Rediscover Pu La Deshpande: A weekend celebration of his timeless impact on Mumbai’s culture

PL Deshpande during a reading. Pic Courtesy/NCPA

Anyone who grew up in the Central suburbs, outside Mumbai in the early 1990s would be more than familiar with the voice of Pu La Deshpande over a random tape recorder narrating Mhais. Author, playwright, composer - and one of the earliest stand-up comics in the vernacular - he was a prolific audio bookseller too. "Pu La was one-of-a-kind. There were, and even now, are very few people in Mumbai who are interested in and have done significant work in so many fields of art," says veteran writer and theatre maker Shanta Gokhale.

Music in his veins

A key facet was his role as a founding member of the National Centre of Performing Arts (NCPA) since 1969. Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande is among the few to know it well. "I knew him over the years because of my father [Vamanrao Deshpande] and my guru, Pandit Kumar Gandharva. Pu La could write humour like few others. But he always said ‘Music is my first love'," Deshpande shares.

A previous staging of Mad Sakharam. Pics courtesy/Mangesh Satpute

This love for music flowed into his approach to other works. The musician adds, "When musicians talk about music, they can be unmusical. But his writings, even outside music, had a musicality. In that sense, Pu La's love for one art flowed into every other sphere that he took interest in."

Love for literature

This love for music led him to take a keen interest in the process of archiving at the NCPA. A voracious reader, his works often reflected the depth of his knowledge, always with the lightness of humour.

This sense of fun is what drew Mangesh Satpute to the work, Marathi Vangmayacha Gholiv Itihas. The production will be part of two (the other being Mad Sakharam) that will celebrate the noted author this weekend. Where Mad Sakharam was a response to the ban on Vijay Tendulkar's Sakharam Binder; the other play is a tongue-in-cheek series that Pu La wrote for the magazine, Mauz.

Satyasheel Deshpande, Mangesh Satpute and Shanta Gokhale. Pic/Rane Ashish

"A few people from a generation would remember PN Joshi's Marathi Vangmayacha Itihas. Pu La transformed it into a satire - a column on Sant Tukaram for 15 marks, or on Sant Eknath for 20 marks. He is laughing at us as readers, and also at the way we read literature," the director shares.

Clown with class

For Gokhale, this child-like sense of fun that set him apart from everyone. "Mercifully, he was not pedantic. He loved everything he did in a spirit of joy. He thrived on human connections. He wanted to share his joy in the arts with people, and the people loved him for it," she reveals.

Pt Deshpande recalls that even towards the end, Pu La's wit did not wane. "During those years, I would bring him records of Bal Gandharva and others. I remember one moment when poets Aruna Dhere and Shanta Shelke were with Sunitabai [Pu La Deshpande's wife], talking about moments when prose turns into poetry. Just at that moment, there was a song of Krishnarao Chonkar playing. Now, Chonkar had a unique feature that when he sang an alaap, he would look like he was about to sneeze. Just at that moment, Pu La leaned over to me saying ‘this is the moment before a sneeze'."

PL Deshpande at a reading; (right) actors rehearse before a performance of Marathi Vangmayacha Gholiv Itihas

What is the secret to becoming such a polymath, we wonder? "A fan asked him this stereotypical question," Deshpande laughs, "and without missing a beat, Pu La answered, ‘Lux beauty soap'. In seriousness, he attributed his birth and growing up in the suburb of Vile Parle, with its vibrant culture." Satpute echoes this, saying, "It is difficult to quantify the role Pu La played in shaping the culture of the city, and its suburbs." This Dombivlikar concurs.

ON November 30; 5 pm onwards
AT Godrej Dance Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
LOG ON TO ncpamumbai.com
COST Rs 360 onwards (members); Rs 400 onwards (non-members)