Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar

Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar (Devanagari: नरसिंह चिंतामण केळकर) (1872-1947) was a literary and political figure from Maharashtra, India.

He was born on August 24, 1872 in the town of Modnimb near Miraj. After finishing his high school education at age 16, he sequentailly attended Rajaram College in Kolhapur, and Fergusson College and Deccan College in Pune to receive his bachelor's degree at age 19. Three years later, in 1894, he received his law degree.

In 1896, Kelkar joined the staff of English daily Maratha which Lokmanya Tilak had cofounded a few years earlier. The next year, he assumed the editorship of Maratha, and served in that capacity until 1908. He also wrote articles in Marathi daily Kesari (केसरी), which also had been cofounded by Tilak. He assumed the editorship of Kesari in 1910, and served eminently in that capacity until 1932.

Kelkar was a member of Pune municipal council for 25 years. During six of those years, he was the mayor.

In 1932, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi Kelkar served as a member of a round table conference which was held in London with the British government to discuss India's independence.

Five years later, at age 65, he retired from public life, devoting his time thereafter entirely to literary pursuits until his death on October 14, 1947. (India had received its independence from the British Raj two months earlier.) On the night of his death, he had peacefully gone to bed after composing a few hours earlier two poems on “death”.

Literary career

Kelkar wrote literary criticism, poetry, plays, history, novels, essays, and a detailed biography of Lokmanya Tilak. He wrote a scholarly book titled हास्यविनोदमीमांसा.

Because of his literary achievements, some Marathi literary associations conferred on him in 1932 the title Sahitya Samrat (साहित्यसम्राट).

He presided over Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Badoda in 1921.

The following is a list of the titles of plays which Kelkar wrote:

• सरोजिनी (1897)
• नवरदेवाची जोडगोळी (1898)
• तोतयाचे बंड (1912)
• चंद्रगुप्त (1913)
• कृष्णार्जुन युद्ध (1915)
• अमात्यमाधव (1915)
• वीरविडंबन (1919)
• संत भानुदास (1919)