G. A. Kulkarni
Encyclopedia
G. A. Kulkarni or simply "GA" (Marathi: जी. ए. कुलकर्णी "जीए"), was a legendary Marathi
writer of short stories.
GA grew up in Belgaum
. After earning his masters degree, he taught English at JSS College in Dharwad
for about 30 years. He had very strong liking for Dharwad
and Belgaum
. For medical treatment of his eyes, he reluctantly moved to Pune
in 1985. A major road in the Kothrud
area of Pune
, where GA lived for couple of years before his death, has been named after him.
GA, who bought new strength and vitality to the Marathi short story, is admittedly the most distinguished exponent of that genre. A contemporary of Gangadhar Gadgil
, Arvind Gokhale
and Vyankatesh Madgulkar, he did not subscribe to the cause of modernism in literature. He charted his own separate course and cultivated new acuity and taste for a class of faithful readers.
GA created a world of his own in his short stories where his characters are in pursuit of the unknowable destiny. A dark mode reflects the inscrutable ways in which destiny shadows his characters. His use of symbolism, allegory and irony provides his stories a unique texture and ethos. His world encompasses a wide diversity of locales, situations, characters and experiences; yet, in his earlier stories, it is demarcated by the region bordering Maharashtra
and Karnataka
. The mythic, allegorical experiences make it difficult to sort out the realities from the dreams, themes, and meditations. Yet, it is possible for the reader to identify with is characters, places, and experiences because of his keen observation of human, animal, and social worlds in their beauty and deformity.
Critics observe that characters in GA’s world are multifaceted, but they are not independent. They lead their lives as if they are puppets guided by an unseen hand are unable to change the direction. Why they follow that path to their demise or why they cannot change it by their volition is not known. In that sense, his work is a reversal of direction fostered by the modernist short story in Marathi. GA's earlier short stories depicted the tragic and cruel aspects of human situation. His later works were almost Kafkaesque, without Kafka-like black humor. Some of his later works were allegorical and reminiscent of Borges.
Some of GA's short stories have been translated into English
, Hindi
, and Kannada. He was honored in 1973 with a Sahitya Akademi Award
for his collection of short stories Kajalmaya. Critically acclaimed Marathi movie Kairee, which was directed by Amol Palekar
, was based on one of his short stories. Based on GA's short story, Director Kranti Kanade
made short film Chaitra
that went on to win five National Film Awards in 2002.
GA was a prolific correspondent. Though he had an obsession to keep his life private, he also longed to reach out through letters to his friends who shared his tastes. Four volumes of his letters were published after his death. He had written many of those letters to “Shri Pu” Bhagwat, Sunita Deshpande, Madhav Achawal, Jaywant Dalvi, Anantrao Kulkarni, and "Ma Da" Hatkanangalekar.
GA translated five novels by Conrad Richter
into Marathi in the 1960s for a project which USIS in India had initiated for getting some prominent American writings translated into India
n languages. He also wrote the book Manase Arbhat Ani Chillar, which contains some of his autobiographical ramblings.
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
writer of short stories.
GA grew up in Belgaum
Belgaum
Belgaum is a city and a municipal corporation in Belgaum district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the fourth largest city of the state of Karnataka, the first three being Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad....
. After earning his masters degree, he taught English at JSS College in Dharwad
Dharwad
Dharwad, also known as Dharwar, is a city and a DISTRICT PLACE in India's Karnataka state.Dharwad is the administrative seat of the Dharwad District. The municipality of Hubli-Dharwad covers an area of 200.23 km²...
for about 30 years. He had very strong liking for Dharwad
Dharwad
Dharwad, also known as Dharwar, is a city and a DISTRICT PLACE in India's Karnataka state.Dharwad is the administrative seat of the Dharwad District. The municipality of Hubli-Dharwad covers an area of 200.23 km²...
and Belgaum
Belgaum
Belgaum is a city and a municipal corporation in Belgaum district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the fourth largest city of the state of Karnataka, the first three being Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad....
. For medical treatment of his eyes, he reluctantly moved to Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
in 1985. A major road in the Kothrud
Kothrud
Kothrud, known Kothrud Baug in the era of the Peshwas, is a suburb in the south west of the city of Pune, Maharashtra in India. Situated relatively near the center of an industrializing city, it has seen rapid growth in housing, making it one of the fastest developing suburbs in Asia...
area of Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, where GA lived for couple of years before his death, has been named after him.
GA, who bought new strength and vitality to the Marathi short story, is admittedly the most distinguished exponent of that genre. A contemporary of Gangadhar Gadgil
Gangadhar Gadgil
Gangadhar Gopal Gadgil was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.He was born in Mumbai in 1923...
, Arvind Gokhale
Arvind Gokhale
Arvind Gokhale was a Marathi writer of short stories. He hailed from Maharashtra, India.-Authorship:Gokhale wrote 25 collections of his short stories...
and Vyankatesh Madgulkar, he did not subscribe to the cause of modernism in literature. He charted his own separate course and cultivated new acuity and taste for a class of faithful readers.
GA created a world of his own in his short stories where his characters are in pursuit of the unknowable destiny. A dark mode reflects the inscrutable ways in which destiny shadows his characters. His use of symbolism, allegory and irony provides his stories a unique texture and ethos. His world encompasses a wide diversity of locales, situations, characters and experiences; yet, in his earlier stories, it is demarcated by the region bordering Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
and Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
. The mythic, allegorical experiences make it difficult to sort out the realities from the dreams, themes, and meditations. Yet, it is possible for the reader to identify with is characters, places, and experiences because of his keen observation of human, animal, and social worlds in their beauty and deformity.
Critics observe that characters in GA’s world are multifaceted, but they are not independent. They lead their lives as if they are puppets guided by an unseen hand are unable to change the direction. Why they follow that path to their demise or why they cannot change it by their volition is not known. In that sense, his work is a reversal of direction fostered by the modernist short story in Marathi. GA's earlier short stories depicted the tragic and cruel aspects of human situation. His later works were almost Kafkaesque, without Kafka-like black humor. Some of his later works were allegorical and reminiscent of Borges.
Some of GA's short stories have been translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, and Kannada. He was honored in 1973 with a Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
for his collection of short stories Kajalmaya. Critically acclaimed Marathi movie Kairee, which was directed by Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar
Amol Palekar is an Indian actor of the 1970s and a director of Hindi and Marathi cinema.-Theater career:Palekar began in Marathi experimental theatre with Satyadev Dubey, and later started his own group, Aniket, in 1972 [citation needed]...
, was based on one of his short stories. Based on GA's short story, Director Kranti Kanade
Kranti Kanade
Kranti Kanade is an award-winning Film Director and Screenwriter born in Pune, India. He studied filmmaking at FTII and UCLA .-Gandhi Of The Month:...
made short film Chaitra
Chaitra
Chaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar....
that went on to win five National Film Awards in 2002.
GA was a prolific correspondent. Though he had an obsession to keep his life private, he also longed to reach out through letters to his friends who shared his tastes. Four volumes of his letters were published after his death. He had written many of those letters to “Shri Pu” Bhagwat, Sunita Deshpande, Madhav Achawal, Jaywant Dalvi, Anantrao Kulkarni, and "Ma Da" Hatkanangalekar.
GA translated five novels by Conrad Richter
Conrad Richter
Conrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
into Marathi in the 1960s for a project which USIS in India had initiated for getting some prominent American writings translated into India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n languages. He also wrote the book Manase Arbhat Ani Chillar, which contains some of his autobiographical ramblings.
Works
- Nilasavala (निळासावळा) (1959)
- Hirave Rave (हिरवे रावे) (1960)
- Parava (पारवा) (1960)
- RaktaChandan (रक्तचंदन) (1966)
- Kajalmaya (काजळमाया) (1972)
- Pingalavel (पिंगळावेळ)
- Sanjshakun (सांजशकुन ) (1975)
- Ramalkhuna (रमलखुणा) (1975)
- Ek Arabi Kahani (एक अरबी कहाणी) (1983) (Translated)
- Onjaldhara (ओंजळधारा) (1984) (Translated)
- Bakhar Bimmachi (बखर बिम्मची) (1986) (for children)
- Mugdhachi Rangit Goshta (मुग्धाची रंगीत गोष्ट) (1986) (for children)
- Pailpakhare (पैलपाखरे ) (1986) (Translated)
- Akashphule (आकाशफुले) (Translated)
- Manase Arbhat Ani Chillar (माणसे -अरभाट आणि चिल्लर) (1988)
- Kusumgunja (कुसुमगुंजा) (1989; posthumous)
- Sonpawale (सोनपावले) (1991; posthumous)
- Dohakalima (डोहकाळिमा) (1987) (Collection of stories from GA's first four books)
- Niyatidaan (नियतिदान ) (1992; posthumous) (Collection of HindiHindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
translations of GA's selected short stories) - Ran (रान) (1967) (Translated; Original - The Trees by Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
) - Gav (गाव) (1967) (Translated; Original - The Town by Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
) - Swatantrya Ale Ghara (स्वातंत्र्य आले घरा) (1968) (Translated; Original - The Free Man by Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
)) - Ranatil Prakash (रानातील प्रकाश) (1968) (Translated; Original - The Light of the Forest by Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
) - Shiwar (शिवार) (1968) (Translated; Original - The Fields by Conrad RichterConrad RichterConrad Michael Richter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist whose lyrical work focuses on life along the American frontier.-Biography:...
) - Sonyache Madake (सोन्याचे मडके) (1991; posthumous) (Translated, Original - Crock of GoldCrock of GoldThe Crock of Gold is a novel written by James Stephens. Some editions have a foreword by Walter de la Mare. Truly unique, it is a mixture of philosophy, Irish folklore and the neverending battle of the sexes all with charm, humour and good grace....
by James StephensJames Stephens (author)James Stephens was an Irish novelist and poet.James Stephens wrote many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humor and lyricism...
) - Lord of the Flies (लॉर्ड ऑफ दी फ्लाईज) (1987) (Translated, Original - Lord of the Flies, By William GoldingWilliam GoldingSir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
) - Vairyachi Ek Ratra (वैऱ्याची एक रात्र) (1982) (Translated, Original - I Survived Hitler's Ovens by Olga Lengyel)
- Amrutphale (अमृतफळे) (1983) (Translated, Original - Apples of immortality by Leon Surmelian)
- Diwas Tudawat Andharakade (दिवस तुडवत अंधाराकडे ) (1953; Unpublished. Translated, Original - Long Day's Journey into NightLong Day's Journey Into NightLong Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
by Eugene O'NeillEugene O'NeillEugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
) - G.A. -nchi Nivadak Patre - Khand I,II, III, IV (जी.एं. ची निवडक पत्रे; खंड १,२.३.४) (1995,1998, 2006; posthumous)
- G.A. -nchi PatraVela (जी.एं.ची पत्रवेळा; Letters to Kavi Grace and her daughter Mithila) (2010; posthumous)
External links
- G.A. Kulkarni Info Site
- A few excerpts from GA's stories - Orpheus, Bhet, Vidushak, Swami
- GA's Books Buying GA's Books
- Prof. Ma Da Hatkangalekar on G.A. Kulkarni
- GA's Fanpage on Facebook