Amongst all the cities of India, Pune is the only city having a blend of past and
present culture. With the IT sector in boom and high level urbanization the city
is becoming the fastest growing ciy of this country while on the other hand
traditions and festivals of pune keep it connected to the cultural values. Also it
is the city which has given birth to the world of literatures. What has been the
inseparable part of this city and the soul of this city is the culture, drama and the
performing arts. It was the theatre which gave rise to all of this. Marathi theatre –
an integral part of the culture of pune has been born here.
Pune has always held a very important place in the history and one of the few
litterateurs of 19th century were born in Pune. Shri Krishnashastri Chiplunkar
was one of them. “Meghdoot” was one of his well renowned work. He is the
pioneer of the short Marathi tales and the pillars were lais by him with the
writing of “Arabi Bhashetil Suras va Chamatkarik Goshti”. his son Vishnushastri
Chiplunkar was also well known litterateurs and was also called “shivaji” of
Marathi language. The monthly series of the essay known as “nibandhmala” was
started by him. He gave altogether a new angle to the Marathi prose and laid
the foundation of modern Marathi prose. In 1878 there was a new turn in the
literature work of Maharashtra with the writers meet started by Justice Ranade
and Lokhitwadi Gopal Hari Deshmukh. This meet helped to create a group of
people having same common interest and enhanced the field of literature in
Pune. 1906, Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad (Literary Council) was formed and
pune saw the success of the efforts put in by the writers meet. This council plays
an important role in the literature of Maharashtra even today.
Slowly came in “kesari” written by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Shivrampant Paranjpe’s
weekly Kaal gained popularity in its own way. Kaal gave birth to “vakrokti” which
is a figure of speech meaning sarcasm and ridicule. N.C Kelkar wrote plays,
biographies, fictions and even articles for newspapers. He was bestowed upon
the title of “sahitya samrat” for his doyen of literature. Prahlad keshav atre
became an unforgettable name in the field of literature of pune. He became the
pride of pune by contributing his works in various fields as a teacher, journalist,
litterateur,orator, dramatist and even a film producer. His newspaper Maratha
was very revolutionary and it created new energy in the people around it. The
editorials and the speeches became most remarkable part of that newspaper.
They were too motivating and inspirational. He was even associated with
Maharashtra Chalval, a movement for unification of Maharashtra and is
remembered for that even today. G. N. Dandekar aka GoNiDa travelled around
the country on bare foot and he got fame through his writings only. His writings
became immensely popular as it filed life in to the character. His contribution
towards fiction stories is considered very important in Marathi literature.
Babasaheb Purandare contributed a lot towards literature during the time of
shivaji. His sstory “jaanta raja” is alive even today and is greatly accepted by
people around the globe. Almost for every literature work pune has been the
base since olden times. With the help of of oratory club, Justice Ranade started
the lecture series Vasant Vyakhyanmala to raise public awareness. These lectures
happen even to this day which is very remarkable. Also tukaram has a remarkable
name in the history of Indian literatures and he belonged to Pune. The legendry
Devgandharva Pt. Bhaskarbua Bakhale belonged to pune . he was the man behin
the pune bharat gyan samaj in 1911. Pune, also known as punya nagri is the
second largest state of maharshtra. Even today pune is famous for its education
and facilities. The pillars of literacy that were planted in pune long time back even
continues to be the pride of this city today. The thatre activities which are
prevailing in pune have been continuously redefining the culture of this city. The
two most prominent theatres – Bharat Natya Mandir and Tilak Smarak Mandir
have been located in the old city area of pune. These thatres forms long time
back are alive even today due to “never die” spirits of puneites. If anyone would
like to have a gist of the literature of india, Pune forms an important part of it.
The talk about the culture and literature of India is incomplete without
mentioning pune’s part in it.
Pune is known as the cultural capital of Maharashtra. It is a city which has truly
retained the culture in itself. Today pune has more than hundred educational
institutes and universities inside it and it’s a place preferred by most of the people
of India to come and study. Also pune is one of the city of this world having
highest numbers of schools, colleges and educational institutes. Pune has a very
rich and successful track record great piece wf works written and formed there.
Step on the land of pune and experience the culture and sweet fragrance of the
old memories of much great work that had its foundation from that place. It is
truly a land of literatures.
JOURNEY TO CITY OF ANGELS…….. P U N E !
Most of us have cherished many unfulfilled dreams and desires throughout our
lives .Some of us dream of becoming great artists, some world famous sports
personalities and some great authors. So why we cannot ,or rather why do most
of us , hesitate to actually turn these dreams into reality and live our passions ?
The road to living ones’ dreams is usually long and treacherous, filled with
struggles .These struggles usually scare even the gustiest of us, because of which
we try to suppress our inner voice .The most common reasons for this struggles
are as follows.
. Most of us see our passions as a mere hobby ,something to occupy
us ,something we enjoyed during childhood, now to be forgotten .Since doing it
comes naturally to us ,we do not realize ourselves how good we are at it and how
much others around us admire and appreciate it .Therefore ,we fail to nurture it
slowly and fully .
. Majority of us ,especially in India have grown up with the belief that what is
conventional is good for us and anything unconventional might lead us astray.
Thus , we always look for a “secure and safe ” career ,a “stable and comfortable “
life and hesitate to take the path unexplored . That is why we are churning out
lakhs of engineers and doctors every year and only a handful of sportspersons.
Nobody has told us the importance of being a dedicated engineer or a doctor, just
the paper degree is enough to satisfy the world.
The social stigmas attached to our dreams are often high for example ,a guy
who has told his parents about wanting to be a chef or a hair stylist may attract
horrified responses from his family . Similarly a girl from a professional, non
filmy ,middle class family wanting to be an actress may not get the support she
would have garnered had she decided to become a professor or a schoolteacher.
. Lack of resources in the form of finances as well as time is often a big hindrance
for us to realize our goals. Caught up in our demanding and hectic work schedules
and family lives, we fail to slow our pace, give ourselves some time to understand
out thoughts and wishes. But the main reason, we mostly don’t live our dreams is
actually within ourselves, a nagging fear of failure . It is much easier to blame lack
of time, resources and support than to actually go there and take the plunge. Our
lack of confidence in our own abilities, coupled with the fear of the unfamiliar is a
major roadblock.
Therefore it is important to be able to free ourselves of these shackles binding us
and live our lives the way we want to. The road may be difficult and scary, but the
satisfaction and joy on reaching the destination is unparalleled. In the words of
Henry David ,”Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve
imagined
My journey started few years back when I decided paranormally to shift
myself to a new road to perdition and landed up in CITY OF ANGELS….. PUNE
