Dr. Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy
Valedictory Speech delivered at Vidrohi Sahitya Sammelana held on 24-12-2017 in Shahada, Nandurbar district, Maharashtra
Hon. President of the Sammelana, the dignitaries on the Dais and the august literary audience before me.
I am extremely happy to be present here today for two reasons. One is my poems are getting published in Marathi and the other is, it is a veritable privilege for any writer to be honoured by the Maharashtra Vidrohi Sanskritik Sanghatan. I belong to the early generation of poets who started protest poetry in late 1970s consequent to the Dalit- Bandaya movement in Karnataka, which is interestingly the replication of the struggle that occurred in Maharashtra at the same time. My poetry has been translated into Spanish and English and anthologies have been published. Collections have so far been published in Hindi, Urdu, and Telugu and the Marathi version is in the offing. I thank wholeheartedly Sri Baburao Kamble, a poet well known to Marathi audience, who undertook the task of translation.
Today, I must remember Late Sri Shankar M. Patil who was a resident of Kolhapur and a Kannadiga. He was instrumental in bringing Vacana literature into Marathi. It was he who coordinated with Vidrohi Sanskritik Sanghatan for publishing this collection a few years back. I was more than happy to understand that a prestigious, progressive literary organisation is introducing me to Marathi poetry. But after his sad demise, I searched for the manuscript, ringing up to his relatives and friends, since my translator didn't keep a copy of it. Finally, I found Prof. Raja Sirguppe was in possession of it and both of us rejoiced. He was graceful enough to agree to fulfill the ambition of our friend Sri Shankar M. Patil. I owe my sincere gratitude to all these noble personalities. Maharashtra and Karnataka were historically bound together and have shared a common cultural heritage. The first Marathi inscription was found in Shravanabelagola and the Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas crossed Godavari and ruled. Books have been written tracing the origin of the great warrior king Shivaji to the northern part of Karnataka.
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