Here are some of Namdeo Dhasal ’s most powerful and acclaimed poems, spanning his fierce early work to his more measured later voice: One of his most celebrated poems, depicting Mumbai’s red‑light district. It oscillates between brutal imagery and melancholy compassion, closing with the haunting lines: Namdeo Dhasal was a Marathi poet, writer and Dalit activist from India. He founded the Dalit Panther movement in 1972 and wrote several poetry and prose works, including Golpitha, Priya Darshini and Ambedkari Chalwal. Dhasal never separated his poetics from his politics; he conceded that both are inseparable from each other and politics always was part of his poetry. This collection has one of his famous poems Song of the Dog and the Republic. Namdeo Dhasal (1949-2006) is a leading Marathi poet who wrote about the dark and raw side of Mumbai, the city of his birth and struggle. He received the Sahitya Akademi Lifetime Achievement Award and founded the Dalit Panther movement.
