Thursday, July 24, 2008

An obituary for my inspiration..



Any artiste is always blessed with a unique ability to entertain-be it his or her singing,dancing or acting. Historically, there have been very few who could prove their mettle in more than one area. To be specific, there are even fewer who can feel the pulse of their audience, make the audience laugh or cry as per their will. पु. ल. देशपांडे (P.L.Deshpande) was one man who was able to identify the "literary" needs of the common man with great ease. "P.L." as he was fondly called,was admired by the Marathi speaking population because of the subtle way of his writings and plays. The middle class population, esp., found his style of writing suited to their taste.

His style of writing were often influenced by P.G.Wodehouse, the great writer whose comical genius is well-known. The characters immortalized by P.L. include "Sakharam Gatne" the fumbling kid who often amazed everyone with his knowledge of Marathi literature. The narrative explains the journey of Sakharam from being a clumsy bookworm to a mature man who realizes that the world has more to it than just a few words in print. P.L.'s keen sense of observation is evident from all of his works. Just like "Sakharam", P.L. has caricatured the life of a rather average middle class person in his "Asa Mi Asa Mi" which literally means "How I am..". This work of his brings out the everyday troubles of a middle class person piqued by his family-related issues. An interesting aspect of this fable is the transformation brought about in P.L.'s protagonist owing to his children and their new-age values. Each of these characters have left an indelible mark on the minds of the Maharashtrian community, the reason being they are very real, have shortcomings and have a unique persona. Right from the very lovable "Haritatya", a bumbling old man who entertains children with his stories of Shivaji to "Antubarwa" , a person whose wit and sarcasm leave you dumb-founded.

P.L. not only wrote, but he was a great musical genius and gave Marathi Cinema a new lease of life, with classics like "Gulacha Ganpati". His favorite instrument was the harmonium which he played and also performed live concerts. Ably assisted by his wife, Sunita, P.L. had a great journey, travelling all over the world and even wrote travelogues with his own comical touch.

12th June 2000 was the fateful day when the lord ended P.L.'s journey in the mortal world. And it reminded me of one of his short plays- "Sangtwan" (Condolences). The drama is a wonderful take on those people who gather at condolence meetings, but instead have apathy towards the bereaved. In case of P.L., the city of Pune itself had an air of sadness on the day P.L. passed away.I took a taxi to P.L.'s home that day, i alighted from the cab and paid the driver his fare. The man, looking a bit sad, and politlely returned the money, and said "P.L. was one of our own, I won't accept the money".

Hopefully, the Marathi community ,globally can unearth talent which if not equivalent ,but can live upto the name of Purshottam Laxman Deshpande.

May P.L. rest in peace....:)