For city-based Suhas D Bokil, it’s a fascination that began more than 55 years ago. His consistent efforts and persistence in holding exhibitions year-after-year on Prahlad Keshav Atre also known as Acharya Atre has earned him a place in the India Book of Records 2016 for ‘most exhibitions on literature and works of a person’. Till date, Bokil has organised 42 exhibitions which celebrate the works of Atre, a renowned Marathi poet, writer, educationist, politician, filmmaker and noted orator.

“My father was a big fan of Atre and it was he who introduced me to his works. When I was nine years old, I acted in a Marathi play penned by him – Ghara Baher. I first saw him in April 1960, when he was giving a lecture. I went to meet him and took his autograph. After reading his autobiography – Mee Kasa Jhalo – I started collecting his works – articles, dramas, poems, audio clippings and films,” says 70-year-old Bokil, adding that while he held his first exhibition in 1960 at his home in Kolhapur, it was in 1989 that he organised his first public exhibition on Atre’s works. Other than Pune, so far, he has taken the exhibition to Delhi, Mumbai, Dubai, London and California, though the largest number of shows were organised in Pune. Among all of Atre’s literary works, Bokil’s favourite ones are – ‘To mee navhech’, ‘Lagnachi Bedi’ and ‘Moru chi Maushi’.

Nearly three months ago, Bokil had sent his application seeking an entry in the India Book of Records, it was in the last week of January that he was sent a memento and the letters that confirmed his entry in the Book. “Not being a writer; I am just an admirer of his literary and visual works,” says Bokil, who is a retired State Bank of India official.

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