• Soviet Land Nehru Award (1973) • Padma Shri (1998)
Narayan Gangaram Surve (15 October 1926 – 16 August 2010 [1]) was a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India.
Through his poetry, he celebrated labor and challenged the conventional norms of Marathi literature, which was primarily focused on entertainment at the time. He aimed to convey the hardships of poverty and inspire the underprivileged to overcome it through hard work.[2]
He was born on 15 October 1926. Orphaned or abandoned soon after birth, he grew up in the streets of Mumbai, sleeping on the pavement and earning a meager livelihood by doing odd jobs.[2] He taught himself to read and write, and in 1962, published his first collection of poems Aisa Ga Mi Brahma (ऐसा गा मी ब्रह्म ; Aisa Ga Mi Brahma). Majhe Vidyapeeth (माझे विद्यापीठ ; My University), the book he would be most known for appeared in 1966 while he stayed in Chinchpokli, Mahahrashtra. He received 11 prizes for his book Majhe Vidyapeeth.
Though he studied only till Seventh standard and never climbed the steps of a college, he is known as one of the best poets of Marathi language.[2]
Surve actively worked in the workers' union movement in Mumbai and supported himself as a schoolteacher. Surve, who had much faith in Karl Marx, won the 'Soviet Land Nehru Award' (for his book Majhe Vidyapeeth) from the Soviet Union in the year 1973 as communist people of Russia were fascinated by his views and considered him similar to them. He became the editor of Lokvadmaygruha in the year 1972.
In the 1970s, he was often championed in India as well as in the Soviet Union and some Eastern bloc countries as a proletarian poet.
He spent his last years in Nashik,[3] and died due to old age and after a brief illness on 16 August 2010.
Awards and recognition
He received 'Soviet Land Nehru Award' from Soviet Russia in 1973[citation needed]
In 1998, he received a Padma Shri award from the Government of India for excellence in Literature & Education.[4]
In 2003, A Marathi Short Film named "Narayan Gangaram Surve" was awarded with 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize during the 50th National Film Awards.[5]
In 1999, he was conferred Kabir Sammanin by the state government of Madhya Pradesh.[6]
Narayan Surve was a Convener of the Marathi Advisory Board of Sahitya Akademi.
