो आहे.
खिशाकडे हात जाताच हसत हसत उठला
‘पैसे नकोत सर’, जरा एकटेपणा वाटला.
मोडून पडला संसार तरी मोडला नाही कणा,
पाठीवरती हात ठेउन, तुम्ही फक्‍त लढ म्हणा!
Edited collections of poems
Collections of stories
Plays
One-act plays
Novels
The translation of Meghadūta by Kusumagraj was visualised by watercolour artist Nana Joshi. These visualisations were published in the Menaka Diwali issue in 1979.
Natsamrat, a play written by V.V. Shirwadkar for which he won several accolades, was also adapted on screen by director Mahesh Manjrekar with veteran actor Nana Patekar as 'Natsamrat' after successful runs of the play's theatre adaptations.