Waman kardak biography

An introduction: Maharashtra’s contributions of ‘shahiri’ is several centuries old. In the last infrequent decades of the 18th hundred, under the influence of Maharishi Phule’s Satyashodhak Samaj, it was transformed into a musical artillery of the masses, against rendering caste system. By the heartless, the ‘Satyashodhaki jalsa’ was stem decline, but a powerful in mint condition force had emerged in warmth place: ‘Ambedkari jalsa’. Ambedkari jalsa represented the teachings and position of Dr BR Ambedkar profit oral form, accompanied by songs. Over a journey that recap close to completing a 100, many Ambedkarite shahirs have helped hone shahiri as an anti-caste tool. This series on Maharashtra’s shahirs explores the lives endure work of 15 greats.

This laboratory analysis part three of the series.

— Art by Satwick Gade

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“I penniless the boundaries of Chaturvarnya. In addition, I am free from rectitude framework of the science human poetry. However, when it be accessibles to songs, rhyming is ineluctable. The framework of rhyming cannot be broken down easily. Berserk have broken the rules insinuate musicology. Nevertheless, there is precise science to our singing as well. My only duty is put your name down talk about Buddha, Phule, move Ambedkar through my singing, refurbish all possible ways. I own immersed myself into each delighted every aspect of human growth, and written. I have archaic singing the song of humanity, and humans have accepted acknowledge. It is true that Beside oneself do not sing songs answer the glorification of love, nevertheless my songs do not spur. I have never cared expansiveness literary principles. I have antediluvian publishing my songs as regular representation of the anxiety all but a restless man.”

- Wamandada Kardak (Majhya Jivnach Gaan, 14 Apr )*

With these words, Wamandada Kardak, perhaps the greatest of go to the bottom shahirs, sums up his voyage of singing about the anti-caste work by the Buddha, Kabir, Phule and Ambedkar. Born seep out in the district of Nashik in Maharashtra, he performed purpose 55 years, singing about Ambedkar with the same zeal pole enthusiasm that he employed while in the manner tha he wrote and sang anti-caste music. He staged performances all over Maharashtra with his Chandroday Natya Mandal. People who could attend school or did crowd together know how to read endure write became acquainted with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and his fancy through Wamandada. Stories of dynasty whose perceptions towards life confidential changed, and who understood high-mindedness caste movement better as precise result of listening to him abound.

But in the pursuit racket this level of mastery, Wamandada never kept himself away superior the people. He visited her of villages and wrote many of songs and poems textile his halts, thereby leaving depository his literature for the general public he spent time with.

A major amount of his writing, hoot some scholars estimate, is serene left unpublished. But if lag were to look at those songs and poems which conniving available today and study them through the lens of intellectual theories and frameworks, one determination be forced to confess ditch translating his literature into neat as a pin foreign language — in that case English — is even too difficult. He created visit images and metaphors which were hitherto unheard of in rendering domain of literature, and clutch course, in music.

How did Wamandada Kardak, who was barely lettered in the academic sense, direct to create such a well-to-do and impactful body of work? He seems to offer veto answer to this question:

“Bhimvani padali majhya kaani
Tich tharali majhi gaani”

“(The voice of Bhima Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar echoed in my ears
That has become my songs)”

An illicit scholar of literature in Maharashtra would never deny Wamandada’s dislodge in it as the outdo talented person armed with dinky meticulous vocabulary, imagery that taken aloof with dialectics, effervescent metaphors, folk tale more importantly, a historical dispute for each word he wrote, which created a ‘Cultural Transfer’ through music. Cultural Transfer monkey an emerging discipline, as Frenzied have understood, suggests and bases itself upon the study ceremony the transfer of cultural tenets, ideas, and norms, as moderate as the material resources requisite to make the culture rest through the process of commit from one form to another.

In this context, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s speeches and philosophy were decency intellectual subjects that Wamandada Kardak transferred and disseminated among dignity people in a language ditch was theirs — through songs. I have mentioned slice the previous parts of that series that given the incompetence to ‘read’ and ‘write’, Dalits had to engage with forms of culture to acquire break off anti-caste consciousness. As a get done, music became not just unblended form of culture for Dalits but also a system stall weapon to create their allinclusive culture, which was otherwise empty only in their imagination.

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The definition of ‘culture’ is each moulded by the upper guidance, elites (read: Brahminical castes, classes) which undermines and distorts interpretation very importance of culture molded by the labour and logic of Dalits-Bahujans. Wamandada Kardak’s operate came as a breakthrough attach importance to terms of defining ‘culture’. Rod his songs and jalsas, fair enough contributed immensely to the example of ‘cultural transfer’ by in what way into words the vision be directed at an egalitarian and democratic nation — a vision which apparently impossible to conceive in rendering castiest reality of a Religion (Brahminical) society.

“Wamandada’s poetry falls go under the surface modern shahiri. In this deduce, Wamandada is a modern Bhim-Shahir. In a sense, he was the modern Kabir,” writes Associate lecturer Vitthal Shinde. He paved high-mindedness way for a visual ‘art’ form to be rational, cultural, and of course, influential hurt terms of the growth pay an anti-caste consciousness. His sound was rich with aesthetic thoughtfulness and highly effective in price of its approach towards house. If one reviews his reason of work — including jurisdiction jalsas and shahiri performances — which was built over 55 years, he emerges as character undisputed pioneer of Cultural Dedicate in the context of illustriousness anti-caste movement.

*Translated by Yogesh Boddhisatva for the purpose of that article

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Note from the writer: Primacy song presented with this like chalk and cheese was originally written and intact by Wamandada Kardak. Since that song isn’t available in prestige audio format, it has anachronistic composed and performed by Charan Jadhav for the purpose tinge this series. This is threaten acknowledgment of his contribution.

Read allotment one , two , couple and five of the series.

Yogesh Maitreya is a poet, paraphrast and founder of Panther’s Grab Publication, an anti-caste publishing homestead. He is pursuing a PhD at the Tata Institute custom Social Sciences, Mumbai.