Kurulkar was born in Mumbai (to which he is very much attached) on the 10th of September 1962. He is the youngest of three, the elder two being sisters. His father Late Vidyadhar Kurulkar (who retired as a joint director of the language department in Govt. of Maharashtra) was a very intelligent person and was responsible for Kurulkar’s passion for reading. His mother, Late Mrs. Prathibha Kurulkar, was a lady with great fervour for life, a great struggler and very optimistic. Her ardent love and absolute dedication to Kurulkar helped him survive the tumultuous life. Kurulkar strongly believes that his mother’s adamancy to shift from Aurangabad to Mumbai changed his life for better and proved to be the turning point in their lives. His elder sisters, Jyoti & Swati too shared their mother’s love & dedication towards their kid brother. This intense and strong family bonding helped them to survive all kinds of adverse situations, financial, medical, relational which were present throughout Kurulkar’s childhood.
One of the principles of psychology says that a man is the result of what he faces, understands and assimilates in life from age 6 to 16. Kurulkar had to live all kinds of dark sides of life during this period. His profound sensitivity, absorbed all of this and developed a strong sense of recognizing true colours of human nature and formed a very unique, mature and visionary philosophy of life. He developed a very sharp sense of independence, ethics, truthfulness, self respect, positivity, rationality and practicality.
Thus he developed two sides in his personality. One that of a serious thinker, philosopher. He became a student of intricacies of human nature (mind). The other that of a practical, positive, happy, strong-willed leader-like disciplined personality and so emerged a very unique person. A sensitive writer and a successful businessman. There are many sensitive writers and there are many successful businessmen. However the combination of the two exists probably only in Kurulkar. He started both his careers at the same time and has progressed successfully in both.
Kurulkar is very disciplined and devotes his time to his family, writing and business equally. He does not allow himself any whims or moods which are otherwise very typical of writers. He adores his dog Belthor (a Labrador) and his fish in the aquarium. He loves to give happiness to his extended family and finds ways to do the same. He hates to miss his morning walks along the beach. He loves classical music and derives inspiration from it. His favourite heroes are Shri Krishna, Shivaji Maharaj and Sunil Gavaskar. He finds solace in Mukesh’s songs. He has a passion for life, his country and Marathi. His son studied in a Marathi Medium School as a matter of principle.
His favorite philosophy : One gets life only once and that should be lived to its fullest and never thrown to dogs for any reason.
Pankaj Kurulkar, a name to be reckoned with, when one thinks of contemporary literature in Marathi & English.
If one wants to get to the core of any matter that is to be understood one will revel in reading Kurulkar's short stories. One will not find any elaborations, introductions, euphemisms or romanticism. The matter of the subject will be encountered directly matter of factly but with known and unknown depths of meaning and maturity. Yes! Every story of Kurulkar leaves one with a higher level of maturity and understanding.
Reading Kurulkar's writing is like someone holding a mirror in front of you. The truth is freightening and at the same time fascinating due to its starkness. One feels like being punched in the stomach and a real hard punch at that. One gets a feeling of ones mind getting peeled of all the dressings, 'feel good' layers, hypocracies, euphemisms to ensure the real arc of human mind. The naked truth that is left behind is highly disturbing, enfuriating and shakening but at the same time it is enlightening and utterly difficult to ignore.
Pankaj Kurulkar's story engulfs you right from the first sentence and then starts the roller coaster of eye opening emotions and in the end one is left gasping for breath. One cannot but admire the meaningful content and higher levels of understanding. One feels more mature.
The style of Kurulkar is very simple and straight forward. One cannot miss its honesty and authenticity. The sentences are short and simple. No subject or character is taboo to him. He does not stick to any form. The content is very open and encompasses a larger horizon. He sees things always on a wider perspective and thus his stories are more with social implications and do not limit themselves to individual experience or problem. His style is so frank that it is shocking. It challenges the traditional expectations of literature. In that sense his stories are very modern, very realistic. He definitely succeeds in bringing one out of one's safe shell and makes one look at the world with open eyes and more understanding.
Pankaj Kurulkar,by profession,is an electronics engineer.Hefinished his studies in the year 1985. In the following six years he worked in six various organisations and finally in the year 1991 he started his own business in IT with zero penny in his wallet. The business grew in leaps and bounds and while at its peak, boasted of five hundred and fifty employees and several branches across India .It also had offices in the USA,Kuwait and Singapore.
In 2016 he suffered two massive heart attacks within a span of forty days. Although he defied death, he had to quit business. Ever since he has become a full time writer.
