Malti Bedekar

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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.

[edit] Works

• Kalyanche Nishwas 1933
• Hindolyavar 1933
• Bali 1950
• Gharala Muklelya Striya
• Kharemaster 1953. Published in English translation by Stree, an imprint of Bhatkal and Sen
• Shabari 1956