The legend called P L Deshpande

P L Deshpande (Pu La as he was fondly remembered) is a known name in every Marathi household. Pu La was an actor, music composer, harmonium player, singer, and a powerful orator. He was someone whom everyone would have wanted to emulate. Thus he is also called "Maharashtracha Ladka Vyaktimatva"

meaning Maharashtra's Favorite Personality.
Pu La was a writer par excellence. And he often read out his stories/ characterizations at events organized specially for the same purpose. People often used to flock from far and wide to get to hear him speak. Pu La had a special knack of holding his audiences' attentions by playing out, acting or mimicking characters who were a part of his writings. I for one, never got a chance to see him perform live and do regret that for sure.
Now, people will come up and ask why is it that you chose to write about Pu La only why not anyone else? My answers are simple to this. Pu La always wrote his stories deeply rooted with the common man. They were stories of everyday occurrence or of people who can identify with. But then the difference in his writing (story telling) was that he could make people laugh and cry in 2 successive sentences.
The brilliance comes out when simple stories become larger than life. When you look around you and find a similar character in the midst of your near or dear ones. His plays have been made in successful stage dramas in so many languages apart from Marathi. Pu La had a penchant for ending his humourous works with thought-provoking punchlines.
In this quote from his work Post Office, he sums up on how life is a lot like the the letters that pass through the post office. "Shevati kay ho, aapan sagle pattyache dhani .. majkuraacha maalak ha niraalach asto" which is translated as follows. "In a letter, all we own is the address on the envelope. The contents are a matter of fate."
Alternately one can interpret the same line as, "Ultimately, it may be our name on the envelope, but someone else (God) is the one who wrote the message."

R.I.P Pu La sir..