Narayan Surve

Narayan Surve (1926–2010) remains one of the most distinctive voices in modern Marathi poetry. Abandoned as an infant he was raised with love and care in the family of a poor mill worker. He grew up on the streets of the erstwhile girangao (mill area)of Mumbai.He took up a variety of jobs before becoming associated with the city's labour movement. Unlike many poets who wrote about workers and the poor from a distance, Surve wrote from within their world. His poems are populated by mill workers, mothers, children, teachers, street-corner philosophers, and those living on the margins of caste, class and dignity.