Kharemaster

Kharemaster

Vibhavari Shirurkar

Translated from the Marathi by Yashodhara Maitra

demy octavo pb 134pp ISBN 81-85604-27-4 Rs 120  Jan 1998

‘Hailed as [a] great autobiographical novel.’ ~ The Statesman

This is an extraordinary true story of Anant Khare, who appeared to be an ordinary drawing teacher, living and working near Pune at the beginning of the twentieth century. He decided that his contribution to the nationalist movement would be to ensure that his daughters were educated to the highest level. And that is what happened. By the twenties his daughters were independent, single, career women at a time when their peers had been married by the age of ten. His wife too was running a flourishing dairy. The children embodied their father’s dream; yet their father felt increasingly isolated and lonely. Written by a daughter, it began as a biography and took on the form of a novel, which she believed would better convey the truth of his life.

Malatibai Bedekar, who used the pen name Vibhavari Shirurkar, was born Balutai Anant Khare in 1905. She graduated from Karve University (now SNDT) at seventeen and later undertook research on 'Alankarshastra', an aspect of Sanskrit aesthetics. She was married to the distinguished writer and film director Vishram Bedekar. Stree has also published, Her Story, Our Story and On the Swing (2008); Shabari (2011). Yashodhara Deshpande Maitra taught natural sciences at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She lives in Webster, NY, USA.

Published By:Stree

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