Uttam Bandu Tupe

Uttam Tupe (28 December 1932 – 26 April 2020) was a writer and poet from Pune, India.^[1] He wrote several hundred short stories and 16 novels.^[2] One of his books was made into a successful play, and another into a feature film. Tupe also wrote about the social ills of the caste system and issues with Devadasi.^[3][4]

Early life

Tupe wrote a series of novels with a Devadasi theme that were released into the Marathi literary scene in the 1980s.^[3] Tupe began writing in the rustic dialect of his native Satara district. He crafted a short story on the evils of the dowry system. It was immediately published, and a few months later, Tupe got Rs 501 as a cash prize from the Marathi Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad.^[5]

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^[6][7]
• Zulwa – The book Zulwa was adapted into a play by Chetan Datar for Marathi theatre. The play was an adaptation of the novel by Uttam Bandu Tupe who spent two years in a colony of jogtis to research the novel.

Reception

Other authors have called Tupe a "noted subservient writer".^[4] Naik goes on to say that Tupe as well as Sri Patange, Texas Gaekawad, and Namedeo Kamble^[8] all "are harmful in the sense that they depict life artificially and deliberately and mislead life."^[4]

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 superstitions,^[9] dowry murders, and the problems of unemployed youth and migrants.^{[citation needed]}