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No stealthy deed this!
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The sufferings of his community motivated him to write, says Laxman Gaikwad, the winner of the Sahitya Akademi award, in a talk with Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay
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Photo: Paul Noronha
A crusader Laxman Gaikwad
Given a choice, nobody may opt for Laxman Gaikwad’s life. He was born in a ‘criminal’ community which has many names, all with anti-social connotations. Uchalaya (branded), bhamta (cheat), ghanti chor (bell-thief), etc. However, his has been a life extraordinary, rising above all texts and sub-texts.
Gaikwad’s achievements are awe-inspiring. He is the youngest Sahitya Akademi Award winner (1980), and the US Library of Congress had taken his interview on the occasion of bicentenary celebrations of the U.S. A Kannada play, based on his book, has done 100 shows, and this May 18, at Abhimanch (NSD), Delhiites would be treated to a Hindi play “Uchalaya”, based on his life.
“For generations my community was deprived of education. We had no luxuries and no essentials either like work, status, house, village, or even legal existence. Even now we are not a part of the Census, we simply don’t count. We were notified as criminals by the British. Our government de-notified us in 1952; but we have no place in the Constitution. We are outcastes among outcastes with nothing of our own,” Laxman explains his plight and inspiration for writing.
First book
“It is the social inequality that forced me to write. I was simply lucky to enter a school and used to write devotional songs once in a while. But when I came in contact with trade unions, slum dwellers, etc., I understood the Socialist thought. Then I decided to write about my people”, adds Laxman.
His first book, “Uchalaya”, an instant hit in Marathi, is a moving account of his childhood that was enmeshed in discrimination, poverty and alienation. The Sahitya Akademi Award was followed by several other honours at regional and national level. Suddenly it seemed as if the entire state of Maharashtra woke up to the harsh realities of the ‘criminal’ tribes. “My own community thought I had betrayed them by revealing the trade secrets, viz., ‘thieving’, and was, therefore, being feted by the State. The panchayat wanted a share of my prize-money, threatened to kill me, but some brave youngsters who were convinced I had done a good thing, stood by me.”
Laxman relates the problems of his community with passion. “There are at least a crore people who are ‘nomadic and de-notified’ all over India. Unlike SCs, STs and OBCs, they are not in the ambit of development. Due to my efforts, Maharashtra set up a Ministry, but it has no budget. Our people are beaten up, arrested, imprisoned and tortured regularly. They used to hunt for food, but the Forest Department snapped their bond with forests. They used to entertain with animals like monkeys, bears etc., but the environmentalists and animal lobby have destroyed that source of livelihood too. Our roads to future are blocked,” laments Laxman.
As a writer, he has done remarkably well. “Uchalaya” is in its eighth edition. All his seven books deal with the strange twilight world and its attendant crises he and his people live with; “Dubang” (split) on Latur earthquake, “Wadar Vedana” (on the stone breaker community) , “Vakila Pardhi” (on a hunting tribe), and finally, “Uthav” (rebellion) deals with corruption in public life.
Laxman’s works have been translated into many Indian languages, including Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Oriya, and Hindi.
His books are prescribed in four Universities in Karnataka. Laxman feels the road ahead is still long and winding.
“I can’t forget my childhood when we burnt seeds of mangoes and tamarind for meals. We used to watch others eating and would wait for hours to get some leftovers. I am outside that miserable life, but how can I sleep peacefully when I know that a large number of my ilk still need work, food, schools, health, money and above all, sense of ownership towards India?”
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