Asha Ogale: 1936 - 2025

“I would like to continue working on ovi translations.”

Ashatai was already in her late-eighties when she said this. She was recovering from a fall and found it cumbersome to use a laptop. So, we moved to handwritten translations -- she would write down the translations on a printout carrying 80 to 100 couplets. Once that batch was done, she worked on the next one.

Jitendra Maid worked closely with her on these translations and updated them into the database.

“A librarian is a serious person who takes care of books – that was my understanding until my college days. But in 1996 when I met Ashatai Ogale in Hematai Rairkar’s home, this [narrow] understanding vanished,” says Jitendra Maid. He worked with Asha tai on translating grindmill songs for nearly three decades -- from 1996 until her last days.

Asha Ogale held an M.A. in French and a diploma in Library Science. She had a long association and experience in translating Marathi and French to English. After her graduation in 1963, she worked as an intern at the Liverpool Public Library, and the Mauritius University Library from 1972 to 1979. In 1981, she worked as a Documentation Officer and Librarian at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune, until her retirement in 1996. From 1983 to 2008 she conducted editorial and translation work for the Centre for Cooperative Research in Social Sciences, in close collaboration with Guy Poitevin and Hema Rairkar.

Asha Ogale passed away on September 13, 2025 at the age of 89.

As caring as a mother, Asha tai spoke with everyone with affection and enquired after their family. “Asha tai was an encyclopaedia for me. Every time I met her, I would learn something new,” says Jitendra.

Her work was comprehensive, detailed and neat. She classified the large collection of books and made a library at the Rairkar Bungalow – residence of Dr. Guy Poitevin and Hema Rairkar, co-founders of the Grindmill Songs Project (GSP).

“It was very difficult for me to say my last goodbye to her. She was a strong person, never bowed down to anyone, and faced every life’s challenge boldly and with full confidence. This personality trait was an inspiration for me. Today she has moved on to a different journey. Yet, I feel her presence around me. Her thoughts will always shine light and will stay with me throughout my lifetime,” says Jitendra Maid.

In Asha tai we have lost an invaluable colleague and friend. One whose contribution to GSP has been immense. While translating the couplets, Asha tai would discuss the intricacies of the subject, her take on the literal meaning of an ovi, and the thought in a woman’s mind when creating that particular song.

Asha tai was a voracious reader – she read the works of thinkers and intellectuals, investigative essays across a range of subjects. This lent the depth of thought in her words and writing.

Her video interview by Medha Kale reinforces the fact that her life and work are an inspiration for her colleagues at PARI, for all translators, and are an excellent source of learning for women and society.