‘Maharashtra’s beloved personality’: Remembering Pu La Deshpande on his birth anniversary

Purushottam Laxman Deshpande was a poet, author, actor, musician, screenplay writer and also a teacher. Photo: Pu La Prem Blog.

When one talks about Marathi literature, it is hard to miss mentioning Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, known as ‘Maharashtrache laadke vyaktimatva' which translates to ‘Maharashtra's beloved personality'. Popularly called Pu La Deshpande, he was a celebrated Marathi writer, musician, director, actor and orator.

Though he has significantly contributed to Marathi literature across genres, Deshpande is prominently known for his humoristic writings, many of which are also translated into the English and Kannada language. His most read works include ‘Vyaktiani Valli', ‘Batatyachi Chal', ‘Asa Mi Asami', ‘Marathi Vangmayacha GalivItihas' and ‘Apurvai' among others.

Trimbak Sadan at Vile Parle (East). Pu La Deshpande lived here and described the place in his works like 'Asami Asami'. Bansi Dhurandhar with Jayant Deshpande, nephew of the writer hold his book 'Batatyachi Chal' open to the page on which Pu La dedicated it to three friends, including Bansi's lawyer father Sadashiv Dhurandhar. Photo: Mid-day File Pic.

Deshpande was born in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, on November 8 in 1919. He was the grandson of noted Marathi poet and writer, Vaman Mangesh Dubhashi, who is known for his translation of Rabindranath Tagore's ‘Gitanjali' in Marathi. It was because of this influence that the writer was exposed to eminent works of literature from an early age. He spent his early life in Mumbai's Grant Road locality, Jogeshwari and then Vile Parle, where he completed his high school education. He went on to study law from the famous Fergusson College in Pune and then Arts from Sangli's Willingdon College.

Pu La Deshpande with actress Reema Lagoo and writer Jaywant Dalvi at one of the conferences. Photo: Pu La Prem

Deshpande has done work in several forms of writing such as poetry, short stories, screenplays, scripts and dialogues. A majority of these drew inspiration from instances in his real life. They were known to be satirical and would instantly get readers and listeners to burst into laughter. According to a biographical website Pu.La.Deshpande.net, the writer when asked about his writing style had said, "My writing is mostly a joke. I didn't care much about its literary value, whether it was outdated or not. I worked in different areas of life. I experienced many discrepancies in the way people behaved and spoke. That's where this writing came from. Readers from time to time acknowledged that the readers and listeners laughed heartily while reading my texts and listening to the audio recordings. That filled me up. Because of those receipts, my humour of writing and speaking humour has survived to this day."

PL Deshpande. Photo: Mid-day File Pic.

In addition to writing, Pu La Deshpande was regularly involved in producing musical works as a singer, composer and a music director for a number of Marathi films. The popular Marathi song and poem ‘Nach re Mora', which a majority of Mumbaikars may have recited once in their school life, was composed by Deshpande and was written by Shrirang Godbole.

On the occasion of his birth centenary in 2019, noted vocalist Satyasheel Deshpande, spoke to Mid-day about the importance of music in Pu La's life. "Khaanyacha suddha gaanya sarkha shastra aahe," he had written, explaining how the co-relation between the art of eating and singing. Satyasheel Deshpande elaborated, "A seasoned gourmet, like a khaandani singer, wouldn't eat shrikhand with bread, for the latter is a varjitswar [forbidden note] in this scheme raga. Shrikhand and poori on the other hand are vaadi-samvaadi, or complementary notes."

Pu La Deshpande with wife Sunita Deshpande. Photo: Pu La Prem

Pu La Deshpande passed away at the age of 80 on June 12, 2000, on his wedding anniversary, due to Parkinson's disease. Dr Shirish Prayag, who had been treating Deshpande couple for two decades, in an interview with Mid-day, said that Deshpande died due to pneumonia with an acute respiratory problem. After his wife Sunita Deshpande's death in 2009, Prayag speaking about the couple said that they were generous and donated a huge amount of money for several social causes during their lifetime.

Deshpande was a recipient of national awards such as the Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, Sangeet Natak Akademi. He also received state recognitions such as the Punyabhushan and Maharashtra Bhushan award. In 2020, to commemorate the Deshpande's birth centenary, music composer Gandhaar Sangoram created and launched ‘PuLa 100', a digital replica of the legend's handwriting font. The font is freely available for those willing to write using their beloved writer's font, on the website BeBirbal Digital Media Pvt Ltd, a company founded by Sangoram.

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