Malti Bedekar

Malti Bedekar (nee Balutai Khare, pen-name Vibhavari Shirurkar) (born 1905) was the first feminist Marathi author. She was the daughter of the progressive thinker and educator Anant Khare, whom she writes about in her semi-autobiographical novel "Kharemaster". Her first work was "Kalyanche Nishwas" (The Sighs of Buds), a collection of short stories in which she frankly discussed issues such as premarital sex, a woman's right to set up her own household alone, and dowry. The stories were considered far too bold for 1930s India and a storm of outrage followed, including threats to the anonymous author. It was not till 1946 that Malti, now a married woman, revealed her real name.She married the novelist Vishram Bedekar in the early 1940s (she was his second wife) and busied herself getting a Ph.D. in Sanskrit. In 1950 she published "Bali" (The Victim), the story of a 'criminal' tribe and the impact of Gandhi's ideas on them. This was followed by "Kharemaster" and her last work, "Shabari", the story of a woman trapped in a stifling marriage.

Works

* "Kalyanche Nishwas" 1933
* "Hindolyavar" 1933
* "Bali" 1950
* "Gharala Muklelya Striya"
* "Kharemaster" 1953. Published in English translation by [http://www.streebooksindia.com/ Stree] , an imprint of Bhatkal and Sen
* "Shabari" 1956