Friday Double Post- Anil Ekbote, A Tribute

One of the first questions I’m asked the moment I am introduced to anyone is- ‘Are you related to Gopal Rao Ekbote?’ even though I am not. Until 1996 my standard reply was that I did not know him. I did not expect to meet any other Ekbote other than my own immediate relations. Sometime in 1996 I met another Ekbote who was not related to me. It was Anil Ekbote. For those who read the Deccan Chronicle, he was the paper's foremost movie critic writing simple yet perceptive reviews. For some reason he stopped writing for them. He also happened to be the instructor of my IGNOU creative writing course and of course, I was sort of thrilled to meet him in person. Over the years I came to know him as a very learned man, modest and unassuming. I kept in touch with him on and off over the years.

It was a shock to learn that he had passed away not more than a week ago. I had last met him a couple of years when he was not keeping good health after the death of his wife. He had talked about the launch of his book. He was a sort of inspiration to us, his writing students, since he was not only a writer; he was a movie and art critic, translator and what not. He was so obsessed with writing he took voluntary retirement from the Electricity Department and focused on his writing pursuits. I was amazed at his interest in writing and longed to follow in his footsteps but it seemed impossible. Nevertheless, he remained an inspiration to us. He would always have something new to tell us every week, about something he had begun or submitted to the papers for publication.

After learning about his death I felt guilty for not having kept in touch with him in the past few years. Last week I went along with Kiran and Sailaja to meet his daughter. I told Aparna, his only daughter that I had invited her father to our house one day for lunch. He had readily agreed and came home one day unexpectedly and had lunch with me.

Anil Ekbote had encouraged me a lot and on my assignments he had marked ‘Excellent’ which boosted my confidence. It perhaps led to the publication of my first middle in a newspaper. He was proud of our work and encouraged us constantly in that soft voice of his. An important lesson I learnt from him was to be observant and to notice everything around us as it would help us a lot in writing.

Anil Ekbote's death is a great loss to the literary scene, especially the Marathi literary scene.