Yashwant Dinkar Pendharkar

Who is Yashwant Dinkar Pendharkar?

Yashwant Dinkar Pendharkar was a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India. He wrote poetry under the pen name Yashwant.

Pendharkar was born on March 9, 1899, in the town of Tarale in Satara District. Before finishing his school education at the City High School of Sangli, he discontinued it out of unfavorable financial circumstances. He moved to Pune to take up clerical jobs to support himself. While working, Pendharkar read Marathi literature widely, and developed love for reading especially poetry and also composing his own poetry.

At the 1921 Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Baroda, Pendharkar met Madhav Julian and Shridhar Ranade, and the three formed a friendship based on common literary interests. The three lived in Pune and started frequently meeting for literary discussions. Soon Gajanan Tryambak Madkholkar, Shankar Kanetkar, and D. L. Gokhale joined the meetings, and the group eventually identified itself as Ravikiran Mandal.

Ravikiran Mandal popularized Marathi poetry in Maharashtra during approximately 1922-35 through public poetry recitals by member poets. Especially Pendharkar was gifted with both a melodious voice and a talent for presenting his recitals very effectively.