AdvAcademy01: put up new entry

2025-12-08T17:20:59Z

put up new entry

New page

{{Short description|Indian freedom fighter and author (1929–2021)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Gurunath Kelekar
| image = Gurunath Kelekar.jpg
| caption = Kelekar in 2018
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Gurunath Shivaji Kelekar
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|11|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Priol]], [[Ponda taluka]], [[Portuguese Goa]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|01|19|1929|11|16|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Taleigao]], [[Goa]], India
| resting_place =
| occupation =
| language =
| nationality = 
| citizenship = 
| education =
| alma_mater =
| period =
| genre = 
| subject = 
| movement =
| notable_works =
| spouse = Kumudini Kelekar
| children = 3
| relatives =
| awards = [[Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]]
| signature =
| years_active =
| module =
| website = 
}}

'''Gurunath Shivaji Kelekar''' (16 November 1929 – 19 January 2021) was an Indian freedom fighter and author from Goa.<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21">{{Cite news |last=Kamat Maad |first=Govind |date=20 January 2021 |title=In Gurunath Shivaji Kelekar's demise, Konkani has lost a crusader |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/in-kelekars-demise-konkani-has-lost-a-crusader/articleshow/80354694.cms |access-date=30 July 2024 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> He won the [[Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]] for his translation of [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s ''[[The Story of My Experiments with Truth]]'' in [[Konkani language|Konkani]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 December 2012 |title=Kashinath Shamba Lolienkar has won Sahitya Akademi award for poetry while Gurunath Kelekar has won the award for translation of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography in Konkani. . Mahindra Ram also won Sahitya Academi prize for translation of Goan writer Damodar Mauzo's Konkani novel Karmelin into Maithili. |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/kashinath-shamba-lolienkar-has-won-sahitya-akademi-award-for-poetry-while-gurunath-kelekar-has-won-the-award-for-translation-of-mahatma-gandhis-autobiography-in-konkani-mahindra-ram-also-won-sahitya-academi-prize-for-translation-of-goan-writer-damodar-mauzos-konkani-novel-karmelin-into-maithili-/articleshow/17698624.cms |access-date=30 July 2024 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Gurunath Shivaji Kelekar was born on 16 November 1929 in [[Priol]]. He completed his primary education from Bombay and was an active freedom fighter, even having been arrested multiple times.<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21" /> Notably, he was imprisoned in the [[Aguada jail]] for 13 months in 1954.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 January 2021 |title=FF and Marg founder Kelekar expires at 91 |url=https://www.heraldgoa.in/Goa/FF-and-Marg-founder-Kelekar-expires-at-91/169988 |access-date=30 July 2024 |website=oHeraldo}}</ref>

Following the [[Liberation of Goa]], Kelekar was active in the promotion of [[Konkani language]]. He ran a fortnightly magazine, ''Novem Goem'' ({{Translation|''New Goa''}}) from 1962 till 1970. From 1975 to 1982,<ref name="NTVeteran21">{{Cite news |date=20 January 2021 |title=Veteran freedom fighter Gurunath Kelekar dies at 91 |work=The Navhind Times |url=https://www.navhindtimes.in/2021/01/20/goanews/veteran-freedom-fighter-gurunath-kelekar-dies-at-91/ |access-date=30 July 2024}}</ref> he ran a weekly magazine titled ''Goencho Mog'' ({{Translation|''Love of Goa''}}). Both these magazines were published in the Roman script. To fund this magazine when it was facing financial losses, Kelekar led a 67-day [[padayatra]] across the state to raise funds.<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21" />

In the 1970s, Kelekar and his wife, Kumudini, ran a magazine for children titled, ''Maruti''. He also published about 30 books for children. He then organised Konkani Sahitya Yatra ({{Translation|Konkani Literature Trip}}) as a book fair across different parts of Goa.<ref name="NTVeteran21" />

He had authored 25 books, including the Konkani translation of Gandhi's ''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'', which won him the [[Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize]].<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21" /> As a follower of [[Gandhism]], he also wrote a book about Gandhi in Konkani, titled, ''Kashe Ashille Gandhiji'' ({{Translation|''How was Gandhiji''}}) in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 August 2020 |title=Gurunath Kelekar releases Konkani book 'Kashe Ashille Gandhiji.' |website=Business Goa |url=https://businessgoa.in/gurunath-kelekar-releases-konkani-book-kashe-ashille-gandhiji/ |access-date=30 July 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref> He was also a follower of Nehruvian philosophy and had a large collection of books dedicated to Gandhi and [[Nehru]].<ref name="NTVeteran21" />

In his later years, he lamented the divisions between different Konkani speakers and advocated for the equality of all Konkani speakers across India.<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21" />

In 2000,<ref name="GoanMARG21">{{Cite news |date=20 January 2021 |title=MARG founder Gurunath Kelekar passes away |url=https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/marg-founder-gurunath-kelekar-passes-away/64562.html |access-date=30 July 2024 |work=The Goan EveryDay |language=en}}</ref> founded the Movement for Amity towards Roads in Goa (MARG) to spread road safety awareness among citizens.<ref name="NTVeteran21" /> MARG would mainly conduct road safety awareness drives in schools so as to target younger audiences, reaching out to 70,000 students. Students were also taught Gandhian values through a programme titled Gandhiji's Children. Kelekar published a book titled ''MARG – Our Friend'' as a collection of road safety rules. MARG even had a branch outside Goa in [[Belgaum]].<ref name="GoanMARG21" /> Kelekar later founded the Nehru Centre - Institute for Citizenship and Civic Sense Education at Raia to promote civic sense through awareness programmes.<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21" />

Kelekar was also an activist, protesting against the government on multiple occasions. One significant issue highlighted by him was about the condition of ''badels'' (local Goan women porters), which led to then [[Chief Minister of Goa]] [[Digambar Kamat]] to present them with financial assistance.<ref name="GoanFarewell21">{{Cite web |title=Citizens bid farewell to MARG founder Gurunath Kelekar |url=https://www.thegoan.net/goa-news/citizens-bid-farewell-to-marg-founder-gurunath-kelekar/64606.html |access-date=30 July 2024 |website=The Goan EveryDay}}</ref> Kelekar never associated himself with any political parties, religious or spiritual organisations and advocated for "a secular and liberal spirit of scientific enquiry".<ref name="NTVeteran21" />

He had three children, a son named Samir and daughters Sanjeevani Keni and Chitra Zuvarkar. He lived in [[Margao]] city.<ref name="ToIMaadCrusader21" />

Kelekar died on 20 January 2021 at his daughter's house in [[Taleigao]] and was cremated at the Margao crematorium. His funeral was attended by prominent Goans like [[Vijai Sardesai]], [[Narendra Sawaikar]], [[Pundalik Naik]], [[Tomazinho Cardozo]], [[Sandesh Prabhudesai]] and [[Prashanti Talpankar]].<ref name="GoanFarewell21" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelekar, Gurunath}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Writers from Goa]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Goa]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation into Konkani]]

Gurunath Kelekar - Revision history

AdvAcademy01: put up new entry