Mangesh Padki (1923-1999)
Fictioneer par Excellence: A Literary Obituary

Milind and Manoj Padki

Mangesh Padki was a preeminent name in the highly innovative, strange and deep world of Marathi short fiction. The new age of Marathi short fiction was begun by Gangadhar Gadgil, Arvind Gokhale, P.B. Bhave, and Vyankatesh Madgulkar. Mangesh Padki’s name shines strongly in the next generation, which included D.B. Mokashi, Vidyadhar Pundlik, Dnyaneshawar Nadkarni and V.S. Padgaonkar. His short stories were few in number and presented a serious, deeply penetrating vision of life. The subject matter was always fresh and novel, the style always unadorned. He also did not use any tricks of self-promotion. As a result, he did not gain the prominence in the genre that he could have had. Others, such as G.A. Kulkarni, could create a large following based on some strong technique. Mangesh Padki did not even try, although his meditation and analysis of life remained as solid as ever.

His famous short story collections include the books “Vibhoot”, “Kharichi Pille” and “Yakshagaan.” His novels included “Kaashbhat” and “Jiwalag Maj Kainche.” All these attained critical acclaim.

He loved writing plays. His wife, Sarita Padki, a famous author herself, has cited an anecdote in Lalit (Diwali 1982). Mangesh Padki once wrote a play and then had a reading of it before an audience of friends who liked it a lot. However, no theater group was coming forward to stage it. At the same time, another publisher commissioned a novel from him. Mangesh Padki promptly converted the play into a novel, which was published and became a success. Immediately, another author wrote to him, saying he loved the novel and sought permission to write a play based on it!

Mangesh Padki adapted Cyrano de Bergerac [the famous 1897 play by French playwright Edmond Rostand] under the title “Rao Jagdeo Martand.” This was staged under the direction of Amol Palekar, casting the famous Dr. Shriram Lagoo as Cyrano.

Mangesh Padki believed in writing what he liked and then moving on. He disliked those who held forth on themselves and their own writing. This detachment from his own creations is worth emulating.

This is not to say that he did not love his writings. When his home was about to be flooded in the Paanshet dam disaster in 1961, he picked up only the cuttings of his and his wife’s writings and left.

His mother tongue was Konkani, and he was schooled in Kannada. He went to college in Surat and Ahmedabad and thus picked up Gujarati as well. But his real love was English, in which he was extremely well read. He translated several pieces of Marathi short fiction into English.

Mangesh Padki lost his father very early and spent an unprotected, deprived childhood, a child unwanted by the rest of the family. The home thus became an extremely important factor in his life. The well being of his family and friends was a precondition to his creativity. As his wife put it, the death of a friend was experienced as an act of betrayal.

He is no more now. Pray tell us now, how do we mourn such a man?