Poet Vinda Karandikar, Jnanpith winner, dies at 92

Marathi poet and Jnanpith Award-winner Govind Vinayak Karandikar died here today following a brief illness. He was 92.

Karandikar, who was born on August 23, 1918, in Ghalval village in coastal Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra to a poor farmer, breathed his last at Bhabha Hospital.

The poet, better known as Vinda Karandikar, was given the 39th Jnanpith Award for 2003, India's highest literary recognition. The award was presented to him by president APJ Abdul Kalam in 2006.

At the time, Kalam had described Karandikar as an essayist, critic, and translator who had made a notable contribution to Marathi poetry and literature. "His life is an example of extraordinary achievement realised through ceaseless search for aesthetic perfection," he had said.

Karandikar was the most experimental and comprehensive of all the modern Marathi poets. He translated Aristotle's poetry into Marathi. He also translated his own poems into English and wrote poetry in English (Vinda's Poems, 1975). Besides, he was an essayist and critic.

Karandikar was the third Marathi writer to win the Jnanpith Award, after Vishnu Sakharam Khandekar (1974) and Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar aka Kusumagraj (1987).

Besides the Jnanpith, he received several awards, including the Keshavsut Prize, Soviet Land Nehru Literary Award, Kabir Samman, and Senior Fellowship of the Sahitya Akademi.

The young Vinda went through times of great hardship. He could complete his school and college education in Kolhapur only because of the timely help offered by a well-wisher.

He acquired a Master's degree in English and went on to settle in Mumbai, choosing teaching as his profession. While studying English literature, he was influenced by the works of poets like Browning, Hopkins, and Elliot. Marathi poets like Madhav Julian and BS Mardhekar also influenced Vinda's early works.

Thought-provoking subjects like universal truths, mortality, scientific approach, and spiritual inclination were the core of his poetry.

Karandikar did a lot of experimentation with his poems and dabbled in different types and compositions of poetry like the ghazal, song, and mukta suneet (free sonnet). His famous collections are SwedGanga (1949), MrudaGandha
(1945), Dhrupad (1959), and Jatak (1968).

Karandikar's collection of short essays, Sparshaachi Palav (1958) and Akashacha Arth (1965), not only showcase his unique style of thinking, but also his sharp wit.

Parampara Ani Navata (1967) is a collection of analytical reviews that enjoys an important place among the various critiques in Marathi literature.

Karandikar also wrote poems for children, different from the traditional nursery rhymes. His poems for children showed a good understanding of children, their own little world, their imagination, and ideas, and are especially touching because he has used the novel, imaginative, mystical, humorous and unique ideas of children.

Aitu Lokancha Desh, Pishi Mavashi Ani Tichi Bhutaval,
Ranicha Baag, Ekda Kaay Zhale, Ajabkhana, Circuswala,
Sashyache Kaan, and Pari Ga Pari are some of his popular collections that enriched children's world.

The poet is survived by two sons and a daughter.