Marathi writer DB Kulkarni passes away

Kulkarni has more than 20 books to his credit, including award winning ones like Kadambari: Swaroop Aani Sameeksha and Antariksh Firlo Pan.

Kulkarni was born on July 25, 1934, in Nagpur. At the age of 19, his short story had won an award in a contest organised by New York’s Herald Tribune. After receiving his PhD in Marathi Literature from Nagpur University, he dedicated many years of his life to teaching.
Kulkarni was a professor of Marathi in renowned universites such as Benaras Hindu University, Nagpur University and Kolhapur’s Gokhale College. For his contribution in the field, the then Maharashtra government conferred upon him the state’s Best Teacher award in 1991.

Kulkarni’s books like Dnyaneshwaranche Shrotrusamwad, Parthivteche Udayast, Samikshechi Sarhadda and Pahili Parampara were critically acclaimed by scholars of Marathi language. Most of his books were published by Padmagandha Publications.

Speaking about Kulkarni, Arun Jakhade, head of Padmagandha said, “He was engrossed in literature until his last breath. Nothing could replace his passion for books. He was a great critic, who never gave up studying. Many critics write one book and get done with the subject. But he kept updating, enriching himself and his readers.”

Jakhade added that Kulkarni taught him to analyse a poem grammatically. “It was because of Kulkarni, that I came to know that poems could be read in different manners too. He used to decipher different meanings from famous poems, which were not discussed or talked about,” he said.