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Smritichitre: The Memoirs of a Spirited Wife
Lakshmibai Tilak was born in 1868 into a strict Maharashtrian Brahmin family in a village near Nashik. And at the age of eleven, she was married off to poet Narayan Waman Tilak, a man much older than her.
In Smritichitre, Lakshmibai candidly describes her complex relationship with her husband--their constant bickering over his disregard for material possessions, which quite often left them penniless, and his bouts of intense rage in these moments. But at the core of their relationship was their concern for society and the well-being of every human being, irrespective of caste, class or gender, and their unwavering devotion to each other. Equally touching is her recounting of his conversion to Christianity which led to a separation of five long years. After their reunion, she, too, was gradually disillusioned with orthodox Hindu customs and caste divisions, and converted to Christianity. After Narayan Tilak's death in 1919, she came into her own as a matron in a girls' hostel in Mumbai and later gathered enough courage to move to Karachi with her family.
When first published in Marathi in 1934, Smritichitre became an instant classic. Lakshmibai's honesty and her recounting of every difficulty she faced with unfailing humour make Smritichitre a memorable read. Shanta Gokhale's masterly translation of this classic is the only complete one available in English.
In Smritichitre, Lakshmibai candidly describes her complex relationship with her husband--their constant bickering over his disregard for material possessions, which quite often left them penniless, and his bouts of intense rage in these moments. But at the core of their relationship was their concern for society and the well-being of every human being, irrespective of caste, class or gender, and their unwavering devotion to each other. Equally touching is her recounting of his conversion to Christianity which led to a separation of five long years. After their reunion, she, too, was gradually disillusioned with orthodox Hindu customs and caste divisions, and converted to Christianity. After Narayan Tilak's death in 1919, she came into her own as a matron in a girls' hostel in Mumbai and later gathered enough courage to move to Karachi with her family.
When first published in Marathi in 1934, Smritichitre became an instant classic. Lakshmibai's honesty and her recounting of every difficulty she faced with unfailing humour make Smritichitre a memorable read. Shanta Gokhale's masterly translation of this classic is the only complete one available in English.
500 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 17, 1998
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About the author
Lakshmibai Tilak
4 books8 followersLakshmibai Tilak (born 1868, died 1936) was a Marathi writer from Maharashtra, India.
According to the social custom of her times, after her receiving limited formal education, she was married off by her parents at her age 11 to Narayan Waman Tilak.
Narayan Waman Tilak was an accomplished Marathi poet. When he converted to Christianity, she at first was shocked. Gradually, however, she overcame her distaste, and eventually became a Christian herself. She tells this story with great simplicity in Agadi Step by Step. With his encouragement, despite her limited formal education, Lakshmibai too composed some superb poetry. Further, she wrote her autobiography under the title Smruti Chitre (स्मृतिचित्रे), which turned out to be a masterpiece in Marathi literature. The autobiography was published in four parts during 1934 -1937. In 1950, E. Josephine Inkster translated it into English under the title I Follow After.
Narayan Waman Tilak started to compose in Marathi an epic titled “Khristayana” (क्रिस्तायन) describing the works of Jesus Christ. However, he died after finishing ten of its chapters. Lakshmibai completed the epic by adding to it 64 chapters of her own.
(from Wikipedia)
According to the social custom of her times, after her receiving limited formal education, she was married off by her parents at her age 11 to Narayan Waman Tilak.
Narayan Waman Tilak was an accomplished Marathi poet. When he converted to Christianity, she at first was shocked. Gradually, however, she overcame her distaste, and eventually became a Christian herself. She tells this story with great simplicity in Agadi Step by Step. With his encouragement, despite her limited formal education, Lakshmibai too composed some superb poetry. Further, she wrote her autobiography under the title Smruti Chitre (स्मृतिचित्रे), which turned out to be a masterpiece in Marathi literature. The autobiography was published in four parts during 1934 -1937. In 1950, E. Josephine Inkster translated it into English under the title I Follow After.
Narayan Waman Tilak started to compose in Marathi an epic titled “Khristayana” (क्रिस्तायन) describing the works of Jesus Christ. However, he died after finishing ten of its chapters. Lakshmibai completed the epic by adding to it 64 chapters of her own.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 14, 2018
In 1868, in the Gokhale family of Jalalpur near Nasik was born a feisty little girl who was named Lakshmibai. At the age of eleven, Lakshmibai was married off to seventeen year-old Narayan Waman Tilak, and thus began a marriage that would prove to be life-changing for Lakshmibai, for her husband was not only to go on to be a renowned poet but would also change his religion, converting to Christianity (and becoming one of the most-respected Indian Christians of the early 20th century). Lakshmibai would see life change from that of a privileged Brahmin woman living in a quiet rural community to that of an invariably poor, often ostracised Christian lost in the dizzying whirl of Mumbai.
All of this Lakshmibai documented in her memoirs, Smritichitre, which she began writing in 1924, and worked on for the next seven years. In 1935, just a year before Lakshmibai passed away, Smritichitre was first published, in the original Marathi. The book was so successful that several editions have been released since then. It has even been translated (though not in its entirety) into English by various translators.
It is easy to see why this memoir should be so endearing, so inspirational, and so very readable: it brings alive not just the woman, but also the times she lived in, the man she was married to, and the people she interacted with. Lakshmibai does not bother herself with bringing us the larger picture, the socio-political scenario of a volatile time in Indian history; instead, from her own recollections of life during that turbulent time, she brings it even closer to us than most historical accounts can manage. The customs and traditions, the caste system and its many dos and don’ts. Family ties, community, religion. Servants, livelihoods, the cost of living. Medicine and health. Education.
Smritichitre reads rather like you would expect an especially keen-witted and intelligent grandmother—and one, too, who had lived a full and eventful life—to recall her past. Lakshmibai begins her story when she was about seven years old, and then (mostly in chronological order, though there is the very occasional skip to a later date) tells the story of her life and the lives of those around her. Much of this is anecdotal, but a clear thread ties the anecdotes together as Lakshmibai and her husband progress in life: their quarrels, his impetuosity (and hers), their mutual teasing, the deep and obvious affection between them.
Through the four parts into which Smritichitre is divided, Lakshmibai goes from being a somewhat protected village girl to a woman confident enough to address the Christian Literary Meet in 1934 at Nagpur. From a light-hearted and spirited girl, she goes through everything from experiencing an outbreak of plague to living apart from her Hindu convert husband for five years. She sees her dear ones die, she becomes family—Aai and Aaji, Mother and Grandmother—to many with whom she shares no ties of blood. Her story is entertaining, enlightening, witty, and poignant.
Through Lakshmibai’s eyes and her delightfully honest, often witty commentary, we see Narayan Waman Tilak: impulsive, deeply committed to the cause, and often beguilingly gullible (“We were in the habit of picking up and carrying on our hips people who could actually walk by themselves” ). Lakshmibai laughs at her own mistakes and silliness, and takes pains and rejection in her stride. She comes across as very human and very easy to relate to.
Most of all, she is immensely readable, and Shanta Gokhale’s translation of her memoirs is a fitting tribute to a woman of resilience, wisdom and wit.
(From my review for The New Indian Express: http://www.newindianexpress.com/magaz...)
All of this Lakshmibai documented in her memoirs, Smritichitre, which she began writing in 1924, and worked on for the next seven years. In 1935, just a year before Lakshmibai passed away, Smritichitre was first published, in the original Marathi. The book was so successful that several editions have been released since then. It has even been translated (though not in its entirety) into English by various translators.
It is easy to see why this memoir should be so endearing, so inspirational, and so very readable: it brings alive not just the woman, but also the times she lived in, the man she was married to, and the people she interacted with. Lakshmibai does not bother herself with bringing us the larger picture, the socio-political scenario of a volatile time in Indian history; instead, from her own recollections of life during that turbulent time, she brings it even closer to us than most historical accounts can manage. The customs and traditions, the caste system and its many dos and don’ts. Family ties, community, religion. Servants, livelihoods, the cost of living. Medicine and health. Education.
Smritichitre reads rather like you would expect an especially keen-witted and intelligent grandmother—and one, too, who had lived a full and eventful life—to recall her past. Lakshmibai begins her story when she was about seven years old, and then (mostly in chronological order, though there is the very occasional skip to a later date) tells the story of her life and the lives of those around her. Much of this is anecdotal, but a clear thread ties the anecdotes together as Lakshmibai and her husband progress in life: their quarrels, his impetuosity (and hers), their mutual teasing, the deep and obvious affection between them.
Through the four parts into which Smritichitre is divided, Lakshmibai goes from being a somewhat protected village girl to a woman confident enough to address the Christian Literary Meet in 1934 at Nagpur. From a light-hearted and spirited girl, she goes through everything from experiencing an outbreak of plague to living apart from her Hindu convert husband for five years. She sees her dear ones die, she becomes family—Aai and Aaji, Mother and Grandmother—to many with whom she shares no ties of blood. Her story is entertaining, enlightening, witty, and poignant.
Through Lakshmibai’s eyes and her delightfully honest, often witty commentary, we see Narayan Waman Tilak: impulsive, deeply committed to the cause, and often beguilingly gullible (“We were in the habit of picking up and carrying on our hips people who could actually walk by themselves” ). Lakshmibai laughs at her own mistakes and silliness, and takes pains and rejection in her stride. She comes across as very human and very easy to relate to.
Most of all, she is immensely readable, and Shanta Gokhale’s translation of her memoirs is a fitting tribute to a woman of resilience, wisdom and wit.
(From my review for The New Indian Express: http://www.newindianexpress.com/magaz...)
February 18, 2012
I did not read this book completely, and do feel guilty about it. By literary standards it is not a great book per say, but its significance in Marathi literature is important. Laxmibai is a great storyteller with a sense of humor. She makes even the most serious of situations seem humorous sometimes. The style is just plain old Marathi, describing day to day lives, struggles of Laxmibai and those surrounding her. I was amazed at how her husband Revrend Tilak used to abandon his family so often to pursue whatever his whim was at the time. It was upto Laxmibai to make her living by relying on other people, relatives etc. That also is reflective of the time when families were more connected and helped each other. But if it wasnt for her husband Laxmibai would never have learned to read and write which was a milestone for women in that times. That and the fact that it is one of the first women's autobiography in Marathi makes it imperative that every Marathi book lover should atleast skim through this book atleast once.
December 29, 2019
काही पुस्तकं नितांतसुंदर असतात. काळाचा महिमा जसा काही त्यांना लागूच होत नसावा. लक्ष्मीबाई टिळकांचे स्मृतिचित्रे अगदी त्याच कौतुकास पात्र आहे.
पुस्तकं ही तत्कालीन समाजाचा आरसा असतात. हेसुद्धा हे पुस्तक वाचून पटत. नारायण वामन टिळक, कवी, देशभक्त, समाजसेवक. ते जन्माला आले एका ब्राह्मण कुटुंबात पुढे वाचन लिखाणातून येशूची ओळख झाली आणि ते पुढे येशूचे झाले. त्यांचं धर्मांतर रुढीप्रिय समाजात एक आघातच होता. त्यांची पत्नी म्हणून ह्या चरित्रात लक्ष्मीबाईंनी जे कष्ट सोसले, आणि तरीही एक हसरे आणि समाधानी व्यक्तिमत्व जोपासले हे अगदी वाचण्यासारखे आहे. दुःखाचे खूप पहाड कोसळले, नाही असे नाही, पण त्यांची लेखणी तक्रार न करता सहजच त्यातून मार्ग कसे सापडत गेले ते सांगत जाते.
स्वातंत्र्यपूर्व काळातील स्त्रियांचे आयुष्य ह्या पुस्तकातून उलगडत जाते. त्यावर काही जास्त लिहिण्यापेक्षा ते मुळातूनच वाचलेले बरे. पुस्तकात कुठेही अभिनिवेश नाही. समस्यांचे अवडंबर नाही. आज हे वाचताना वाटतं कसे जगले असतील लोक त्या काळी, पण पुस्तक अगदी सहज गोष्ट सांगितल्यासारखं तुमच्या समोर येतं.
पुस्तकाची रचना सरळसोट कथेसारखी नाही, पुस्तकाच्या नावाप्रमाणेच हे अनेक स्मृतींचे बनलेले आहे. किस्से कहाण्या ह्यात खूप आहेत. किंबहुना, त्यामुळेच कथनाला एक सहजता येते. जणू आपण लेखिकेशी गप्पा मारत आहोत आणि बोलण्याच्या ओघात जुन्या गप्पांचे विषय निघत जावेत असे.
अतिशय महत्त्वाची गोष्ट ही की जुनं आहे त्यामुळे भाषा जड असेल ही भीती अगदीच अनाठायी आहे. भाषा सहज, सोप्पी ओघवती आहे, मध्ये कविता अनेक आहेत त्या थोड्या जड वाटू शकतात. पण तरीही हे पुस्तक अनेक अंगांनी नक्कीच वाचनीय आहे.
पुस्तकं ही तत्कालीन समाजाचा आरसा असतात. हेसुद्धा हे पुस्तक वाचून पटत. नारायण वामन टिळक, कवी, देशभक्त, समाजसेवक. ते जन्माला आले एका ब्राह्मण कुटुंबात पुढे वाचन लिखाणातून येशूची ओळख झाली आणि ते पुढे येशूचे झाले. त्यांचं धर्मांतर रुढीप्रिय समाजात एक आघातच होता. त्यांची पत्नी म्हणून ह्या चरित्रात लक्ष्मीबाईंनी जे कष्ट सोसले, आणि तरीही एक हसरे आणि समाधानी व्यक्तिमत्व जोपासले हे अगदी वाचण्यासारखे आहे. दुःखाचे खूप पहाड कोसळले, नाही असे नाही, पण त्यांची लेखणी तक्रार न करता सहजच त्यातून मार्ग कसे सापडत गेले ते सांगत जाते.
स्वातंत्र्यपूर्व काळातील स्त्रियांचे आयुष्य ह्या पुस्तकातून उलगडत जाते. त्यावर काही जास्त लिहिण्यापेक्षा ते मुळातूनच वाचलेले बरे. पुस्तकात कुठेही अभिनिवेश नाही. समस्यांचे अवडंबर नाही. आज हे वाचताना वाटतं कसे जगले असतील लोक त्या काळी, पण पुस्तक अगदी सहज गोष्ट सांगितल्यासारखं तुमच्या समोर येतं.
पुस्तकाची रचना सरळसोट कथेसारखी नाही, पुस्तकाच्या नावाप्रमाणेच हे अनेक स्मृतींचे बनलेले आहे. किस्से कहाण्या ह्यात खूप आहेत. किंबहुना, त्यामुळेच कथनाला एक सहजता येते. जणू आपण लेखिकेशी गप्पा मारत आहोत आणि बोलण्याच्या ओघात जुन्या गप्पांचे विषय निघत जावेत असे.
अतिशय महत्त्वाची गोष्ट ही की जुनं आहे त्यामुळे भाषा जड असेल ही भीती अगदीच अनाठायी आहे. भाषा सहज, सोप्पी ओघवती आहे, मध्ये कविता अनेक आहेत त्या थोड्या जड वाटू शकतात. पण तरीही हे पुस्तक अनेक अंगांनी नक्कीच वाचनीय आहे.
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March 9, 2021This book is about a woman and her family and the living conditions they were in all through her life. It begins with the parents she was born to, a father who would follow the customs and traditions of the Brahmin community to the level of insanity, getting married as a child to a boy who would disappear for days and return as if he did nothing unusual. How she managed a family with no permanent residence, money, or provisions at hand, while grieving over children that died at or sometime after birth. Her husband's poetry writing in general as well as in response to anything good or bad that happened around him; his change of religion that devastated her until she eventually embraced it herself along with the string of children they adopted and raised all the while unsure of whether they would be able to afford the next meal themselves.
While all the above is just a gist of the problems she faced, she has built a narrative that is simple and humorous, to the extent that the pain or inconvenience suffered by her dawn on the reader only when they have finished the book and are reflecting on it. It leaves behind a feeling that she and her family lived a wholesome life rather than feeling piteous.
This book was mentioned in The Age of Pandemics by Chinmay Tumbe.
While all the above is just a gist of the problems she faced, she has built a narrative that is simple and humorous, to the extent that the pain or inconvenience suffered by her dawn on the reader only when they have finished the book and are reflecting on it. It leaves behind a feeling that she and her family lived a wholesome life rather than feeling piteous.
This book was mentioned in The Age of Pandemics by Chinmay Tumbe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 5, 2019
मराठी भाषेतील अभिजात साहित्यामध्ये या पुस्तकाची गणना करावी लागेल. सन १८७० ते १९२० या कालावधीत ना वा टिळक व लक्ष्मीबाई टिळक यांनी केलेल्या महान कार्याचे दर्शन या पुस्तकातून आपणास होते .मराठी भाषेतील सार्वकालिक १०० सर्वोत्तम पुस्तकात या पुस्तकात गणना होते.
December 24, 2024
This book is autobiography written in very honest way just like anybody writing the diary.
I read the original version in Marathi. This book gives glimpse of the life & society at that time.
Must read book.
I read the original version in Marathi. This book gives glimpse of the life & society at that time.
Must read book.
September 29, 2019
I listened to the audiobook. One extra star just for the way Mrunal Kulkarni narrated it.
July 8, 2020
This book is Our textbook in SSC ,Maharashtra state year 1972;
I love this book very much,
Nilkanth P Vispute
I love this book very much,
Nilkanth P Vispute
October 8, 2020
Exasperating, tireless, wonderful Lakshmibai.
November 10, 2022
Gives an idea about society at that moment.
August 2, 2020
I picked up this autobiography as a review mentioned that the lady had done a lot of work during a plague epidemic and her observations were germane to the present COVID-19 pandemic. But that incident does not merit even one chapter in her odyssey. She is battered about in the parochial ocean of the caste-conscious middle-class Hindu society by the whims of her fickle, irascible, short-tempered, egoistic, self-centred apostate husband. She follows his anfractuous whimsical wanderings all over the countryside, going to the extent of renouncing her religion and her upper caste status.
The book is essentially a strong indictment of the oppressive curse of untouchability that prevailed in the early part of the twentieth century.
The book is essentially a strong indictment of the oppressive curse of untouchability that prevailed in the early part of the twentieth century.
April 16, 2018
Smritichitre
Lakshmibai Tilak
Translated by Shanta Gokhale
INR 650/
This is a world that today's feminists would find it hard to relate to, though marriages like this are still to be found in the heartland of India. Lakshmibai Tilak tells the story of her life with the poet Narayan WamanraoTilak, a man preoccupied by his principles, ruled by his temper and characterized by frequent disappearances.
From the beginning Lakshmibai’s world was dominated by the whims of men. Her father broke down after his father was hanged by the British in 1857 as a rebel. His breakdown was expressed through an obsessive hatred of anything he considered pollution. Outsiders were not allowed into the house and women who went out had to bathe before they returned. Lakshmibai was frequently beaten for failing to follow the purity rules.
From her father, Lakshmibai came under the influence of her father in law, a man who in a fit of temper had kicked his wife to death. What would today be considered attempted murder was then allowed to go unpunished and the fact was that wife beating was normal in the Indian heartland.
The result of the death of his mother affected Lakshmibai's husband who became in many respects reclusive, expressing his emotions through his verses and in many cases tearing them up again. Though he was an erratic husband and much older than she was, he stood by Laskshmibai, despite losing two children, all sons. That is why, Lakshmibai writes, she loved him, even though he flung her down the stairs for laughing at him when she was seven months pregnant.
WamanraoTilak was one of the first of his community to convert to Christianity and that move on his part resulted in a five-year separation from his wife. Five years later however, Lakshmibai also grew disenchanted with the corruption she saw in Hinduism and converted – this despite the fact that both she and her husband came from Brahmin families.
The narrative traces her growth from a naughty child to an 11-year-old bride to a woman who tired of the discrepancies between castes and who drank water from a sweeper’s home. Though she was illiterate she learnt to read and write and even managed to complete her husband’s poem on his conversion after his death. She became an activist, managed a woman’s hostel and fought for the rights of women with the same determination with which she told the story of her life. Despite poverty, deprivation and abuse, Lakshmibai keeps her sense of humour while being short of money, short of food and surrounded by men and women with intolerable egos.
The book was one of the first autobiographies written in the Marathi language and proved an instant hit when it was published in 1934. Shanta Gokhale’s is the first complete English translation of the work and certainly captures the liveliness of the narrator who is a plain, fearless speaker.
Lakshmibai Tilak
Translated by Shanta Gokhale
INR 650/
This is a world that today's feminists would find it hard to relate to, though marriages like this are still to be found in the heartland of India. Lakshmibai Tilak tells the story of her life with the poet Narayan WamanraoTilak, a man preoccupied by his principles, ruled by his temper and characterized by frequent disappearances.
From the beginning Lakshmibai’s world was dominated by the whims of men. Her father broke down after his father was hanged by the British in 1857 as a rebel. His breakdown was expressed through an obsessive hatred of anything he considered pollution. Outsiders were not allowed into the house and women who went out had to bathe before they returned. Lakshmibai was frequently beaten for failing to follow the purity rules.
From her father, Lakshmibai came under the influence of her father in law, a man who in a fit of temper had kicked his wife to death. What would today be considered attempted murder was then allowed to go unpunished and the fact was that wife beating was normal in the Indian heartland.
The result of the death of his mother affected Lakshmibai's husband who became in many respects reclusive, expressing his emotions through his verses and in many cases tearing them up again. Though he was an erratic husband and much older than she was, he stood by Laskshmibai, despite losing two children, all sons. That is why, Lakshmibai writes, she loved him, even though he flung her down the stairs for laughing at him when she was seven months pregnant.
WamanraoTilak was one of the first of his community to convert to Christianity and that move on his part resulted in a five-year separation from his wife. Five years later however, Lakshmibai also grew disenchanted with the corruption she saw in Hinduism and converted – this despite the fact that both she and her husband came from Brahmin families.
The narrative traces her growth from a naughty child to an 11-year-old bride to a woman who tired of the discrepancies between castes and who drank water from a sweeper’s home. Though she was illiterate she learnt to read and write and even managed to complete her husband’s poem on his conversion after his death. She became an activist, managed a woman’s hostel and fought for the rights of women with the same determination with which she told the story of her life. Despite poverty, deprivation and abuse, Lakshmibai keeps her sense of humour while being short of money, short of food and surrounded by men and women with intolerable egos.
The book was one of the first autobiographies written in the Marathi language and proved an instant hit when it was published in 1934. Shanta Gokhale’s is the first complete English translation of the work and certainly captures the liveliness of the narrator who is a plain, fearless speaker.
February 25, 2015
Atyant taral bhasha va aathavani.
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