Keshav Tanaji Meshram (24 November 1937 – 3 December 2007) was a Marathi poet, critic, novelist, and short-story writer from Maharashtra, India. He wrote about 40 books.
Meshram was born in a poor dalit family in Akola on 24 November 1937. He spent his teens and early adulthood working as a railway wagon loader, a construction worker, and an oil mill worker. While struggling to make a living, he continued his education. After graduation from college, he joined Western Railways as a clerk, but later secured the position of a Marathi lecturer at Maharshi Dayanand College in Parel area of Mumbai.[1]
Conversion to Buddhism
Meshram was one among the six lakh Dalits who embraced Buddhism in the historic 1956 conversion rally held by Babasaheb Ambedkar.[2]
Literary works
Meshram's collection of poems Utkhanan established him as an important poet. His most popular novel Hakikat ani Jatayu portrayed the anguish of a brilliant dalit youth, Abhiman, who was sidelined because of his low social status. Abhimaan fought against superstitions. He unsuccessfully tried to save a "possessed" girl from being molested and beaten up. His "interference" with the rituals of a tantrik priest brought him disaster. The girl died and the police framed him at just the time he had received his appointment letter for a job.
Meshram's autobiography Hakikat shows the development of a sensitive mind in an adverse world. His other literary works deal with the plight of dalits, but he always exercised restraint in attacking the privileged classes for the plight.[1]
"ज्वाला कल्लोळ" is the title of one of Meshram's works.
In his presidential speech, he criticized the contemporary literary folks for confining their world only to elites without awareness of the lives of millions of poor people in India. At the same time, he also criticized the extremist trend in contemporary dalit literature, which sharply attacked the privileged classes and then called itself "revolutionary."
In his speech, Meshram suggested that the state government create a literary academy to translate great literary works from other languages into Marathi, and vice versa.[1]
Death
Meshram died of lung cancer on 3 December 2007.
References
^ abc"Keshav Meshram, great dalit poet and novelist, passes away in Mumbai". Merinews. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
^Annuncio, Charubala; Anand, S.; Mukerjee, Sutapa; Wadhwa, Soma (18 November 2002). "Choosing Their Religion". Outlook. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
May 04, 2023
keshav, meshram, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, february, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Keshav Meshram news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Keshav Tanaji Meshram 24 November 1937 3 December 2007 was a Marathi poet critic novelist and short story writer from Maharashtra India He wrote about 40 books Keshav Tanaji MeshramBorn 1937 11 24 24 November 1937AkolaDied3 December 2007 2007 12 03 aged 70 Contents 1 Early life 2 Conversion to Buddhism 3 Literary works 4 Marathi Sahitya Sammelan 5 Death 6 ReferencesEarly life EditMeshram was born in a poor dalit family in Akola on 24 November 1937 He spent his teens and early adulthood working as a railway wagon loader a construction worker and an oil mill worker While struggling to make a living he continued his education After graduation from college he joined Western Railways as a clerk but later secured the position of a Marathi lecturer at Maharshi Dayanand College in Parel area of Mumbai 1 Conversion to Buddhism EditMeshram was one among the six lakh Dalits who embraced Buddhism in the historic 1956 conversion rally held by Babasaheb Ambedkar 2 Literary works EditMeshram s collection of poems Utkhanan established him as an important poet His most popular novel Hakikat ani Jatayu portrayed the anguish of a brilliant dalit youth Abhiman who was sidelined because of his low social status Abhimaan fought against superstitions He unsuccessfully tried to save a possessed girl from being molested and beaten up His interference with the rituals of a tantrik priest brought him disaster The girl died and the police framed him at just the time he had received his appointment letter for a job Meshram s autobiography Hakikat shows the development of a sensitive mind in an adverse world His other literary works deal with the plight of dalits but he always exercised restraint in attacking the privileged classes for the plight 1 ज व ल कल ल ळ is the title of one of Meshram s works Marathi Sahitya Sammelan EditMeshram presided over the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at Nashik in 2005 In his presidential speech he criticized the contemporary literary folks for confining their world only to elites without awareness of the lives of millions of poor people in India At the same time he also criticized the extremist trend in contemporary dalit literature which sharply attacked the privileged classes and then called itself revolutionary In his speech Meshram suggested that the state government create a literary academy to translate great literary works from other languages into Marathi and vice versa 1 Death EditMeshram died of lung cancer on 3 December 2007 References Edit a b c Keshav Meshram great dalit poet and novelist passes away in Mumbai Merinews Retrieved 22 February 2019 Annuncio Charubala Anand S Mukerjee Sutapa Wadhwa Soma 18 November 2002 Choosing Their Religion Outlook Retrieved 22 February 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Keshav Meshram amp oldid 1073870655, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
