Laxman Maruti Gaikwad (born 23 July 1952, Dhanegaon,

Latur District Latur district (Marathi pronunciation: aːt̪uːɾ is a district in Maharashtra state of India. Latur city is the district headquarters and is the 16th largest city in the state of Maharashtra. The district is primarily agricultural. Urban p ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

) is a famous

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

known for his best work ''The Branded'', a translation of his

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

''Uchalaya'' (also known as ''Ucalaya''). This novel not only gave him international recognition but he was also awarded the Maharashtra Gourav Puraskar, and the

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. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

award for this novel. Considered a masterpiece in

Marathi literature Marathi literature is the body of literature of Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra and written in the Devanagari and Modi script. History Early history As a written language, Marathi is probably ...

, his novel for the first time brings to the world of literature the trials and tribulations of his tribe, Uchalya, literally the pilferers, a term coined by the British who classified the tribe as a criminal tribe. This book also brings in the problems faced by the

Dalits Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for Untouchability, untouchables and Outcast (person), outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. At present he is residing in Mumbai. Other notable novels written by him include ''Dubang'', ''Chini Mathachi Divas'', ''Samaj Sahitya Ani Swathantra'', ''Wadar Vedna'', ''Vakila Pardhi'', ''Utav'' and ''A Swathantra Konasat''.

Social services

Gaikwad has been associated with social services for a long time. Since 1986, he was the president of the Jankalyan Vikas Sanstha and since 1990, he has been the president of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Organization, an organization associated with the welfare of Tribes. He has actively participated in the

Labor Movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

and worked for the welfare of the

farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...

, slum-dwellers and the other weaker-sections of the society.

Books published

#Uchalya #He Swatantrey konasati #Chini Matitil Divas #Samaj Sahitya Ani Swatantrey #Vakilya Pardhi #Wadar Vedna #Buddhachi Vippassanna #Dhubang #Dr. B.R. Ambedkaranchi Jivan Ani karya #Utav #Gav Kusa Baheril Mansa

Awards and honors

Gaikwad has won many awards. They are: International awards #SAARC Literary Award, 2001 by President of India Government awards #Youngest Sahitya Academy Award winner in 1988 #Maharashtra Gourav Puraskar in 1990. #Best writer award from Government of Maharashtra in 2003 Other awards #Pimpri Chinchwad Mahanagar Palika Award #Pune Mahanagar Palika Award #Gourav Sanman Puraskar from Nashik Municipality Corporation #Maharashtra Kamgar Kalyan Mandal Sanman Puraskar #Sahitya Ratna Anna Bhau Sathe Puraskar #Gourav Sanman Puraskar from Bahujan Karmachari #Maharashtra Foundation Puraskar for the best writer #Gunther Sontheimer Memorial Award #Samata Award #Sanjivini Puraskar #Panghanti Award #Mukadam Award #Galib Ratna Puraskar, Mumbai #Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Puraskar Honors #Title of Stalwarts Limca Book of Records #Many books are referred for studies in many universities and schools in India by students #Drama Act was performed on Uchalya at National level #Documentary film has been prepared by Govt. of India on Uchalya

Earlier government membership (ex-member)

#State and Central Government Literature Department Member #National Human Rights Commission Member #Sahitya Academy Convener #State Backward Class Commission Member

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaikwad, Laxman Marathi-language literature Marathi-language writers 1956 births Living people Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Marathi