Quick Facts
Biography
Laxman Maruti Gaikwad (born July 23, 1956, Dhanegaon, Latur District, Maharashtra) is a famous Marathi novelist known for his best work The Branded, a translation of his autobiographical novel 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 award for this novel. Considered a masterpiece in Marathi literature, 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 in India.
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 and worked for the welfare of the farmers, slum-dwellers and the other weaker-sections of the society.
Awards
Gaikwad has won many awards. They are:
- 1988 Sahitya Akademi Award
- 2000 Sahitya Ratna Anna Bhau Sathe Puraskar
- 2001 SAARC Literary Award
- 2005 Gunther Sontheimer Memorial Award
- Maharashtra Gourav Puraskar