Tags:
Journalism of Courage
QAIDI No. 3495. The tag doesn8217;t do justice to Shivaji Vedu Salunke, serving a life sentence at the Paithan jail. The 50-year-old former sub-postmaster, convicted for killing his wife, has just been declared winner of the Maharashtra Literary and Cultural Board8217;s prestigious Yeshwantrao Chavan Memorial Award for his collection of Marathi poetry, Atmazad Deterioration of the Self.
For Salunke8217;s 250 jailmates, it8217;s a feather in their friend8217;s cap and one they were expecting. He writes their letters, but they8217;ve also seen him hunched over his mat, fountain pen in hand, writing in solitude. 8216;8216;I penned my first poem as an undertrial. The pain and anguish were unbearable8230;,8217;8217; Salunke recalls. That was 1994.
He maintains he was framed. 8216;8216;I suffered over 50 per cent burn while trying to save my wife,8217;8217; he whispers.
8216;8216;I wanted to commit suicide,8217;8217; he says. But he had to live 8212; for his daughter Nirmiti. 8216;8216;I had promised Sashikala his wife on her deathbed I would somehow raise our little girl,8217;8217; he says.
It was after his conviction in 1994 that he began maintaining a diary of his writings. Soon afterwards, he was discovered by Marathi poet Narayan Surve on a visit to jail. Surve compiled a collection of his poems and had them published in 1998. 8216;8216;Salunke8217;s work is truly his inner voice,8217;8217; Surve wrote in a foreword.
For Salunke, who worried about his daughter8217;s dream of becoming a lawyer, his new-found fame has been a life-saver. A government official has now promised to look after Nirmiti. The 17-yr-old is in a boarding school in Dhule. His next goal? To apply for parole, visit Nirmiti, and write an autobiography.
