Dandekar till a few years back was trekking up and down 250-odd forts spread across Maharashtra. A facial paralytic attack, sometime in 1989, had affected his speech, but still his desire to communicate was insatiable.

For the durgamaharshi - a sage of forts - GoNiDa, as he was known to his numerous admirers, forts remained a lifelong passion. This avid trekker with his flair for literature had carved a niche for himself in the Marathi cultural and literary circles. The very mention of GoNiDa is enough to ring a bell to a range of about 130-odd novels, dramas and short-stories which are credited to this tenacious writer.

Born on July 8, 1916 at Paratwada in Amravati district this ``drifter for all his life'' began his ``excursion'' at the age of 13, responding to Gandhiji's clarion call for freedom movement. Yet, young Gopal couldn't really join the bandwagon for being an under aged.

Determined not to go back home, he just wandered. From 13 to 30, seventeen influential years of Dandekar's life encompassed his association with men like Gadge Baba and Sonopant Dandekar and with RSS and his Narmada parikrama. These years speak volumes of his pragmatic philosophy, often reflected in his writings.

``I always wonder as to what made me to take up writing,'' he once said. ``I had not written a single word till I became 30, but I strongly feel that the writer in me was shaped in all these years.''

His favourite book, he used to say, was Mrunmai wherein the protagonist, Manu, a young lady, leads a philosophical life. The life akin to saint-poet Dnyaneshwar's ideology which matched GoNiDa's utopian kind of living. GoNiDa always found roots of his inspiration as a writer in saint-poets Dnyaneshwar and Meerabai.

Bengali literature, mainly the writings of Sharat Chandra, impressed him most. This literature depicting a woman as a strong force, not necessarily rebellious, also caught the imagination of Dandekar. His book Sheetu has been an example of this eastern influence, his critics feel. Sheetu accorded him his most successful narrative form that in future became a distinct feature of his writings based on lifestyles from different regions of Maharashtra.

His mild disposition had its roots in his association with his elder sister, Mai. She only knew his plans to join freedom movement and it was the promise made to her which saw a wanderer within Dandekar rejuvenating itself.He elaborately penned down the warmth he shared with his elder sister in an autobiographical writing, Kunya Ekachi Bhranamgatha. Since a toddler, Mai nurtured him, took him into the flights of fantasies with her inspiring story telling sessions and also introduced him to warrior king Shivaji's valour which had lasting impressions on him.

The magnanimous Gadge Baba was the other person under whose wings Dandekar blossomed. Dandekar was a literate youngster in the assembly around Gadge Baba and used to maintain all his correspondence and accounts. Studious Dandekar gained his mentor's kindness, generosity and discipline.

Proximity to Sonopant Dandekar and Shridhar Shastri Pathak, both exponents of poet-saints' literature, especially the Dnyaneshwari, gave him an insight into the essence of the Dnyaneshwar's philosophy of equality. Dandekar's books on Dnyaneshwari bares distinct imprints of his association with these scholarly personalities.

Through his strong ties with the RSS, he contributed his bit to the social movements of the yesteryears. He was jailed for three years after Gandhiji was assassinated in January 1948. The RSS ideology proved to be an important lesson in molding his personality.

Forts always fascinated him. Moved by Shivkal - Shivaji's era - this frail looking Koknastha brahmin trekked to all those rugged Sahyadri mountains which stand mute witnesses to a legend called Shivaji.``He never felt homesick, but Rajgad-sick,'' his close associates always said.

Even his last wishes speak of his love for Sahyadri. ``A fistful ash of my mortal remains should be strewn from the breathtaking heights of Takmak Tok of Raigad, some should be dispersed at Pavankhind where (Maratha general) Baji Prabhu laid his life, and some from the Tanaji cliff of Sinhgad,'' he had said.

Dandekar created history by publishing five novels on Shivaji era beginning with Baya Daar Ughad. But his passion for Shivaji and his forts did not end with writing and expeditions. His aesthetic eye behind the lens captured the magnificent beauty of these forts from many angles. This collection which runs into hundreds, is a treasure in itself.

Among his prize collections were plaster of paris casts of Shivaji's hand and foot prints - collected from the sea-fort of Sindhudurg - and, what he claimed to be part of the the warrior kings' ashes from his samadhi at fort Raigad.

Although, his creativity as a playwright was questioned by critics, his play Jagannathacha Rath was a trend setter in its own right. However, GoNiDa had his own noble reasons for not actually getting familiar to play writing what he always branded as artificial art form. ``A play cannot come out of inspiration,'' he used to say.

Decorated by many awards, honours and D Litt by the University of Pune and president of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at Akola in 1981, GoNiDa was always a conscientious citizen and always used to be first to reach the polling booth to exercise his franchise and also was an enthusiastic income tax payer, his close associates recalled.