From a 'PuLa' vedi

I grew up in a marathi speaking middle class family. My aunts were Marathi teachers hence we developed good Marathi writing and speaking skills. Now times have changed. Lot of marathi families speak in English with their kids right since childhood. They put their kids in non state boards where marathi is not a compulsory language. Hence their kids hardly understand Marathi. To all such Marathi families- I have one request - Please don't to this. If you may ask why, I dare to answer in four letters. They are "PuLa"

PuLa here does not stand for Pune Ladies as some facebook groups suggest. PuLa is for Purushottam Laxman Deshpande. PuLa is the person who can make me laugh with the same intensity even after 18 years of his death. You can describe PuLa as an author, humorist, musician, composer and many more. I just know one thing-PuLa is an artist who has ruled Marathi families hearts across generations.

The analysis of characters in detail and the witty humour as written / spoken by PuLa is unmatched. If there is one thing that is impossible for sure- it is to translate PuLa's writings into English. To enjoy PuLa's work, you have to know Marathi. It is the one literary piece you will almost never get fed up of reading/listening. It is like a laughter medicine filled with sensible humor, satire based on real life situations.

No matter how bad your day is, PuLa will make you laugh. His song compositions still make kids dance. I remember dancing on his song "nach re mora" as a 5 year old kid and now my daughter enjoys dancing to that song too. Its one of her favourite. Our neighbor aaba was a big PuLa fan. He would play PuLa's cassettes in the morning. I could hear them and thats when the "PuLa sanskar" started. Many years later when aaba was 85+ , PuLa's cassettes still brought a spark in his eyes and a smile on his face.

I was fortunate to meet PuLa twice. Once at a wedding and another one in Thakur hospital. Thakur hospital is the place where me, my brother and my daughter too was born. Dr Thakur's sister was married to PuLa and hence I saw him there.

PuLa's works are a gem. A marathi household better not miss reading them. For this one reason-- let our nextgen know marathi. Just to enjoy the timeless pula gems.

In school Marathi textbook, we had a chapter "Phulvedya mai". If I remember correctly, it spoke about a lady who was crazy /mad about flowers. Just like million other PuLa fans, I am crazy about PuLa. Hence a 'PuLa'vedi is appealing to all english speaking marathi households, speak Marathi, just to pass on and enjoy the PuLa legacy. This irrespective of you being a Mumbaikar, Punekar or Nagpurkar or..... Any other 'city'kar

-From a 'PuLa'vedi Dhanashree
https://dsaidso.blogspot.com

#PuLa #PuLaFanForever #PuLadeathanniversary