Class IX Unit II Breaking Barriers - Even Past Fifty (Poem)

Shanta Janardan Shelke

She was a gifted Marathi poetess and writer. Apart from this, she was a journalist, a professor, a composer, a story writer, a translator and  a writer of child literature. 
Some of her compositions became immortal  as songs sung by Marathi greats like Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale and Kishori Amonkar.
Shanta Shelke was born in Indapur, Pune on October 19,  1922. She was educated in Pune's Sir Parshurambhau College (S. P. College). She completed her M.A. in Marathi and Sanskrit and stood first in Bombay University. During this time, she also won the Na. Chi. Kelkar and Chiplunkar awards.
She spent 5 years working as assistant editor of the weekly Navyug run by Acharya Atre. She then moved to Nagpur to work as a professor of Marathi in Hislop College, Nagpur. She retired after long service from Dayanand College, Mumbai and settled in Pune.
She also served inThe Film Censor Board, The Theatre Examination Board and The Govt. book award. She died on June 6, 2002.