Namdeo Dhasal

2022-06-21T15:17:49Z

2409:4071:4D95:4B21:6D58:EC1:DAD2:2FAB:

{{short description|Indian writer}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Namdeo Laxman Dhasal
| image =
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| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1949|2|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Poona]], [[Bombay Presidency]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2014|1|15|1949|2|15|}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], India
| resting_place =
| occupation = [[Writer]], [[Poet]]
| language = [[Marathi language|Marathi]]
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre = [[Marathi literature]]
| subject =
| movement = [[Dalit Panther]]
| notableworks = ''Andhale Shatak'' ''Golpitha'' ''Moorkh Mhataryane'' ''Tujhi Iyatta Kanchi?'' ''Priya Darshini''
| spouse = [[Malika Amar Sheikh]]
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] Soviet Land Nehru Award Maharashtra State Award [[Sahitya Akademi]] Golden Jubilee Award
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
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}}

'''Namdeo Laxman Dhasal''' (15 February 1949 – 15 January 2014) was a [[Marathi language|Marathi]] poet, writer and [[Dalit]] activist from [[Maharashtra]], India. He was one of the founders of the Dalit Panthers in 1972, a social movement aimed at destroying caste hierarchy in Indian society. The movement was active in the 1970s and the 1980s during which time it popularised the usage of the term dalit in India. Dhasal was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] in 1999<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | date=2015 | access-date=July 21, 2015}}</ref> and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the [[Sahitya Akademi]] in 2004.

==Biography==
Namdeo Dhasal was born in 1949, in the village of Pur in [[Khed taluka]], [[Poona]], [[India]]. He and his family moved to Mumbai when he was six. A member of the [[Mahar]] caste, he grew up in dire poverty.<ref name="Frontline">{{cite web |date=7 February 2014 |title=Voice of the oppressed |url=http://www.frontline.in/other/obituary/voice-of-the-oppressed/article5601445.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203194846/http://www.frontline.in/other/obituary/voice-of-the-oppressed/article5601445.ece |archive-date=3 February 2014 |access-date=11 June 2014}}</ref> He was a [[Buddhist]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYInC70BSEgC&q=Raja+Dhale+buddhist&pg=PA96|title=Religious Converts in India: Socio-political Study of Neo-Buddhists|first1=Ranjit Kumar|last1=De|first2=Uttara|last2=Shastree|date=4 October 1996|publisher=Mittal Publications|via=Google Books|isbn=9788170996293}}</ref>

Following the example of the American [[Black Panther Party|Black Panther]] movement, he founded the [[Dalit Panther]] movement with friends in 1972. This social movement worked for the reconstruction of society on the basis of the [[Jyotirao Phule|Phule]], [[Shahu of Kolhapur|Shahu]], and [[B. R. Ambedkar|Ambedkar]] movements.<ref name="Frontline" />

Dhasal wrote columns for the Marathi daily ''[[Saamana]]''. Earlier, he worked as an editor for the weekly ''Satyata''.<ref name="Dhasal">{{cite web|url=http://www.literaturfestival.com/bios1_3_6_517.html|title=International Literature Festival website – Namdeo Dhasal}}</ref> In 1972, he published his first volume of poetry, ''Golpitha''. More poetry collections followed: ''Moorkh Mhataryane'' (By a Foolish Old Man), inspired by Maoist thoughts; ''Tujhi Iyatta Kanchi?'' (How Educated Are You?); ''Khel''; and ''Priya Darshini,'' about former Indian Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]].

During this time, Dhasal also wrote two novels and published pamphlets such as ''Andhale Shatak'' (Century of Blindness) and ''Ambedkari Chalwal'' (Ambedkarite Movement), a reflection on the socialist and communist concepts of [[B. R. Ambedkar]].

Later, he published two more collections of poetry: ''Mi Marale Suryachya Rathache Sat Ghode'' (I Killed the Seven Horses of the Sun), and ''Tujhe Boat Dharoon Mi Chalalo Ahe'' (I'm Walking, Holding Your Finger).

In 1977 Dhasal married noted Marathi writer [[Malika Amar Sheikh]] after a brief courtship. However, the marriage was troubled due to Dhasal's alleged domestic violence, alcoholism and problems with debt.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/malika-amar-shaikh-memoir-namdeo-dhasal-life-left-and-dalit-movement-in-maharashtra-4397157/|title=The Heart is a Lonely Woman - Malika Amar Sheikh|website=indianexpress.com|access-date=2020-06-15}}</ref> In 1981, Dhasal was diagnosed with [[myasthenia (disambiguation)|myasthenia]]. Later, he suffered from [[colorectal cancer]]. He was admitted for treatment in a Mumbai hospital in September 2013. He died in 2014 at age 64.

==Activism==
In 1982, (not 1982 it is 1972 Ref Dalit Panthar Ek Sangharsh by Dhasal Editing suggessin by anil Mhatre ) cracks began to appear in the Dalit Panther movement. Ideological disputes began to eclipse the common goal of liberation. Dhasal wanted to engender a mass movement and widen the term ''Dalit'' to include all oppressed people, but the majority of his comrades insisted on maintaining the exclusivity of their organization.

Dhasal's illness and alcoholism overshadowed the following years, during which he wrote very little. In the 1990s, he became politically active again.

In 2001, he made a presentation at the first [[Berlin International Literature Festival]].<ref name="Frontline" />

Dhasal was one of the founding members and part of the 10-member national presidium of the [[Republican Party of India]], which was formed under leadership of [[Babasaheb Ambedkar]] in 1952 by merger of all leading Dalit parties.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/dalit-fury-blame-it-on-failed-leaders/articleshow/660591.cms|title=Dalit Fury : Blame it on Leaders|website=economictimes.com|access-date=2022-01-18}}</ref>

==Literary style==
Arundhati Subrahmaniam describes his poetry: "Dhasal is a quintessentially Mumbai poet. Raw, raging, associative, almost carnal in its tactility, his poetry emerges from the underbelly of the city — its menacing, unplumbed netherworld. This is the world of pimps and smugglers, of crooks and petty politicians, of opium dens, brothels and beleaguered urban tenements."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/10525/27/Namdeo-Dhasal |title=Namdeo Dhasal (India, 1949) |date=1 December 2007 |first=Arundhati |last=Subrahmaniam |publisher=Poetry International |access-date=2017-07-25}}</ref>

==Works==

===Poetry===
====English====
*''A Current of Blood'' (2019), Narayana Publishers {{ISBN|978-8189059927}}

====Hindi====
*''Aakrosh Kaa Kooras'' (2015)

====Marathi====
*''Golpitha'' (1973)
*''Tuhi Iyatta Kanchi'' (1981)
*''Khel'' (1983)
*''Moorkh Mhataryane dongar halvle''
*''Amchya itihasatil ek aprihary patra : Priya Darshini'' (1976)
*''Ya Sattet Jiv Ramat Nahi'' (1995)
*''Gandu Bagichha'' (1986)
*''Mi Marale Suryachya Rathache Sat Ghode''
*''Tuze Boat Dharoon Mi Chalalo Ahe''

[[Dilip Chitre]] translated a selection of Dhasal's poems into English under the title ''Namdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld, Poems 1972–2006''.<ref name=Chitre>{{cite web|url=http://www.ambedkar.org/News/NamdeoDhasal.htm|title=Namdeo Dhasal|website=www.ambedkar.org}}</ref><ref>Chitre, D. (tr.) (2006) [http://navayana.org/namdeo-dhasal/ ''Namdeo Dhasal: Poet of the Underworld, Poems 1972–2006'', Navayana Publishing, New Delhi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926145858/http://navayana.org/namdeo-dhasal/ |date=26 September 2013 }} {{ISBN|81-89059-10-6}}</ref>

===Prose===
*''Ambedkari Chalwal'' (1981)
*''Andhale Shatak'' (1997)
*''Hadki Hadavala''
*''Ujedachi Kali Dunia''
*''Sarva Kahi Samashtisathi''
*''Buddha Dharma: Kahi Shesh Prashna''

==Awards and honors==
The following table shows list of awards won by Namdeo Dhasal.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Award
!For
|-
|1973
|rowspan="4"|Maharashtra State Award for literature
|rowspan="4"|Literature
|-
|1974
|-
|1982
|-
|1983
|-
|1974
|Soviet Land Nehru Award
|''Golpitha''
|-
|1999
|[[Padma Shri]]
|Literature
|-
|-
|2004
|Sahitya Akademi's Golden Life Time Achievement<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013023346/http://www.iconofindia.com/sahitya-akademi/awa2.htm 1 November 2004] [[Sahitya Akademi]] website.</ref><ref>[http://www.tehelka.com/story_main7.asp?filename=hub102304taxi_driver.asp Namdeo Dhasal, a special Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee award] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226105326/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main7.asp?filename=hub102304taxi_driver.asp |date=26 December 2004 }} The Hub -[[Tehelka]], 23 October 2004.</ref>
|
|}

==Personal life==
Dhasal was married to [[Malika Amar Sheikh]], the daughter of poet [[Amar Sheikh]]. They had one son, Ashutosh.

==Death==
Dhasal died of colorectal cancer at Bombay Hospital on 15 January 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/marathi-poet-namdeo-dhasaldead/article5577696.ece|title=Marathi poet Namdeo Dhasal dead|work=The Hindu|access-date=11 June 2014|date=16 January 2014 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081123111225/http://www.robertbohm.com/analysis/note_to_d__on_namdeo_dhasal.html An essay on Namdeo Dhasal, 2005]

{{Padma Shri Awards}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhasal, Namdeo}}
[[Category:Marathi-language writers]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Marathi-language poets]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education]]
[[Category:Dalit activists]]
[[Category:Dalit writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:People from Pune]]
[[Category:Activists from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Republican Party of India politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Ambedkarites]]
[[Category:20th-century Buddhists]]
[[Category:21st-century Buddhists]]
[[Category:Social workers from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Converts to Buddhism from Hinduism]]
[[Category:Indian Buddhists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award]]

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Namdeo Dhasal