Ravindra Kelekar | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Kelekar | |
| Born | (1925-03-07)7 March 1925[1] |
| Died | 27 August 2010(2010-08-27) (aged 85) Margao, Goa, India |
| Resting place | Priol, Goa, India[2] |
| Occupation | freedom fighter, linguistic activist, poet, author |
| Language | Konkani |
| Nationality |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives |
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Ravindra Kelekar (7 March 1925 – 27 August 2010) was an Indian author who wrote primarily in theKonkani language, though he also wrote inMarathi andHindi.[4] AGandhian activist, freedom fighter and a pioneer in the modern Konkani movement, he was a well known Konkani scholar,linguist, and creative thinker. Kelekar was a participant in theIndian freedom movement,Goa's liberation movement, and later the campaign against the merger of the newly formedGoa withMaharashtra. He played a key role in the founding of theKonkani Bhasha Mandal, which led the literary campaign for the recognition of Konkani as a full-fledged language, and its reinstatement as the state language of Goa.[5] He authored nearly 100 books in the Konkani language, includingAmchi Bhas Konkaneech,Shalent Konkani Kityak,Bahu-bhashik Bharatant Bhashenche Samajshastra andHimalayant, and also editedJaag magazine for more than two decades.
Kelekar died at Apollo Hospital at Margao, Goa at around 11.30 am on Friday, 27 August 2010. He was 85.[4][6]His remains were cremated with State honours at his native village of Priol.[2]
Kelekar received thePadma Bhushan (2008),[7][8]the Gomant Sharada Award of Kala Academy,[8]theSahitya Akademi Award (1977),[9]and theSahitya Akademi Fellowship (2007)—the highest award of theSahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.[10]He also received the 2006Jnanpith Award,[11] the first ever awarded to an author writing in the Konkani language,[1]which was presented in July 2010.[12]
Ravindra Kelekar was born on 7 March 1925, inCuncolim,Portuguese Goa.[1] He was named Chandrakant after his mother Chandra. Itt was later changed to Ravindra by his maternal grandfather Lingubab Dalvi. His father, Dr Rajaram Kelekar, was a physician who later became renowned for his Portuguese translation of theBhagwad Gita.[8] Most of his childhood was spent in Diu. Afterwards he returned to Goa for his further studies .While still a student at the Lyceum High School inPanaji, Kelekar joined theGoa liberation movement in 1946,which brought him in close contact with several local and national leaders, includingRam Manohar Lohia, under whose influence he was able to recognise the power of language to mobilise the local populace. Later, he saw the potential in his native Konkani language, which became his lifelong work.[8]
Already deeply influenced byGandhian philosophy, in 1949 Kelekar left his native Goa forWardha, to be with noted Gandhian and writerKakasaheb Kalelkar. Kelekar stayed under Kalelkar's tutelage until 1955, when he was appointed librarian of theGandhi Memorial Museum in New Delhi. This turned out to be short-lived, as only a year later he plunged back into the Goa freedom movement. With a mission to reconnect the Goandiaspora all over the world, he started the weekly,Gomant Bharati (1956–60),[13]published in theLatin script in Bombay. Soon after, being an active participant in Goa's struggle for freedom, he was imprisoned by the Portuguese. He was released when theIndian Armyinvaded and annexed Goa in 1961.
He joined the socio-political campaign against the merger of Goa into the neighbouring Maharashtra state, which ended after theplebiscite of 1967 (theGoa Opinion Poll), with Goa retaining its separate identity as aunion territory. Goa retained this status until 1987, when it was declared a state.
After Goa's independence, Kelekar took to literary activism, getting his native tongue, Konkani, recognized as a distinct language (rather than a dialect of Marathi). He was compared favourably with pioneers in the Konkani literary movement, such asShenoi Goembab.[14]During this period, he wrote some of his most important works promoting the Konkani language, includingAamchi Bhas Konkanich (1962), a dialogue revealing the importance of Konkani to the common man on the street;Shallent Konkani Kityaak (1962), highlighting the significance of having Konkani medium schools in Goa; andA Bibliography of Konkani Literature in Devanagari, Roman and Kannada characters (1963).[5][15]In February 1987, theGoa Legislative Assembly had passed the Official Language Bill making Konkani the Official Language of Goa.[16]The struggle ended in 1992, when Konkani was included in theEighth Schedule of theIndian Constitution as an official language.[17]With life's mission completed, Kelkar retired from public life, focusing mainly of his writing.[8]
On 26 February 1975, theSahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, recognised Konkani as an independent language.[citation needed]The firstSahitya Akademi Award for a work in Konkani was won by Kelekar for his travelogue,Himalayant, in 1977.[18][19][20]The Akademi's firstSahitya Akademi Translation Prize in Konkani also went to Kelekar in 1990 forAmi Taankan Manshant Haadle, a Konkani translation of a collection of essays in Gujarati,Mansaeena Diva, byJhaverchand Meghani.[21]He received the 2006Jnanpith Award, which was the first given to a Konkani-language writer.[11] The pinnacle of his career came with theSahitya Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2007.[10] A lifelong proponent of regional languages, in his acceptance speech for the Jnanpith award, he said, "People have stopped reading books in regional languages. On the other hand, through English, we have created Bonsai intellectuals,Bonsai writers and Bonsai readers."[22]
When the Vishwa Konkani Sahitya Academy, an offshoot of the Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation, was set up in 2006, the first work it took up for translation wasVelavaylo Dhulo, a collection of Kelekar's essays.[23]His books have been translated into Hindi and other North Indian languages, and are used by universities.[24]
Kelekar married Godubai Sardesai in 1949; their son Girish was born in April 1950.[5]Kelekar lived in his ancestral home—built by his father in 1937—called "Kelekar House", in the village ofPriol in central Goa. The Casa Dos Kelekars, as it is formally known, is now seen as exemplary of a typical Goan community home.[25]
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