Urmila Pawar

Urmila Pawar (born 1945) is a female Indian writer, who writes in the Marathi language an Indian language . According to Dharmarajan her work as a writer reflects her experiences of the difficulties of being a woman and a Dalit, according to her Pawar's "frank and direct" style has made her controversial.

Biography

Pawar was born in the Konkan region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, she was born in a Hindu Mahar family, belonging to a community that traditionally weaved bamboo baskets. She has a Master of Arts in Marathi literature. She retired as an employee of the Public Works Department of the state of Maharashtra. She won the Laxmibai Tilak award for the best published autobiography given by the Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, for Aaidan. Like other members of her community she converted to Buddhism following Ambedkar's conversion in 1956.

Mahad satyagraha and inter-dining

She mentions in her autobiography Aaidan that her father neither participated in the Mahad satyagraha organised by Ambedkar nor inter-dining arranged by Savarkar, though her elder sister Shantiakka she recalls often missed school to attend the inter-dining lured by sweet delicacies served there.