Two new books published in 2009, holding immense value, but which went largely unnoticed, concerned the same writer- the iconic playwright, the late Vijay Tendulkar. One of the books was his incomplete autobiography, and the other a Marathi translation of his only English Play- HIS FIFTH WOMAN.

Needing no introduction, Vijay Tendulkar carved an exceptional niche for himself in the literary circles here and abroad. Many of us hoped that he would pen his atuobiography. He did start, jotting down notes even as he grappled with terminal illness. Before he passed away, he left behind a handwritten manuscript. These jottings were compiled into a book , Tein Divas by the publishing house, Rajhans Prakashan.

Tendulkar's writing has always seemed to have been propelled by an urgent need to discover, express, assert, reveal, and occasionally to explode. Browsing through his unfinished autobiography, you become aware of the reasons that must have backed his ideas, giving his plays the ring of socio-psychological truth. He vividly describes the turmoils of his life, and in his inimitable incisive style, wraps us up into his world that leaves us yearning for more.

The autobiography pointedly brings to the fore the highlights of his life, taking us through patches that seem to have direct bearing on his writings- years of poverty, hunger, squalor, torture, hatred, political agitations, debauchery, identity crisis, dissatisfaction in jobs, the misery and hardships faced by his mother, etc. And all this in a short span of 19 yrs . One realizes that his plays contain the caricatures of people from his life.

Amidst all the turmoil he says, ‘I became a writer by default and my own reader. The urge to create is born out of an involvement with life. Creation is the result of grief over something, anger at something, joy about something in life. These are not the signs of neutrality……but I do believe that the characters and situations I create, have their own independent existence and logic and I allow them to live by them....... I have consistently depicted the indomitability and grit of the human spirit in my writings.'

Around the same time that his autobiography was released, his only English play, HIS FIFTH WOMAN was translated into Marathi as TYACHI PACHVI by Dr. Chandrashekhar Phansalkar and has been published by Popular Prakashan. The English play, though written long ago, is a prequel to his well-known and highly controversial play SAKHARAM BINDER, where Tendulkar's exploration of death and the afterlife resonate with humour and insight. From Sakharam's reluctant struggle over his dead mate's soul, to Dawood, his Muslim friend, the fighting for proper burial rites, to the ever smart crows who enjoy all the confusion, the play is full of surprises.

Shekhar has used all his prowess as a writer to carefully translate the play and to keep the strength of the original intact. He has not flinched at taking headlong the crudeness of Tendulkar's depiction of the characters, the guttural language or the morbidity and numbing indifference of Sakharam over the fate of his dead mate, using words which in all probability, are more impactful than the original English. The play may have a dubious and unconvincing ending, but is definitely worth reading both in the original and in translation.

*Dr Ajay Joshi is a practicing dentist with an M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication. He holds a Ph.D. on the role of Critics and Criticism in Marathi theatre. Ajay is also a translator and writes on varied topics ranging from theatre to travel for newspapers like Indian Express, Maharashtra Times, Sakal, Mid-Day, etc. He is based in Pune.