Documentary on Pu. La. Deshpande:[26] This is a Govt. of India Films Division documentary, in which Pu La himself reveals his life journey. It was filmed on the occasion of his 60th birthday. There are two other documentaries made on Pu La:
Pu La, as he came to be known, was also called PL and Bhai, among his wide circle of friends. I thought of writing a few words in his memory, and so many memories crowded in that it won't be possible to follow all the threads that presented themselves to my mind. For want of time as well as a desire to keep my post down to a reasonable length, I thought of writing only about the role music played in his life, and the glowing contributions he made to the musical world. But the multi-faceted PuLa owes the magnitude of his fame to his work as a writer, and his roaring popularity to his humourous output. Besides, artists who have given me as much pleasure as did PuLa can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Poet Kusumagraj and Dickens come to mind. But on second thoughts, I would just about withhold that honour from both of them. That leaves Bhimsen, Kishori, Gavaskar, and, of course, Lata.Pu La Deshpande was born in November 1919. His father hailed from Belgaon-Dharwad area. His mother, Laxmibai, was from Karwar's Konkani community. This provided the young PuLa an ideal platform to achieve fluency in both Hindi and English, and leave his parents to assure others that 'our Purushottam understands first-class Konkani and complete Marathi'. Things worked differently in those archaic times. PuLa's maternal grandfather, Vaman Mangesh Dubhashi alias 'Rigvedi', spoke Konkani, Marathi, Hindi, and English. Possibly Kannada, too. He learnt Gujarati due to the demands of his professional life. Heknew Sanskrit fairly well. And if all this was not enough, healso learnt Bengali because a Bong won the Nobel, and translated Tagore's Geetanjali into Marathi. (Durga Bhagwat says that she had translated Geetanjali into Sanskrit. She gave it to her father to read, and then burnt it.) From him, PuLa inherited his artistic temparament, but not his hardworking nature. PuLa also omitted to follow his footsteps in his 'Aurangzebi' disregard for music. From his mother, he picked mellifluous voice; from his father, an abiding love for the gayaki of Bal Gandharva. His maternal grandmother, Tulashibaay or Tulashyakka or simply Baay, had the gift of gab and could keep her company in splits. This is probably the source of PuLa's helplessly boisterous nature.PuLa grew up in Mumbai's VileParle area in a cultured atmosphere, with elders like his grandfather Rigvedi and an idealistic Tilak-devotee named PhaNsaLkar doing rich sanskar on the younger generation. PuLa has immortalised them both with incomparably lovely sketches. The presiding deities of Parle were not Ram-Rahim-Any_Anthony_Gonsalves, but Ram-bhakta Sant Ramdas, Shivaji and Lokmanya Tilak, firebrand nationalists all. Phansalkar Maastar took the lead in organising speeches by leading figures of the day in Parle's Tilak Mandir. Later, through a somewhat ugly metamorphosis and not a little help from wife Sunita, PuLa took to Socialist leaders S M Joshi and Nanasaheb Gore. However, a strong attraction for the pre-war order (World War - II), for the Parle of those days, and for Tilak never left PuLa. Just as Bhimsen acquires an extra edge when he goes back to the material he is most comfortable with (Shuddha Kalyan, Todi, Multani), PuLa's writing reveals a keen edge and sincerity when he writes about Tilak and Tilak-ites, as witness his articles on Sculptor Phadke (maaze dattak aajoba - my adopted grandfather) and 'Maastar nasalele Phansalkar Maastar' (Teacher Phansalkar, who wasn't a teacher).He engaged in the kind of adolescent writing you would expect from someone like him. Combining with a friend (Gururaj Alurkar or some such name) to write a poem and combining their two names to publish it under, 'Purush_raj Alur_pande' printed his earliest work in a magazine published by college-going friends. But 'the dream to become a writer was to present itself much later to me' and his first love was music; it remained so throughout his life. He learnt to play harmonium, could sing a bit, and showed good skills at composition. His 'small time music-store was dragging along, and not unsatisfactorily'. He applied for the job of staff artist with Mumbai AIR, but failed the test. (This information about the Mumbai AIR test and some other tidbits included here are taken from Raveendra Pinge's article on PuLa, published by a Houston based magazine late last year.) Hereabouts (I would guess around 1942) he met Vasantrao Deshpande for the first time. A life-long friendship was about to blossom and it began on a 'wrong' note with Vasantrao making 'a grand entry' while PuLa was singing. After a few minutes, Vasantrao, himself in his early 20s, cockily took over from the tabalaji with 'bete, idhar laav tabala'. By now, PuLa was a Punekar, having moved to Pune in 1942 following some deaths in his house in Parle. (Half a century later, the entire Maharashtra was claiming PuLa to be theirs under some pretext or other, however flimsy.) The young friends started presenting fukat music recitals, with Vasantrao giving tabla support to PuLa's singing and to his tunes. 'But soon the proper order came to be established' with 'Vasanta' taking over the singing, and PuLa giving harmonium support. Soon Vasanta became simply 'Vashya'. ( At this point, I hope this does not become an exercise in quoting PuLa-isms. I also urge those who are wondering who the hell this Vasantrao-Vasanta-Vashya is to stop reading further.) One result of the friendship was that 'Vashya cleaned my ears and I myself could no longer abide my own singing.' A non-film Marathi song sung by PuLa for the MD Shridhar Parsekar (the violinist) is commercially available. The song 'paakhara jaa' attests to the simple charm of PuLa's singing. His splendid musical comedy 'Ravivarchi sakal' is also available through private collectors on video cassette, and there he unleashes upon the unsuspecting listener humming and singing that display both his classical moorings and mischievous nature. It is simply out of this world and would do even the prankster Vasantrao proud.He published his 'valli'-sketch of (the fictitious) Bhayya Nagpurkar in 1944, and, as the book 'Vyakti ani valli' claims, the world of Marathi literature was forced to sit up and take notice of this Purushottam-avatar. But the ripeness was still to come to his writing, and the craft that went into this sketch was as yet just an exception. His earliest books like'khogir-bharati' and 'nasti uthathev' are heavy with immaturity and at times painful, unconvincing straining for humour. Later, everything fell in place, and saying that he was touched with genius would be understating the case. When I read that Gods used Mozart as a conduit to pour music into the world's lap, I thought of Lata's voice and the unalloyed brilliance of PuLa's prose. But we are jumping the gun. A few days after his first marriage, his wife died. (Special prize for anybody who knows her name. With the great regard for history that Indians have, nobody bothered to write a word about her after PuLa died. I guess I will have to meet Sunitabai and refuse to leave her house unless she tells me the details.) Sunitabai claims he had married 'just like anybody else', no doubt someone from the Marathi middle-class (this interpretation mine, not directly Sunitabai's). On 12 June 1946, exactly 54 years before his death, he had a 'RegisHtered' marriage with Sunita Thakur. He was in a baniyan when he got married (iirc), and 'Sunita rushed through her signature so that she could run back to the kitchen and ensure that the milk won't spill over in all the hoopla.' His marriage with this hardworking (he avoided all bother), tireless (he was lazy), stern (he believed in 'chalataa hai' credo), shrill (he breathed compromise), shrewd (he courted praise) woman endowed with a rare social sense (which he didn't mind so long as she took care of all his needs), a charitable spirit (PuLa gave her a free hand and she donated to worthy causes without stint), a keen intellect (he relied on his immeasurably superior natural gifts) and a rasik's temparament albeit without much creativity of her own (he had it in oodles) was ultimately the making of PuLa.PuLa was associated with Chintamanrao Kolhatkar's drama troupe, but probably very briefly. Not much later after his marriage, he had his stint in the Marathi film industry. It reached its apotheosis with 'Gulacha Ganapati', which PuLa acted in, directed, and scored music for. He was an excellent music composer, who could have been counted among the first rank, if he had given adequate time and attention to that branch. The songs he has composed for Ammaldar, Dev-bappa and Gulacha Ganapati are lovely. Simple tunes, like 'kabirache vinato shele', was his forte. But his tunes could on occasion be complex. Listen to Asha singing 'olakhichi tarihi navakhi'. Manik Verma's 'shrihari viduraghari pahuna' somehow reminds me of Meena Kapoor's 'kuchh aur zamana kehta hai'. (No, PuLa's song is not in Gaud Sarang.) And the Manik Verma song, included in the CD compiled for the Denver rmim meet - 2000, is also from the same film - Gulacha Ganapati. This film (GG) also features Asha-Vasantrao's great duet 'hii kuNii chhedilii taar' and 'Indrayani Kathi', penned by Ga Di Madgulkar and made famous by Bhimsen. Many people know him as a singer of this one song, and it is quite an experience to hear it in his early 1950s voice off the film's video. Bhimsen later released a newer version, which has become so famous. The film version is filmed against an unlikely, incongruous backdrop, amidst a riot of laughter. PuLa had a taiyyar ear. His friend Raveendra Pinge has recounted how on a casual visit to a studio, he advised the MD Yeshwant Deo to use tivra madhyam, instead of shuddha madhyam, in one place as vivadi, thereby adding a special touch to the song. (Pinge doesn't tell us which song.) After China attacked India, ahimsa and panch-sheel took a back seat, rulers suddenly remembered 'the misguided patriot' Shivaji (as the foolish Nehru had called him) and a need for patriotic songs was felt. Ga Di Madgulkar came up with 'jinku kinva maru', and PuLa composed music for this song.He also composed a raucous, rhythm based song 'dil deke dekho' which Shri A R Rehman would do well to listen to. Last year, the talented folks in San Francisco Bay Area paid an 8-hour long tribute to PuLa on his fifth maasik punyatithi (Sunday, 12 Nov 2000), the mammoth undertaking pieced together by Shri Mukund Marathe. Chinmoy Bhagwat with four others presented this 'dil deke dekho' dhamaka. Oh God, what brilliance!! I bet PuLa's gentle ghost would have purred with delight. The song is available on video cassette (check www.mmbayarea.org), but the cassette quality is quite ordinary. This part-time MD may have taken some help for this piece from friends like tabaliya Lalji Desai. But Naushad had his Ghulam Mohd, Vasant Desai his Vasantrao Acharekar and Hridaynath openly acknowledges that Late Narayanrao Naidu used to advise him about theka and laya related matters. PuLa has proved that if the instinct is right, you can even unleash cacophony that is graced with genius. He also understood that it cannot be the norm, only a very occasional exception.Almost two decades after GG, he composed two songs for Jitendra Abhisheki , 'maze jeevan gaaNe' and 'shabdavachun kaLale sare'; songs so brilliant that you can pass them off as Abhisheki's own compositions. I can think of no higher praise.Sunitabai claims that if PuLa hadn't had an alert wife in her, his cosy, lazy, praise-happy indolence would have been taken advantage of by scheming people in the film world, and an easily satisfied PuLa would have spent his whole life enjoying the easy way out, enjoying the sycophants' praises even as they exploited his talents. The couple had some unpleasant experiences, especially regarding financial dealings, and PuLa left the filmi duniya for good. Or was made to leave it, by Sunitabai.He had a stint as a college teacher in Belgaon, and would often state later that his brief stay there constituted the happiest period in his life. Many a University Professor's chief claim to fame is his free, frank and well-reasoned disregard for PuLa's genius. Nobody else gives a damn. And when Raosaheb (another real-life character immortalised by PuLa) asked him in Belgaon what exactly was there to be taught about Marathi, Professor PuLa sportingly conceded the point. Upset with some college politics, he moved to Mumbai as a teacher in Kirti College. He left this job as well, and thenceforth concentrated on his writing. The two decades, roughly from 1956 to 1975, can be called the Golden Era in his life. His humourous books - 'Vyakti ani valli', 'Batatyachi chaal', 'Asa mii asaamii' and 'HasavaNuk' - are the most responsible for his fame. And if Chesterton says that Dickens showed his genius by adopting the commonest themes, rather than choosing the topics whose sting is supposed to bail the writer's modest talents out, consider how aptly the observation fits PuLa. He wrote about the delights of food in 'maaze khadya jeevan', Railway, Post Office, Roads, Domesticated Animals in 'HasavaNuk'; about an ordinary clerk's life in 'Asaamii'; about the life in an archetypal middle-class society in 'ChaaL' and about the kind of people who roamed the streets in various capacities in those years in 'vyakti ani valli'. Valmiki is said to have written Ramayan before Ram was born. And here we have Chesterton choosing the exact words to critique PuLa's strengths much before PuLa was born. To add to his great achievement of 'vyakti and valli' and its imaginary characters, two compilations of his character-sketches of real-life people were published in his heyday : 'GaNagot' and 'guN gaaiin aavadi'. It is in these books that his famous articles on singers appear.He also wrote or adapted from other languages some dramas, with 'tuze aahe tujapaashii' worth a special mention. He wrote travelogues following his visits to Far East (Purvarang) and to Europe (Apoorvaaii). He had visited UK while he worked for Doordarshan in Delhi during Nehru's days, following a stint with AIR, Pune when he shared a room with Poet Borkar and Venkatesh Madgulkar. Sunitabai felt he was getting too comfortable in Delhi, and PuLa responded by quitting the job (so am I told.) He brought back memories of dramas (seen almost every night) in London and the organ music in Churches. London has about 48 theatres. New English drama is almost as bad as new Indian film music; but the older productions are very enjoyable. And nobody who has attended the Sunday Prayers and especially the Evensong in Westminster Abbey will fail to agree with PuLa's love for the Church music. It is absolutely overwhelming.Yet another collection of his travelogues is 'jaave tyaanchyaa deshaa', and one can even extend the definition to include 'Vangachitre', an account of his days in Shanti-niketan, which he visited to study Bengali.Except for some (undistinguished) Professors, PuLa was blessed with a wide and distinguished readership. His peers valued him highly, from elders like Naa Si Phadke and Acharya Atre, to comtemporaries like Ga Di Madgulkar, Vasant Bapat and Shanta Shelke. Younger generation has been eating out of his hand for years now. Tukaram has spread his tentacles in Marathi language like Shakespeare in English. However long PuLa-influence survives, many people from my generation, myself included, won't be able to write anything in Marathi if we scrupulously decided to avoid the path beaten by PuLa. He keeps poking his nose all the time. I owe the same debt to British journalists. The first Marathi Dnyanapeeth Award winner Vi Sa Khandekar, senior to PuLa by more than 20 years, had acknowledged in early 1970s that the leadership of Marathi writers had passed on to PuLa and that he (VSK) 'only had seniority'. The honour of chairing the 50th Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, at Ichalkaranji in 1975, came to PuLa on a platter. And if he did not receive the Dnyanapeeth award, it must have had to do with stupid notions of the writing needing to possess requisite gravitas, and similar tripe. This is accompanied by a fairly widespread ignorance in Maharashtra itself about so much as the existence of his 'non-humourous' literary output. Yet another thing to make one despair.Worthy social causes were dear both to him and Sunitabai. They have been generous donators to charities. Baba Amte was a beneficiary, but later the relations between them were strained. The Deshpandes had participated in Vinoba's Bhudan movement. PuLa did some underground work during Emergency, and translated Jaiprakash Narayan's prison diary into Marathi. He was a star campaigner against Mrs Gandhi's misrule during 1977 elections. And when Janata Party was enveloped by pretty squabbles soon later, he wrote a series of withering essays in 'Maharashtra Times' against the political scenario. I think that was his last hurrah as a literary giant. His 60th birthday was marked with the publication of his anthology, 'Pu La - ek saathavaN', put together by his friend and writer, Jaywant Dalwi. He spent his last 20 years reaping the fruits of his good deeds, enjoying the kind of popularity which comes only to the select few. He wrote increasingly less, and with a diminished mastery, but without ever descending to the shamefully pathetic quality of the post-1980 Lata. The ever watchful presence of Sunitabai and his own innate dignity (which Bhimsen and Lata lack) were a sure guarantee against that happening. When Sunitabai suspected that PuLa's boomingly popular live shows were getting repetitive and PuLa was feeling jaded during 1960s, she announced that he would no longer continue with them. She exercised complete authority over these matters, and PuLa was smart enough to comply. On some subjects, he always wrote superbly well, even during 1980s. Ever the sentimentalist, he wrote in a moving tribute an year after Vasantrao's relatively early death on 30 July 1983 that he could not bring himself anymore to listen to Vasantrao's recordings.In 1980s, he and his poetry-mad wife presented a series of shows devoted to kavya-vachan. The poets they covered were Arati Prabhu (real name Chintamani Tryambak Khanolkar; he died young), Borkar and Merdhekar. I could not attend any of these, being away from Maharashtra. When I listen to the available recordings, Sunitabai's voice grates a little on my ear, in a pointed contrast to PuLa's completely friendly voice, which conveys its enthusiasm infectiously. A friend who did attend a Borkar show told me that PuLa acted the naughty part, Sunitabai played the more serious partner, an accurate reflection of their real-life roles. I cannot help feeling that Neelam Prabhu, the greatest star of Marathi radio-drama called 'shrutika', who has also shone in the role of PuLa's co-star in 'ravivarachi sakal', would have been a better foil. Sunitabai released a much-discussed autobiographical book, titled 'ahe manohar tari' in 1990, and proved that she was no ordinary artiste herself. It is a towering achievement, but her later writings are of a much more modest standard. He released many cassettes of him reading his own works. He was among the 10 artists chosen to be feted at the first World Marathi Meet, alongwith Krishnarao Shankar Pandit, Lata, Gavaskar, a centenarian 'Gondhali', and Jayant Naralikar. Whenever and wherever he saw Bal Gandharva, he used to greet him by touching his feet. Now he touched Kusumagraj's feet and bemoaned that very few people worthy of respect were left around. Towards the beginning of 1990s, Parkinson's disease trained its guns on him, and gradually laid him low. His long time friends Mansur and Kumar died in 1992 (both, like PuLa later, on the 12th day of the month; Kumar in January, Mansur in September). PuLa started getting disturbed by people moving about around him, and the private concerts at his house had to be discontinued. He did listen to recorded music occasionally. In May 1993, PuLa was awarded Punyabhushan, an award which honours Pune's high achievers. I saw PuLa in flesh for the first time. He made a rather pitiable sight. He managed to give a speech, but that was about it. The Chief Guest Bhimsen jested that he was tempted to start Bhimpalas (which PuLa, an ardent Bal Gandharva devotee, adored), but had decided not to bother his tired harmonium partner. Shantabai Shelke, a big PuLa fan, and Madhu Dandavate paid glowing tribute. By now, PuLa had most of the honours under his belt, but he loved Pune and had to wipe off tears of gratitude. Kusumagraj had gone in hiding on his 75th birthday due to dislike for such celebrations. For all his fondness for praise, PuLa also disliked ostentation. Sunitabai has a similar temparament; but this time he and Sunitabai relented and he accepted well-wishers to the extent that his health allowed. Sunitabai always expresses regret that she has an artist's sensitivity, but not an artist's creativity. A half-way or trishanku woman, so to speak. Her attitude to birthdays is similarly half-way. She used to hope that nobody would remember hers, and PuLa mostly obliged. But she used to celebrate PuLa's and his mother's birthdays. Quite a confused woman, I tell ya. In 1996, he was awarded Maharashtra Bhushan. He was always resentful of dictators and musclemen, and severely embarrassed the authorities by speaking against the Thok-shahi (strong arm tactics) of Shiv Sena, which was in power. In an episode embarrassing even by Bal Thackeray's lofty standards, he retaliated that the govt had wanted to honour him with the award; but he had suggested PuLa's name instead and now regretted it.PuLa's father had died very early, but had predicted to his wife that she would see many honours come her son's way. That prophecy fulfilled, she died at a very old age. Sunitabai had a heart scare. Just as when you batted with Gavaskar, your individual score hardly mattered, Sunitabai had got old, too, without anybody noticing it. Luckily for PuLa, she was there to look after him in her usual efficient manner till the very end. When PuLa was admitted to the hospital with a short breath last June, things looked bad. Soon he had multiple organ failure. The entire hospital seemed to concentrate its energies on saving one precious life. Sunitabai told the doctors that there was no longer any point in prolonging his life. Her brother's son, PuLa's beloved Dinesh, rushed back to India from US. Soon after he reached Pune, PuLa breathed his last on 12 June 2000. He had wanted a simple funeral, without any religious ceremony; and the surprise is that a distraught Sunitabai didn't go to the crematorium with a gun in hand to ensure that his wishes were respected. The Chief Minister read one-line condolence message, offered a garland in tribute, and the final rites were performed with dignity. Never much of a believer in God, PuLa had still touched the feet of Pandharpur's Vithoba with fervour so that his head could rest at the same place where Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram had also bowed their heads. He now became one with them.The criticisms levelled against PuLa are many. He did not create convincing women characters, though he could have pointed to an occasional appearance of an Indu Velankar. He was over-eager to praise and keep others happy. His explanation was that he found bitterness distasteful. Why write a review of 20 pages denouncing a book, he asked? 'Simply say : please do not read this book. And move on to good things.' However, his eagerness to praise any drama, however inartistic, if it only managed to marry off a brahmin girl to a lower-caste boy in the end, and similar other lazy pronouncements can't be wished away. I learned to AVOID a drama if PuLa happened to champion it. It needed only a little instinct to skirt around PuLa's excesses. His praise-showering was criticised as 'gulal udhalane' by G A Kulkarni. But the same G A conceded that if a holy glow didn't come over one when one described a Mansur, one didn't have much hope in this world. His devotion to Bal Gandharva was genuine; but Ga Vaa Behere pointed out that Bal Gandharva's peak years were 1905-1930, and PuLa, born in 1919, was too young to really have enjoyed him at his peak. His tribute to Kumar Gandharva, paid in 1974 when Kumar turned 50, is similarly uncritical. Yet, PuLa could do an excellent analysis if he put his mind to it. He just didn't have that bent of mind.He was an ace harmonium player, and had close personal friendship with Mansur, Vasantrao, Bhimsen and Kumar, among others. He provided harmonium support to all of them in many mehfils, and as he put it, 'tested Mansur-Anna's patience' by giving him harmonium support. His tribute to Mansur, included in the book 'gun gaaiin aavadi' is one for ages. Mansur was not much in demand when he was at his peak. It was chiefly PuLa who kept him in public consciousness, and when Mansur started singing 'my retirement-ki gayaki', PuLa's efforts bore fruit at last, the tide turned and the concert circuit couldn't have enough of Mansur. Mansur used to stay at PuLa's house on his visits from Dharwad, and was so well looked after by Sunitabai, that he used to say, 'he tai aamach aai ahe ho'. (This sister is like my mother.) PuLa jokingly recalled how organisers used to invite him as chief guest for Bhimsen's maifils, and thus save the expense over a harmonium player, knowing well that PuLa would perform that duty as well with enthusiasm. PuLa was among the friends who persuaded Vamanrao Deshpande to discuss gharana gayaki at length, which resulted in Vamanrao's scholarly book. But he himself generally relied on his inborn gift and an eye for beauty, and wasn't very deep into formal study. When Sunitabai asked Kesarbai about the difference between Shuddha Nat and Bhoop-nat, Kesarbai told her to ask her husband, as 'he considers himself a music expert'. PuLa said he had never really concerned himself with these arcane issues, and joked that far from being an expert about anavat raagas, he couldn't even make out bhoop from shuddha kalyan any longer. His tributes to the musical giants deserve to be read and re-read in Marathi and in their entirety. His presentation of raagas and natya-sangeet on harmonium is commercially available.Alladiya Khan sahib's favourite blessing to his disciples used to be : May your art endear itself to connoiseurs. PuLa was blessed on this score. Despite this, though he himself has sketched so many leading figures in his timeless prose, owing to the dearth of good young writers, not very many accounts celebrating PuLa are available. Shanta Shelke has written some reminiscences which are quite good. Raveendra Pinge has written a grand article, 'Ha Putra Sharadecha', included in his book, 'Devagharacha Paauus'. Jaywant Dalwi has also done his bit. Another astute study is Borkar's, reviewing his anthology, 'Pu La : ek saathavan'. But there should have been much, much more. The recent PuLa Industry is short on quality.PuLa was born towards the end of the second decade of the last century. In the first half of 1910s were born two of the greatest poets : Kusumagraj and Balkrishna Bhagwant (Baa Bha) Borkar, fondly called Bakibab by PuLa. PuLa's attitude towards them was almost discipular, despite the small difference in their age and his far greater popularity. Neither of the poets was a University Professor. Nor had they taken taleem from Vilayat Khan gharana about despising one's more popular contemporary. In short, the three giants formed a mutual admiration society. When some people from a district place approached PuLa, and asked his permission to name their library after him, Sunitabai suggested that they name it after Kusumagraj (real name Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar), who was equally worthy and had won Dnyanapeeth Award, thus bringing honour to Maharashtra. Kusumagraj declared that it was impossible to estimate how much PuLa had contributed to Maharashtra. Alladiya would have approved. As for Baa Bha Borkar, PuLa and Sunitabai had presented his poetry. They had close family ties, stretching back to PuLa's childhood. Borkar correctly points out that PuLa's prose had great flexibility and that he adapted his style to the subject matter with consummate ease. PuLa's article on Borkar himself is a proof of this observation. Titled 'Anand-yatri Bakibab', it floats on the wings of happiness. Whether he is writing about Rigvedi or Vinoba or Purandare or a college-friend who does his time in jail (Babadu), PuLa is completely at home. His doggerels are more worth remebering than verses of many a more celebrated poet. Both PuLa and Sunitabai were aware that no claim can as yet be made about how long he will survive. But Borkar says that PuLa's prose rises to dizzying heights. 'Normally, I can't read a prose-piece for more than once. But I can read PuLa's prose again and again. This is because his prose exhibits kavitva-shakti.' (Translation mine, of an imperfectly remembered article, read years ago.) It was Borkar's claim that PuLa had thoroughly digested the entire gamut of Marathi poetry, and it found unparalleled expression in his prose. PuLa, in his becoming modesty, used to say that his role was that of a joker (vidushak). But Borkar was not blinded by his fame as a humourous writer, and paid him the ultimate compliment any artist can receive. Alladiya would have approved again. 'Though PuLa modestly claims that he is in the business of spreading laughter, he really has been in the business of spreading humanity around himself.'- dhananjay naniwadekar 12 June 2001
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