Thursday, November 08, 2007

About Pu La...


Purushottam Lakshman Deshpande (November 8, 1919 - June 12, 2000), called Pu. La. or Bhai affectionately, was one of the most accomplished Marathi artists (and believe me when I say that there is quite a competition for top spots in that category). Apart from being a famous writer, he was an orator, actor, director and music director, not to mention a very talented musician and singer.

His writings span across various fields. He is most famous for his humorous portraits (of lives of mumbaikars and others), and other humorous writings, but he has also written plays, character portraits, travelogues, dramas, screenplays and dialogues for movies. He also translated "Pygmalion", "The Old Man and The Sea" and many other famous works into Marathi. He brought "One Man Act" to Marathi theatre, and many of his acts are still remembered.

He is often compared to George Bernard Shaw or P. G. Wodehouse, but his brand of humour (when he shifts the upper layer of comedy just a bit to show the tragedy it covers in many cases), in my opinion is almost unique. Avoiding temptation to write a long post on my favourite author, I guess it should be enough to say that he is one of the leading humour writers in Maharashtra, the state which has produced many famous writers in this field over the ages.

The "Pu. La. Deshpande Foundation" is a charitable foundation, which he started with his wife, Sunitabai Deshpande, herself a very good writer. From the royalties the couple got from their books, they used to keep just the money needed for their necessities, and pass on the rest of the amount to the foundation.

In the last century, at least three generations on maharashtrians have known PuLa's writing intimately. It is very hard to find a Marathi household which does not have at least one of his books (and it will be very hard to find a true Marathi student, who does not carry at least one of his books when he flies outside India). His writings and plays are so much part of Marathi people's psyche, that people can recite the whole dialogues by heart.

If you think I am exaggerating, my post on one of his famous books, "Vyakti ani Valli" is the most popular one on my book blog, and has more views than the second and third posts combined. And I am sure the same fate awaits my next post on that blog about "Asa Me Asami".

In short, though the term "Maharashtrache Ladke Vyaktimatva" (Maharashtra's Favourite Personality, is the closest translation) has now lost the meaning due to political overuse, this is one person who truly deserved the epithet.


- The Great Eagle Has Spoken


P.S. Maharashtra Times has a great collection of quotes, poems and incidents from PuLa's life. A must read for anyone who understands Marathi.

Quote of The Day:

There is an instrument called "divider" in pencilbox. It did nothing except dividing me and mathematics.
-P. L. Deshpande, Bigari te Matric

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

I still remember the first book I read - "Batatyachi chaal" and was roflamo. I couldn't believe anyone could put so much humor (and satire) into his writing. That was in 8th grade. It has been a sweet journey from then on. Thanks for remembering the great personality (no better English word for 'vyaktimatva' though)

Amey said...

@Priyank: Yup, to paraphrase the jingle, "no one can read just one" ;)

Do read the reviews of the books too. Comments are welcome.

Keshi said...

ty for letting us know abt this great person Amey!

Keshi.

Amey said...

@Keshi: The only regret I have is that his books are not translated in English or any other language. Otherwise I would have recommended all the books to everybody :)

Keshi said...

yeah that wud hv been great. He sounds like an amazing writer...

Keshi.

Amey said...

@Keshi: Do check out the links at the end of this post:

http://talons-on-board.blogspot.com/2006/10/about-pu-la.html

Incidentally, that is the original post. I was lazy enough just to paste it all here.

Cuckoo said...

This looked like your initial post on Pula. Come on, give us something new. :P

I came here for him only. And pls pls pls let me know if they have any book of him translated in Eng/Hindi. I am missing on something great.

Now, priyank has also joined you to make me envy. :(

Where your post on blogging thing gone ? I had read that thru reader & wanted to comment on that.

Amey said...

@Cuckoo: Oh well, the biography can't change, can it? And it has been long since I posted this.

Also, as I said last time, your Marathi is well enough to try his books. You can try "asa me asami", or one of his story books first if you want.

The post you saw is coming up next (again). After I posted it, I thought I should put something light up first.

Sonal Chinchwadkar said...

I loved all the episodes of "Nivdak Pula"... man Peshtan Kaka and Skharam Ghatne are my favourites!! He rocked! A good tribute in his remembrance!

Amey said...

Uptown Girl: "Nivadak PuLa"... I guess that also contains "Mhais" and some other stories, right?
It is very hard to forget him or any of his creations, really.

Welcome to my blog, btw. Do check out my book reviews (links in the post) and do keep coming back :D

Deepti Dani said...

I love Bigri Te Matric becuase in the veils of humor, he also describes the poor state of education...

Can you tell me the meaning of the title of the post?