Bahinabai Chaudhari

Bahinabai Chaudhari (11 August 1880 – 3 December 1951) was an illiterate cotton farmer from the Jalgaon district in Maharashtra, India who became a noted Marathi poet posthumously.[1][2]

For the seventeenth century Varkari saint, see Bahinabai.

Bahinabai Nathuji Chaudhari

Early life

Bahinabai was born in a Mahajan family at Asode in Khandesh region of the present-day Jalgaon district on the 11 August 1880, on the day of Naga Panchami. Her mother's name was Bhimai, and her father's name was Ukhaji Mahajan. She had three brothers - Ghama, Gana, and Ghana, and three sisters - Ahilya, Sita and Tulsa. At the age of 13, [1893] she was married to Nathuji Khanderao Chaudhari of Jalgaon. Following her husband's death,[1910] she led a very difficult life because of the economic, social, cultural, and emotional circumstances arising out of widowhood.[3] She had a daughter named Kashi and two sons, Madhusudan and Sopandev (1907-1982).

Poetic compositions

Bahinabai composed her songs verbally in ovi (ओवी) metre in a mixture of two dialects: Khandesi and Levaganboli.[2][4] Her son Sopandev, who became a well-known poet, transcribed them.[2][4] According to one account, Sopandev read the story of Savitri and Satyavan to his mother from his textbook, and by the next morning, she had composed a song of the tale.[2] Impressed by her talent, he began writing down of her songs in a notebook. Her poetry is characterized as reflective and abstract with iconic and realist imagery.[2] It captures the essence of her life, reflects the culture of village and farming life, and presents her wisdom.[5]

Posthumous publication

After his mother's death on 03 December 1951, Sopandev found the notebook and shared one of her poems with Prahlād Keshav (Acharya) Atre's attention. Atre recounts calling the first of Bahinabai's poems he heard "pure gold" in his introduction to the collection published under the title Bahinabainchi gani [Bahinabai's Songs] in 1952 by Suchitra Prakashan. Although the many of Bahinabai's poems were lost, 732 of them were preserved.[2]

Yeshwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University has recommended Bahinabainchi gani as a part of their curriculum since June 2012.

Family

Sopandev's son Madhusudhan Chaudhari served in the police forces and retired as an Assistant Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The late Madhusudhan Chaudhari's son Rajeev Chaudhari—the great-grandson of Bahinabai Chaudhari—and his mother Suchitra Chaudhari continue to be the sole publishers of Bahinabainchi gani in whose name the publication house Suchitra Prakashan operates.

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References
  1. "Famous Personalities". Nashik Municipal Corporation. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  2. Tharu, Susie; Lalita, K. (1993). Women Writing in India. 1. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 352–53. ISBN 0195631951.
  3. "Marathi Leva Samaj". marathilevasamaj.org. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  4. Zelliot, Eleanor (1982). "A Note on Bahinabai Chaudhari". Journal of South Asian Literature. 17 (1): 102.
  5. Centre, Kavayatri Bahinabai Chaudhari Study and Research. "Kavayatri Bahinabai Chaudhari Study and Research Centre > Home". www.nmu.ac.in. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
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