Mahabaleshwar Sail

Mahabaleshwar Sail was born on 4 August 1943 in Shejebag, Majali, Karnataka village of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. He was born in a family of agriculturalists. Sail's father was in the Army. Due to his father's demise, Sail had to leave schooling during his childhood and engage in agriculture. He started school at the age of six and dropped out in the eighth standard. Subsequently, he enrolled himself in the Indian Army. Sail also participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and was stationed at the Hussainiwala border.

He also served as a United Nations peacekeeper between 1964–1965 at the border between Israel and Egypt. Sail has worked as a supervisor in the Forest Department. He was also in the Goa, Daman and Diu Police. Sail worked in India Post till his retirement.

Sail initially wrote in Marathi language but later started writing in Konkani language too. His first story appeared in Pralhad Keshav Atre's Sāptāhik Navyug weekly. The first story which he was during a lull in the battle after the Tashkent Declaration.

Sail has written stories, novels and children's literature in Konkani language. He has authored novels, stories and plays in Marathi language. His first Konkani novel was Kaali Ganga(काळी गंगा) in 1996. It dealt with the lives of the farming communities on the banks of the Kali River (Karnataka) in Karwar. Sail received the Sahitya Akadami Award in Konkani language for his short story collection Taranga(तरंगा) in 1993.

Sail's writing is characterised by research on the topic and the use of Konkani language words from Karwar region. His novels are characterized by the use of strong female heroines and an excellent depiction of the characters.

Sail's Yug Sanvar(युगसांवार) in Konkani language and Taandav(तांडव) in Marathi language are based on the Goa Inquisition. Both the novels were widely discussed and an English translation by Vidya Pai entitled Age of Frenzy was released by HarperCollins India.

Books by Mahabaleshwar Sail