: वसंत वामन बापट) (July 25, 1922 – September 17, 2002) was a Marathi

Marathi people

The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

 poet from Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

He was born on July 25, 1922 in Karad

Karad

Karad is a town and a municipal council in Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It lies at the confluence of Koyna River and the Krishna River. The two rivers originate at Mahabaleshwar which is around 100 km from Karad. They diverge at their origin and then meet again in...

 in Satara district

Satara district

Satara District is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of 10,480 km² and a population of 2,808,994 of which 14.17% were urban . Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns include Wai, Karad, Koregaon, Koyananagar, Rahimatpur, Phaltan, Mahabaleshwar...

 of Maharashtra.

Education and teaching career

Bapat received a master's degree in Marathi and Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 literature from S. P. College in Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

 in 1948. He then taught Sanskrit and Marathi until 1976, first, National College and then Ruia College, both in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. During 1974-1982, he served as the Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

 Chair at Mumbai University.

Literary career

Bapat published 30 collections of his poems. The following is a partial list of them:

• Bijalee (1952)
• Akaravi Disha (1962)
• Sakina (1972)
• Manasi (1977)
• Shatataraka
• Shinga Phunkale Rani
• Shoor Mardacha Powada
• Tejasi
• Rajasi
• Prawasachya Kawita
• Setu

The following is a partial list of Bapat's other works:

• Bara Gavache Pani (1967) (A travelogue)
• Jinkuni Maranala (A biography)
• Taulanik Sahityabhyas (1981) (A critique)
• Wisajipantanchi Bakhar (A political parody)

Bapat wrote some literature for children, including a play, Bal Govind.
The trio of poets Bapat, Vinda Karandikar

Vinda Karandikar

Govind Vināyak Karandikar , better known as Vindā Karandikar , was a well-known Marathi poet and writer. He was also an essayist, literary critic, and a translator....

 and Mangesh Padgaonkar provided for many years public recitals of their poetry in different towns in Maharashtra.

As an official representative of India, Bapat participated in 1969 in an international poetry conference in Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

.

Bapat served for ten years as an appointed member of Sahitya Akademi

Sahitya Akademi

The Sahitya Akademi ', India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India...

 in New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. For many years, he was a member of Indian Institute of Mass Communications, also in New Delhi, and Sangeet Natak Academy in Maharashtra.

He chaired Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan is a conference for literary discussions by Marathi writers. Though the conference has sometimes been held in a town outside the Indian state of Maharashtra, it is typically held annually in one of the towns in Maharashtra where Marathi is the mother tongue...

 in Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 in 1999.

Political Activism

During his student days, Bapat was a member of Rashtra Seva Dal, and participated in the 1942 Quit India movement under Gandhi's leadership against British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

. In the August 1943-January 1945 period, he suffered imprisonment for the participation.

He was actively associated with Rashtra Seva Dal since its inception by Sane Guruji in 1948. During 1983-1988, he edited weekly Sadhana, which expressed the views of Rashtra Seva Dal. Under Rashtra Seva Dal's sponsorship, he presented to the public Maharashtra Darshan, Bharat Darshan, Shivadarshan, and Azadi Ki Jung performances.

Bapt was associated with the Socialist Party and its leaders, including S. M. Joshi, N. G. Gore, G. P. Pradhan, and Madhu Limaye

Madhu Limaye

Madhu Limaye was an Indian Socialist essayist and activist, particularly active in the 1970s. A follower of Ram Manohar Lohia and a fellow-traveller of George Fernandes, he was active in the Janata coalition that gained power at the Centre following the Emergency; he, with Raj Narain and Krishan...

.