Uttam Tupe (28 December 1932 – 26 April 2020) was a writer and poet from

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. He wrote several hundred

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

and 16

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s. One of his books was made into a successful

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, and another into a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. Tupe also wrote about the social ills of the

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

and issues with

Devadasi In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

. The Discourse of Devadasi Subject in Literary Vernacular: Contextualizing Resistance in Uttam Bandu Tupe’s ''Zulwa''
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Early life

Tupe wrote a series of novels with a Devadasi

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

that were released into the

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...

scene in the 1980s. Tupe began writing in the rustic

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that ...

of his native

Satara district Satara district (Marathi pronunciation: aːt̪aɾaː is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of and a population of 3,003,741 of which 14.17% were urban (). Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns ...

. He crafted a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

on the evils of the

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

system. It was immediately published, and a few months later, Tupe got Rs 501 as a cash prize from the

Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad.

Works

*''Katyavaraci pota'' – Mehata Pablisinga Hausa; 3. avrtti edition (2001) *''Jhulava'' (झुलवा) *''Katyavaraci pota'' – 2001 *Kalasi – 1988 *''Andana'' – 1986 *''Jhavala'' – Publisher: Mehata Pablisinga Hausa; Prathamavrtti edition (1991) *'' Zulwa'' – 1986, 2005 *'' Zulwa'' – The book Zulwa was adapted into a play by Chetan Datar for

theatre. The play was an adaptation of the novel by Uttam Bandu Tupe who spent two years in a colony of

jogtis In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

to research the novel.

Reception

Other authors have called Tupe a "noted subservient writer". Naik goes on to say that Tupe as well as Sri Patange, Texas Gaekawad, and Namedeo Kamble all "are harmful in the sense that they depict life artificially and deliberately and mislead life."

Social cause

In all his works Tupe was concerned with the crushing burden poor villagers carry. ''Zulva'', the most popular novel, deals with the plight of devadasis. Other themes include: Villagers

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs an ...

murders, and the problems of unemployed youth and

migrants Migrant may refer to: Human migration *Human migration *Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere *Immigration, movement into a country with the intent to settle * Economic migrant, someone who emigrates from o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tupe, Uttam Bandu Writers from Pune 2020 deaths 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian novelists Indian male short story writers Indian male novelists People from Satara district 21st-century Indian male writers Novelists from Maharashtra Poets from Maharashtra 1932 births