Wednesday, June 15, 2016

वेडापिसा का भन्नाट? Zweig's Amok


My father has been one of the underrated writers in Marathi, at least since my birth in 1960. He once was a prolific writer- writing books, leaders for a Nashik-based Marathi daily etc.

He has translated a few books of Stefan Zweig (1881-1942). He did Zweig's book 'Amok', 1922 into Marathi- titled : Bhannat (भन्नाट)- in 1970. It was published by - like most of his books- Suras Prakashan (सुरस प्रकाशन), Solapur.

Zweig has become some what fashionable today but there was a time he was almost forgot.

I did not know that the book was translated earlier, until I read Mukund Vaze's (मुकुंद वझे) article in Loksatta dated December 13 2015.

Dr. N K Gharpure (डॉ. . का. घारपुरे) did that in 1936, the year my father was born! 

Gharpure was a professor of German at Fergusson College, Pune. Therefore he did it from German while my father did it from English. 

I like my father's title भन्नाट  more than Gharpure's  वेडापिसा. It captures the mood of the novel more aptly.





Artist: Gopal Dutt Kulkarni, 1970