imported>Revirvlkodlaku: /* Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto */ Fixed grammar

2021-06-25T22:55:37Z

Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto: Fixed grammar

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{{short description|1890 novel by Hari Narayan Apte}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto
| image = Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto cover.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Cover of English translation
| author = [[Hari Narayan Apte]]
| title_orig = पण लक्षात कोण घेतो?
| orig_lang_code = mr
| title_working =
| translator = Santosh Bhoomkar
| cover_artist =
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Marathi language|Marathi]]
| subject =
| genre = [[Social novel]], [[autobiographical novel]]
| set_in =
| publisher =
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = 1890
| english_pub_date = 2015
| published =
| pages =
| awards =
| isbn =
| isbn_note =
| oclc = 922565313
| dewey =
| congress =
| native_wikisource =
}}

'''''Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto''''' ({{lang-mr|पण लक्षात कोण घेतो?}}, English: ''But Who Cares...'') is an 1890 [[Marathi language|Marathi-language]] novel by [[Hari Narayan Apte]]. Written in [[Autobiographical novel|autobiographical style]], the novel tells the story of Yamuna, a young [[Hindu]] middle-class woman, who dies after suffering the injustices of a society where child marriage is customary. It is considered to be a classic novel in [[Marathi literature]].

==Background==
''Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto'' was first published in 1890.<ref name="Malik1981">{{cite book|author=Yogendra K. Malik|title=South Asian Intellectuals and Social Change: A Study of the Role of Vernacular-speaking Intelligentsia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZvZAAAAMAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Heritage Publishers|location=New Delhi|page=53|isbn=9780836408256|oclc=9079573}}</ref> Prior to this work, novels were written and read for "entertainment and instruction." ''Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto'', which unveiled the lives of child widows, was a significant departure from this methodology.<ref name="DattaLal2007">{{cite book|author1=Amaresh Datta|author2=Mohan Lal|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Navaratri-Sarvasena|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOsbAAAAIAAJ|year=2007|edition=4th|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]|location=New Delhi|pages=3057|isbn=((978-81-260-1003-1))}}</ref>

==Plot==
The novel was written in the form of an autobiography from the perspective of a young widow, Yamuna.<ref name="George1993">{{cite book|editor-last=George|editor-first=K. M.|editor-link=K. M. George (writer)|title=Modern Indian Literature: an Anthology: Fiction|volume=Vol. 2|year=1993|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7201-506-2|pages=687–688}}</ref> The story spans the life of Yamuna and the reader is introduced to the many people in her life—nearly 40 characters.<ref name="DattaLal2007"/>

Yamuna's story begins with a short-lived but idyllic childhood. Although happy, it was darkened by the fear Yamuna's mother and grandmother shared over their insecurity as dependents. At twelve she is married to a young man, Raghunathrao. He is liberal and wants to make Yamuna but he is unable to change her family circumstances. Yamuna is tortured by her in-laws and denied freedom of any kind.<ref name="George1993"/>

When Yamuna's mother dies, her father promptly remarries, this time to a twelve-year-old girl. Her brother's stupid wife makes a hell of Yamuna's married life and although Yamuna and her brother, Ganpatrao, are very affectionate towards each other, there is no happiness in their father's house. Yamuna and her husband move to [[Mumbai|Bombay]] where they both find some happiness. In Bombay she meets some reformist families who show her what it's like to have freedom. While there, Yamuna frees her friend Durga from her depraved husband and her brother comes to stay with her to continue his education.<ref name="George1993"/>

Yamuna's husband dies after a brief illness and her happiness and freedom are suddenly over. Yamuna is forced to return to her father-in-law in Shanker, who has now married a young girl of twelve. Yamuna's in-laws rob her of her gold and forcefully shave her head in the name of sacred custom ([[tonsure]]). Her brother cannot do anything to protect her. She dies some time after having written her life story.<ref name="George1993"/>

==Reception==
The novel is considered to be a classic, sometimes referred to as a feminist classic, in Marathi literature<ref name="Roy2017">{{cite web | last=Roy | first=Devapriya | title=Fourteen Marathi classics, handpicked by Bhalchandra Nemade, that must be read (and translated) | website=Scroll.in | date=2017-03-19 | url=https://scroll.in/article/832114/fourteen-marathi-classics-handpicked-by-bhalchandra-nemade-that-must-be-read-and-translated | access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref> and had a major effect on [[Hindu reform movements]].<ref name="Weightman1996">{{cite book|author=Simon Weightman|title=Indian Subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-VjAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Passport Books|isbn=978-0-8442-8970-0|page=198}}</ref>

{{quote|Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto? This novel is the first of its kind and still remains unsurpassed in many ways. It is cast in the form of the autobiography of a widow. It is written in a style which is appropriately womanly, and chaste, if also meandering. For the first time in Marathi fiction a character is portrayed dynamically and in all its dimensions.|author=[[Kusumavati Deshpande|Kusumawati Deshpande]], [[M.V. Rajadhyaksha]]|source=''A History of Marathi Literature'', 1988<ref name="DeśapāṇḍeRājādhyaksha1988">{{cite book|last1=Deśapāṇḍe|first1=Kusumāvatī|last2=Rājādhyaksha|first2=Maṅgeśa Viṭṭhala|title=A History of Marathi Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f8VjAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|pages=88–89|oclc=19585943}}</ref>}}

''Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto'' was translated into English by Santosh Bhoomkar as ''But Who Cares...'' (2015), published by [[Sahitya Akademi]].<ref name="Roy2017"/> [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]] translated it into [[Telugu language|Telugu]] as {{transl|te|Abala Jeevitam}}.<ref name="Kumar">{{cite book|author=Rajendra Kumar|title=President and Prime Minister of India|date=January 0101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kmj3DAAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PT29|publisher=Prabhat Prakashan}}</ref><ref name="Gajrani2004">{{cite book|editor=S. Gajrani|title=History, Religion and Culture of India: History, Religion and Culture of Western India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sP091bSPZ04C&pg=PA264|volume=3|year=2004|publisher=Isha Books|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-8205-062-4|page=264}}</ref><ref name="Bhargava2006">{{cite book|editor1=S. C. Bhatt|editor2=Gopal K. Bhargava|title=Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: Maharashtra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IleHyBDWbzEC&pg=PA234|volume=16|year=2006|publisher=Kalpaz Publications|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-7835-372-2|page=234}}</ref> [[K. Shivaram Karanth#Personal life|Leela Karanth]] also translated the novel into [[Kannada]].<ref name="Rāmacandran2001">{{cite book|last=Ramachandran|first=C. N.|title=K. Shivarama Karanth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHAh40PA5k8C&pg=PA16|year=2001|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-1071-4|page=16}}</ref> The [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] translation by Gopalrao Vidwans was published in 1975 under the title ''Mari Karamkathani''.<ref name="Rao2004">{{cite book|last=Rao|first=D. S.|title=Five Decades: The National Academy of Letters, India : a Short History of Sahitya Akademi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JDsBBDoMccC&pg=PA48|year=2004|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-260-2060-7|page=48}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Google books|id=dZxOAAAAYAAJ}}

[[Category:Marathi novels]]
[[Category:1890 novels]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian novels]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographical novels]]
[[Category:Feminist novels]]
[[Category:Novels about violence against women]]
[[Category:Female characters in literature]]
[[Category:First-person narrative novels]]

Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto - Revision history

imported>Revirvlkodlaku: /* Pan Lakshat Kon Gheto */ Fixed grammar