C. T. Khanolkar

Chintamani Tryambak Khanolkar (C. T. Khanolkar) (Devanagari: चिंतामणी त्र्यंबक खानोलकर) (8 March 1930 – 26 April 1976) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India. He wrote poetry under the name "Arati Prabhu" and prose under his own name. He received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1976) for his playwriting and Sahitya Akademi Award (1978) for his collection of poems Nakshatranche Dene.

Khanolkar was born on 8 March 1930 in the village of Baglanchi Rai near Vengurla in Maharashtra in a family with meagre means. He started writing poetry since 1950 and received acclaim for his poem "Shunya Shrungarte" which featured in the February edition of Marathi literary journal Satya Katha in 1954. Khanolkar completed his education up to matriculation and began running the family business of 'Khanaval' (a small hotel). But the business did not do well and Khanolkar decided to leave his village for Mumbai in search of livelihood in 1959.

Khanolkar was known in the Marathi literary circles even before his arrival in the city due to his poems. He managed to get a job in Mumbai Akashwani (State Radio) with the help of another fellow poet Mangesh Padgaonkar, but he had to give up his job in 1961 because of his 'eccentric behaviour'. This made his initial years in Mumbai full of financial difficulties.

Jogva was his first published collection of poems in 1959. After that in 1962 he published Divelagan, another collection of poems. Both collections have a majority of poems which portray agitation and distress. Reminiscent agitation is the chief emotion in the initial collection of his poems. His poems do not feature romantic descriptions of a lover as do the poems of his contemporaries. His poems might begin with a description of the lover, but the intensity of hurt hits him with such force that the poem turns into an ode to the suffering.

Jarach firli kinkhabichi sui
Juicha usvit Shela
Ani Thanakla Gatasmruticha
Kalokhane Kapur Pela –

(The needle moved gently
Threading a cloth of Jui flowers
And the memories flooding in hurt
Darkness prevails -)

And so his hurt intensifies as the poem progresses.

Compared with these poems, his collection published in Nakshtrache Dene in 1975 are a great deal more pleasant; he appears to have overcome his suffering. These poems are conversational and theatrical.

One poem from this set is Aad Yete Reet:

Nahi Kashi Mhanu Tula Mhante re Geet
Pari Sare halkyane aad yete reet
Nahi kashi mhanu tula, yete jara thamb,
Pari hirvya valnanni jaiche na lamb

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Wikipedia