MAHATMA JYOTIRAO PHULE (English)

..... It is a very difficult task to write a biographical novel. In order to ensure the right balance of facts with creative liberty, the author needs to have the skills of a good biographer, as well as, a novelist. A biographer is a researcher and collector of memories; whereas, a novelist is mainly a dreamer who can spin stories out of nothingness. But, the author of a biographical novel needs to be an amalgamation of both, creativity and fact-finding, both. S/he needs to diligently record all the facts related to the protagonist's life. Even though s/he may take creative liberty while writing the novel, it cannot be forgotten that finally it is a 'biography', which must do justice to the happenings in the protagonist's life. Dates, timelines, family members, enemies, relations, important incidents etc. all need to be mentioned properly, without taking them into the ambit of creative liberty. Only after doing so much preparation does a novelist become set to write a good biographical novel. What prompts a biographer to turn a person's life account into a novel, instead of taking the easy route and narrating his/her story in a straight way? It is the excitement of interspersing an author's gift of imagination and ingenuity with the actualities of the protagonist's life. However, it is a tightrope walk to be able to exercise one's creative abilities, while staying true to the researcher within. Only the perfect alchemy of both these factors can result in an excellent biographical novel. - M.W. DhondAn inspirational biographical novel about the life, times, personality, and revolutionary thoughts of the great man, Jyotirao Phule: 'MAHATMA'