IBN-Lokmat explores an inspirational story of dissenter poet, author and activist Namdeo Dhasal, only on Great Bhet

Hardships in life bring out best in few people. Namdeo Dhasal was one such great man brought up in abject poverty, where throughout his childhood he was always suppressed for a life that every child needs for nurturing. He spent his childhood in Golpitha, a red light district in Mumbai, where his father worked for a butcher. But as luck would have it, bright that he was, he grew up to become one of the most sought after poets in the country. Today he is no longer with us but his literary work and philosophy will keep inspiring generations to come. Great Bhet gives you an opportunity to once again experience moving and encouraging interaction where Namdeo Dhasal shared his life story only on IBN-Lokmat on Saturday, 18th January 2014 at 9:30 pm.

Born in 1949, Namdeo Dhasal is Maharashtra's leading Dalit poet and the only Indian poet to have received a Lifetime Achievement Award from country's top literary institution, the Sahitya Akademi. For his distinguished contribution to literature he has been awarded the title Padmashri by the President of India. Dhasal is a quintessentially Mumbai poet having authored nine books of poetry. Raw, raging, associative, almost carnal in its tactility, his poetry emerges from the underbelly of the city. He was in his mid-twenties when he published his epoch-making first collection of poems Golpitha named after the notorious centre of prostitution in central Mumbai where he grew up. This was then the heart of Mumbai's underworld and even today possesses the characteristics of a neighborhood where everything illicit, criminal, despicable, exploitative and inhuman finds a natural home.

Apart from his poetry, Namdeo Dhasal is also known for the Dalit Panthers in 1972, a militant activist organization founded by him, at that time inspired by the Black Panthers in the United States.

Tune into Great Bhet this Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 9.30 pm to know about this exceptional story of a rising above the adversities and achieving unimagined only on IBN-Lokmat.

Missed this episode? You can catch it on Sunday, 19th January 2014 @ 12 noon and 5:00 pm only on IBN-Lokmat.