Among the invitees at noted Marathi playwright Professor Vasant Kanetkar's 75th birthday celebrations was Marathi poet and Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Sammelan president Vasant Bapat whose war of words with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray made headlines recently.

The acclaimed poet was called upon to release a volume of critical essays on Kanetkar's works and then, as is customary, speak about the author, the book being launched, and so forth.

But Bapat sprang a surprise, to put it mildly. Literary work, he said, originated either from vichar (thought) or vikar (ailment). And most of Kanetkar's literary works, he added, belonged to the second category.

If the invitees were perturbed, they did not show it. Nor did Kanetkar. But this was one unusual birthday bash, to say the least.

Missing Shivaji

Admirers of Shivaji, chief among them being members of the ruling coalition in the state, evidently don't believe in icons. Local Republican Party of India(RPI) leader and recipient of the Dalit Mitra award Dr S G Ohal was hard put to find images of the Maratha warrior for an exhibition he had planned.

Ohal wanted to put up pictures and posters of Shivaji and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to commemorate the birth anniversaries.

He said he had found plenty of pictures on the life of Ambedkar, but couldn't get some paintings of Shivaji and photographs of some forts to put up for display. Asking around, presumably in government circles where they were most likely to be found, didn't help; one not-too-apologetic sort said a collection of paintings he'd had was damaged during the monsoon!

Ohal had planned the combined exhibition to express his gratitude towards the Maharashtra government which had chosen him for the Dalit Mitra award.

Incidentally, the choice of Ohal for the award which means `Friend of Dalits' is ironic, for Ohal himself is a Dalit. The award is normally given to non-Dalits.

Remembering Kusumagraj

A month after the death of Marathilitterateur V W Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj, suggestions to preserve his memory as still pouring in.

A Mumbai doctor, who was in Nashik for a seminar on health went a step ahead. On a visit to Kusumagraj's house, he suggested that an anti-spitting campaign be launched in the Jnanpith Award winner's memory.