Goodbye,wordsmith

Handling different art forms was his habit and the drama,poetry and translation were his habitats. He had unlearning disability! He played with words and coined new words in Marathi during his German/Spanish translations. Vidyasagar was 53-ish on the day he expired. He professionally lived and created in the midst of a turbulent cultural climate of the past three decades.

The onslaught of the electronic media,commercialisation of every art form and de-linking of creativity from expression have been the critical climatic changes. He founded Kalasakta in 1995,an activity centred on presenting foreign literature on the Marathi stage. Atul Kulkarni,Ila Bhate contributed to the stage-show Tikdun Aanlelya Goshti,as presenters of Marathi translations of Russian,German,Spanish,Italian and French stories. In 1999,he started publishing Kelyane Bhashantar,a quarterly magazine,in which direct translations of stories/plays/poems from European languages into Marathi were carried.

For such activities,no templates existed,neither did any grant money. Nevertheless,he attracted support from many persons of repute. His passion for making things work motivated several students,colleagues and even mentors. He taught German at the National Defence Academy and often traveled to Europe to learn nascent trends in dramatics,translation and teaching methods. Vidyasagar created viable relationships with reputed European publishing houses in connection with copyright formalities. He has one Marathi book,Dusrya Jodidarachya Shodhat to his name,in which he has translated a German novel,which depicts the moral and social fabric of contemporary Germany.

As regards his Tikdun Aanlelya Goshti show,he was never worried about its media coverage. The flexibility of presentation and emphasis on creativity attracted talented artists,writers and translators to his activities. He has left behind a legacy of good,clean,creative expression,a couple of ‘validated protocols’ for transcultural studies and many blueprints on which multi linguistic art forms can be pursued,learnt and presented.

He was hard to tame; no bait worked for him. I wish him a jolly good time wherever he has checked-in now. So long,buddy!