I Do My bit by Shivram Karanth

Sahitya Akademi

I Do My Bit Author(s): SHIVARAM KARANTH and D.V. Potdar Source: Indian Literature, Vol. 34, No. 3 (143) (May-June, 1991), pp. 50-68 Published by: Sahitya Akademi Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23332945 . Accessed: 14/01/2015 03:34 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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Karanth K.Shivaram Akademi Fellow Sahitya

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I Do My Bit karanth

shivaram

wish

'My

beautiful

is

to make

before

the world

I depart

from

a little more it.' —Preface.

There TVTO apology is needed for writing this autobiography. * ■*- is a dearth of such works in Kannada. this book However, is incomplete in a double sense—it records events up to the time

of writing and I am aware of my shortcomings. A desire for frank self-analysis has prompted me to write it. Lord Vishnu took much

ten

to

incarnations

more

in

nature!

achieve they

his being

but

goals;

my

goals

nationalism,

were

swadeshi,

business, journalism, spiritual attainment, photography, drama, sculpture, films, social reform, rural uplift, education, industry, etc. I wish to keep my mind sharp and active, ever exploring new fields. Mine may not be a story of success; but, dance,

failures

keep

a person

active.

I wish

to present

here

a

series

of

pictures recalled from my past life. I hail from Kota, a beautiful village on the south-west sea shore. Shesh Karanth was my father, a teacher getting the grand of eight annas p.m. (fifty paise)! brought good days to the family. salary

My

mother

Laxmi

During my childhood, native schools were run in a different way. Ours was a government-run school of a different type. The and mortgage three r's, letter-writing, drafting demand-notes deeds and the 'modi' script constituted the syllabus. The cane

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52 / Indian Literáturé was generously used. My other boyhood memories are swimming in the pond called Varunateertha along with buffaloes (!), fairs and car festivals attended, serpent dances performed by a village priest, grazing cows and attending to minor agricultural opera tions.

stories

macabre

Some

current,

and

certain

scenes

from

the

Yakshagana gave us a taste of the fantastic. Occasionally, British 'white Gods' visited our village and were welcomed the Officers, and treated in a lavish manner. In 1912, at the age of ten, I joined the High School at Boarding and lodging arrangements were made for Kundapura. me and my brothers. During those days 'Books for Bairns' were my favourite reading. The teachers and other persons who

impressed me at that time were: Malali Subbarao whose student was Muddana (well-known Kannada poet); a catholic gentle with red to the who came classroom, carrying a long man, eyes a who cane; Gabriel Kound's, gourmet thought there was nothing like drawing; Shivaramayya, who gave me Kannada books and in me

created whom

a

made

I

not

I was

fun but

Headmaster,

for

love of;

a very

a bookworm

Kannada B.

great

teacher.

and

the

literature;

and

Raghunath

just

managed

Rao,

to pass

shy a

Puranik,

very the

strict

s.s.l.c.

examination. During my fourth or fifthyear at School. I joined When there was a famine in our district, we the scout brigade. supplied sweet porridge to the poor. Various professional drama visited my place and staged dramas. They inclined companies me towards music and drama. I joined the Government College (1921) dents coming from different High Schools

at Mangalore. Stu formed groups and sportsmen were popular. I got a list of books from my professor and started frequenting the library. After completing Kipling's Light That Failed, I did not want to continue with the list. I decided to read books either on India, or by Indian writers and the

devoured

works

of Tagore.

The

death

of Lokamanya

Tilak

and the proceedings of the Nagpur Congress stirred the nation I decided to bid goodbye to my College. Our French deeply. Professor Kannappa pushed me to make up my mind My May-June

1991

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1 Do My Bit / 53 brother K.R.

Karanth also had decided to boycott court, but decision shook him and my father. I listened to many dema my and

gogues

was

stunned

one

by

such

person's

foul

I

language.

also started haranguing the people, borrowing ideas from Gan Two students, who had joined the move dhiji's Young India. returned to ment, Bombay after a few days to take up jobs. Patriotism was not a profitable profession then, like it is now. My real life and education began after I had quit College. Firmly believing in Gandhiji's ideas, I tried to reach them to the people through lectures. I found, in a tradition-bound ignorant people can be kept away from liquor and practice of When I tried to collect money for untouchability temporarily. the Tilak Swaraj Fund, the poor abused me, and the rich proved to be stingy. My khadi popularisation programme was a flop, society,

of the poor

because cloth.

Mere

quality of the yarn used in weaving the patriotic sentiment, I thought, would not save were after me, and some articles I published were

khadi. Spies seditious I accompanied

the members of my family on a pilgrimage to Benares and Gaya and was disgusted by the greed of

Prayag, the

pandas,

the

crowd

and

the

dirt.

In 1924, there were floods in Kundapura. The raging waters of the river fascinated me. I volunteered my services for relief work, During

and

became

marriage

aware ceremonies,

of

extreme dances

poverty by prostitutes

of the were

people.

. . .

arranged.

I and my brother protested and stopped them. My friend R came I requested him not to make his from a family of prostitutes. sisters follow the profession. He wanted me to get them married. I sought Gandhiji's advice and his reply was "Let them practise

celibacy!" Ultimately, I was successful in getting them irarried. I was a blind believer in Gandhiji's dictum, 'Lifelong celibacy, I found homo-sexuality very and sex only for procreation'. common. After reading Havelock Ellis and Russell, I was led to believe that sexuality was rampant in present-day India. The belief that all' venerial diseases came from the West is not true. It was siphilis that came with ferangis. The others were native No. 143

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54 / Indian Literature to our soil which Ayurveda vouchsafes. Right from birth, the sex instinct manifests itself in gestures and other bodily movements. makes it flare up. Suppression

Perversions of the instinct are so common, I wonder whether we can call them as such. Animals mate only during a limited season for procreation. Is such a practice possible among human

In the first place, sex is forbidden during menstruation. Secondly, in human beings the care of the young is prolonged for such a long period, that unless the parents are held together beings?

Man's life and by the bond of love, children may be neglected. needs in modern times are not as simple as they were in the Our concept of morality must take beginning of civilization. into consideration

all these changing factors. Pai, a friend of mine, subscribed to many Marathi and Bengali magazines. While reading them, we felt sad, because our Kannada magazines could not stand comparison with them. I became its So, we decided to start a monthly in Kannada. editor. I filled the pages with detective fiction, cartoons by my Devanna

Govinda Pai. While self and sometimes poems by Manjeshwar I for had bitter some time, experiences. So, enlisting subscribers, When we started republishing it, I stopped its publication. M. Acharya sent articles on anarchism from Germany, Siddana valli Krishna Sharma contributed a series on Economics, Agnes Smedley wrote from China. I wrote on sculpture and art. One was published in the American of my articles on Yakshagana Asia magazine and some others in The Illustrated Weekly. At times, the payment was handsome, but not in all cases. I found, even well-known writers indulged in plagiarism. Indian journalism flourishes, though few contributors have depth and many editors are ready to exploit them. During my visits to Bombay, I had seen Marathi plays acted. I translated Gadkari's Ekacha Pyala into Kannada from Marathi often talked of social Garud Sadashivrao and had it staged.

reform

through

plays.

I took

over

a drama

company

which

was

difficulties and tried to run it in my own way. But the troupe's ex-proprietor and I pulled in different ways and I in financial

May-June 1991

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I Do My Bit / 55 to give up. I wrote some plays for Halageri Jattappa's company, but found difficulty while rehearsing them; the pro

had

of the

nunciation

actors

was

so

horrible!

Jattappa

suggested

that

I should flog them!! Something I could not bring myself to do. Gubbi Veeranna, another stage veteran, took up my Gadayuddha of acting different for presentation. Though he was capable ' roles, I felt he had wasted his talent by performing only comic Actors took up the pro roles to please the low class audience. fession only to earn their bread, and lacked enough education and experience. People were attracted to the theatre by music, colourful stage settings, actresses and cheap humour. I wrote short plays about the evils of drink and untouchability and had

them enacted by a troupe of boys, touring the villages. a village in Bijapur district, I During a visit to Halasangi, listened to a song about Lord Shiva composed by a Muslim folk poet. From there, I went to Badami, the capital of the Chalu kyas which is famous for its cave architecture and some paint are supposed to be ings. The temples at Aihole and Pattadkal

The Virupaksha temple at Hampi the cradle of Hindu temples. mirrors all the characteristics of early Chalukyan architecture. The ruins of Hampi make us realise what all grandeur we have lost. Ajanta was once a Buddhist University. Looking at the sculptures and paintings in the caves, one forgets the world out side. The caves and temples at Ellora were built by the Rashtra The monolithic Kailas temple at this place is something superb. At Karla, we have the magnificent Chaitya, the carving of which was financed by a Banavasi merchant, and it is located kutas.

in beautiful

surroundings. for architecture and sculpture made me tour North My .love The sculptures in Halebid and Belur depict and South India. and gestures. However, as time passed movements elegant body our I feel sculpture, painting and music lost their vigour, because

the artists were bent upon showing their extraordinary skill. The grandeur of our sculpture and architecture can be seen at in the monolithic temples and bas-reliefs. I saw Mahabalipuram, at the Calcutta a five-foot sandstone image of the Sun-God

No. 143

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56 / Indian Literature museum.

It was then bathed in the orange light of the setting Sun which made it look alive. In the Madras museum, I could see some of the most charming bronze icons of Rama, Laxman In the Jain temples at and Sita group as also of Nataraja. Mt. Abu, the finely carved marble ceilings are remarkable. My visits to the South Cape age.

Indian temples were rather disappointing. Comorin and Rameshwar are beautiful places of pilgrim Even without temples, they are lovely. Gol Gumbuz of

Bijapur and the Taj Mahal of Agra are fine samples of Indo The Gumbuz is an engineering marvel. Sarcenic architecture. The Taj Mahal has finesse, but lacks balance necessary for good If we

architecture.

want

to see

the

charm

of Hindu

we

palaces,

must go to Rajputana. My own district, South Kanara, is noted for natural beauty The bronze dwara-palalcas at and Shaiva and Jaina temples. at Kollur and the statue of Basrur, the image of Mookambika Bahubali writings

are striking examples.

at Karkala of

E.B.

Havell

and

Ananda

Having read

the

I had

Coomaraswamy,

become unduly proud of Indian art, culture and religion. While for children I read writing Bala Prapancha, an encyclopaedia about Europe and Far Eastern Countries. Their achievements in these fields humbled me. I visited Europe in the year 1952 during spring. Swiss lakes, mountains, forests and snow-clad peaks and those of Sweden and Norway charmed me. The sphinx and the pyramids of Cairo made me forget our Gommata. In England, Sadler and

I saw a Well's

play of Shakespeare ballet in London.

at Stratford-on-Avon, What impressed me

was the daring and determination of the Europeans who reconstructed their country after the ravages of the second world war. This tour provided me with an opportunity to meet my old most

friends like Dr. and Mrs. Baake, and acquire John Bowers of the unesco and Dr. Haimandorf

new

ones

like

of the London

University. The religious faith of the people of my village bordered on I had given up my daily rituals during my High fanaticism. School days. Later on, I developed a love for Gita and believed May-June 1991

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I Do My Bit I 57 in its injunction, 'Thy business is with action only, never with its fruits.' During the thirties I met a real saint in the person of Sadhu Vaswani. During contemplation, I began to realise that the qualities we attribute to God, are the ones we see in life. Man creates God in his own image. A God without adjective is What matters to me is life in this world and therefore, struggling for individual salvation looks too

difficult to visualise. selfish.

At the beginning of the fourth decade I moved to Puttur town. There, I came in contact with Molahalli Shivarao. He was a lawyer and the Taluk Board President, a good social worker With his blessings, I took up the and a dynamic personality.

work of rural uplift. I organised camps for youth. After morn ing prayers and breakfast, they went round the villages to sink In the evenings, we arranged for lectures and or clean wells. entertainment programmes. During this period, I conducted an

survey of Puttur taluk, among the village folk. Laziness, poverty and ill-health were common and mortality rate was high. I tried to make the people undertake dairy fruit-canning etc. With the help of farming, poultry-keeping, economic

lantern

slides,

I did

the

necessary

propaganda.

For

such

work,

I

felt, movie films would be more effective. So, I learnt to shoot films, develop and print them. But this enterprise of mine came to an end one day as my films caught fire and disaster came. Childrens'

meets

were

held

at various

parts

of Puttur

Taluk.

Some sixty children, ten from each school, in the age-group of ten to twelve or fourteen, participated in them. Boarding and The lodging arrangements were made by the local people. camps ran for a week and each day, the children recited folk

songs or their own poems. They painted pictures etc. Full scope was given to them to exhibit their talents. For the teachers, who gathered, experts delivered lectures on various subjects. These

meets were very popular. But, one day, an education officer, like didn't who Shivarao, bunged a spanner in the machinery saying these camps were not useful for education! So, our venture At one time, Panje Mangeshrao wanted me had to be stopped. No. 143

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58 / Indian Literature to organise an education week at Mangalore. It was a success. I set up a Kindergarten School in 1935, and tried to teach by the play-method. The school strength was too poor, because it was a private school. For more than a decade, we organised the Dasara festival in a novel

manner

at Puttur.

atrical

Lectures

and

eminent

by

scholars,

the

were

entertainment

experiments programmes arranged. However, when some dissenting voices began to be heard among the organisers, I, who used to programme the whole show, withdrew from the scene. Ballard had advocated the method of using the sentence as a unit, while teaching a language. Keeping this in mind, I wrote some textbooks. But, when I learnt that to get them prescribed, I had to kowtow the officers, I kept back. A workshop about education, sponsored by the unesco, was conducted at of Mysore district. An international team of experts Yelawal was to prepare textbooks using suitable reading material. I wrote some books in Kannada using minimum number of simple In 1964, I presided over a symposium and directed a words. adult

for the preparation of books on different team at Bangalore The discussion made us aware of the children. for subjects the of problem and we realised that little had been magnitude done in this respect in India. For

the

teacher

or the

student,

who

wants

to read

and

gain

on

his own, there are no worthwhile books in knowledge Kannada. I decided to write one, keeping Pictorial Knowledge as I wanted to make it comprehensive by including my model.

In the effort, I subjects like religion, politics and economics. decided to write the whole thing myself. I corresponded with zoos

museums,

and

research

centres

in

various

parts

of the

world and

received literature and photographs on many topics. I toured India, to get first hand information regarding industries, engineering feats etc. Working for ten hours a day, I got the entire

script

ready

and

took

it

to experts

to

get

it checked

and

corrected. Then the hunt for a publisher began. Nittur Srini vasrao, then an advocate and publisher, came forward to finance May-June 1991

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I Do My Bit / 59 the

scheme.

When

the

volumes

came

comments

out,

were

not

Two thousand copies took ten encouraging and sales were low. and U.S.A., years to sell! In U.K., every year, hundreds of books are written for the young, to popularise science. Between

1960 and 63,1 wrote four volumes on popular science with the Due to the recommendation of the Karnatak same intention. the Central Government provided some financial University, the first two I remember with gratitude, the for volumes. help

help rendered by Prof. U.L. Acharya in this effort. However, such books are to be revised every few years, but finances stand in the way of such schemes.

Much of my writing consists of novels and plays. In my earlier plays, there is a lot of moralizing. I read the works of Shaw, Shakespeare, Sheridan, Ibsen and Matterlink and learnt much from them. I found the one-act play to be very effective on the stage. Blank verse is suitable for plays dealing with

eternal

I have written burlesques on democracy, problems. in As rats, bringing dogs and such other animals as characters. a novelty, I have produced operas, with historical and mytholog ical

cutting

themes on the stage short

spoken

prose

and but

Yakshagana

using

dance

and

in ballet music

form,

only.

All

my dramatic works have been successfully broadcast, or staged in Puttur during the Dasara festival. There was no dearth for criticism whenever anything out of the way was produced. I have drama of stayed with professional companies and found both direction and acting sub-standard. Karnataka The success of plays in Maharashtra was due to actors like Bala

who were good vocalists and excelled in female Gandharva, roles. I have seen foreign films and plays. Both impressed me. Among Kannada actors, Kailasam's intonation correctly depicted the various emotions, but his face appeared to be an ugly mask. While staging a play of mine, I had to be both its director and an actor. So, standing before a mirror, I recited the lines noticing facial changes, necessary for registering different moods and emotions. How far should an actor be engrossed in the part he is acting, is a moot point. In my case, once or twice, my absorp No, 14$

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60 / Indian Literature tion

so

was

that

deep

I

was

almost

unconscious.

Kailasam,

watching me, commented "This is too much." But, in spite of efforts, I could not avoid it. Stagesetting is important for a play. A Shakespearian comedy cannot be successfully presented against a too realistic background. During my High School days, a fellow student taught me to

hum some songs. I carried on this practice in a maidan near my house. Sometimes jackals competing with me! Moti Singh, an early disciple of Abdul Karim Khan, gave me regular lessons. During later days, I made friends with a Dutch musicologist, Dr. Arnold Baake, who was doing research on Indian music. with him were very useful. Discussions Saints in North and South India have made great contributions by way of musical Their content was mainly devotion and pathos. compositions.

But, to our classical scholars, the technical aspects of raga and tala were everything in music. Yakshagana style of music has its own textual

talas

and

too.

ragas

content

of the

But,

songs,

our

like

exponents

classical

care

little

for the

exponents.

I confess, I am a jack of all trades and hence will narrate the The story of how I produced a film. I wrote a melodrama, and One of a few actors. amateur Kingdom of Devils, engaged them

was

cameraman,

to play all

a female

rolled

up

role.

in one!

I

was

I used

an

actor,

a clockwork

director

and

camera

for

shooting. Using the hills, forests and valleys of Puttur taluk as background, I shot a silent film running into eight reels. Dur ing that period, The Imperial Film Company of Bombay released the first talkie, Alam Ara, and the future of silent films was over. Moreover, in my film there were no Gods, or fighting and thrill. A friend of mine toured South India with it, but in the end, I could not even get back what little I had spent over it! During my visit to Santiniketan, somewhere in 1933,1 saw the paintings of Abanindra Tagore and Gaganendra Tagore. Many have failed to appreciate them, and so also the works of Cezanne, Gaugin or Picasso. The statement. Art should please all, sounds silly to me. Art appreciation requires proper training.

With us, Ravi Varma was

great.

He studied European

May-June 1991

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art. In

/ Do My Bit I 6Í my youth, I too was Ravi Varma's admirer. It took a few years for me to realise that art was not an imitative work but one of creative nature. Among the artists I know, I must mention wife of M. Acharya, who settled in Nautchmann, Magda the She thirties. was fond of Bombay during doing sketches very of animals and poor people. Later on, I came to know K.K. Hebbar, who had such a mastery over colours and lines. But, I find many painters care only for technique and paint only pretty things. In

one

of my

experimental

plays,

Mukta-dwara,

of

messages

each age are depicted as the whimsical moods of kala or time. As such, I tried to depict them myself through dance. This In made me the of medium. realise the fan attempt potentials

tasies

present group

like Ali

Baba and the Forty Thieves, it was possible to the entire theme through dance. For this, I trained a

of young

boys.

As

a

dance

master,

my

gains

were

not

monetary, but it earned for me my life-partner! I once saw Uday Shankar's performance and I felt his personality did not go well with fierce moods. Our so-called

low

class

upper

people classes

have have

a number shown

total

of folk-dances, indifference

but to

the

them.

In 1958,1 published a thesis on Yakshagana. This folk-theatre has its own rich tradition of dance, music and costume. I wanted I eschewed its spoken prose and depict to exploit its potential.

ed the entire story through music and dance. To make the music more effective, I introduced the saxaphone background and violin. My troupe performed ballets at Bombay, Bangalore, Mysore, etc. Non-Kannada people and foreigners appreciated them very much. I am happy to say that my humble efforts

have brought due recognition to the Yakshagana theatre. into I literature was a High adventure when My began Later in the rural areas, I had School boy. on, during my travels Based on this close glimpses of the life of the untouchables.

experience, I wrote a novel Choman Dudi. When I develop the writing fever, I choose a quiet place and start scribbling. During this period I live in the world of my imagination, I live with No. 143

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62 / Indian Litefaiuré The thirtytwo my characters and share their joys and sorrows. Marali in of were written as Mannige many days. chapters Mugida Yuddha, another novel gives the picture of a village noted critic thought it to be highly in outlook and another subjective equally famous man called it is a political novel depicting my reactions objective! Gondaranya to politics and politicians. But, I do not at all believe a writer's voice will change the world for the better. But being myself school

teacher's life. One

influenced by the writings of others, I do believe that my voice will have some effect on the readers of my generation. I do not write novels which can be called potboilers. I need some serious theme. Once a novel is written, one does not make

changes to suit the whims and fancies of critics. Moreover, they have no right to tell a novelist what to write and what not. Some of our critics examine my novels in terms of western techniques. But, for technique sake alone, I do not write. My Kanasugalu, deals with notions about sex and religion. Mookajji's remarks about God, religion, sin, merit, etc., Some friends have read that must have shocked the orthodox. was bestowed the Jnanpith mum. when it work and kept But, To enable Mookajji to have it! were all for Award, they praise

novel, Mookajjiya

glimpses sensory

of the historical

powers.

Some

past, I have endowed

readers

could

not

her with super

swallow

this,

even

of Sai Baba's

miracles! much I was

those who are enamoured influenced by I have already narrated how Gandhiji's teachings. I was a Congress volunteer too in early days. During the second world war, the invasion of Burma by

Japan convinced Britain that she could no colonies and so India was granted freedom. many of our leaders who came up after had succeeded in driving away many rajas now stepping into their shoes caring little

more hold on to her

I was not happy with They Independence. and princes and were for the poor masses.

On the one hand Communism was slowly creeping through the country and on the other, many leaders were playing havoc with democracy. Deeply stirred by what I saw, I decided to con test the assembly elections in 1952. Political parties preaching May-June 1991

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I Do My Bit / 63 I lost in the were indulging in rank communalism. in our discover much district. I but I could elections, rigging filed a petition against it, but it was dismissed! I sent a detailed, and washed my authentic report to H.V. Kamath, M.P., secularism

hands

of the affair. If there can be no independent

thinking,

a farce.

becomes

democracy

When I was teaching dance to school students at Mangalore, Leela, an active girl was one of my students. Ramabai, the then Superintendent of the Besant School, brought us together and we were married on 6th May, 1936. It was Chaitra Poornima when I entered into wedlock.

On that day, Siddhartha became bride was a non-brahmin, and a die-hard brahmin My of Udupi, mounted a virulent attack against me. I had to go to Court. Buddha.

My short temper and economic burdens must have made life hard for my wife. But, she was young and so could accom modate herself to the circumstances she had to face. Children came in course of time and grew up. Harsha, my eldest son ran a

shop of electrical goods. But, it incurred heavy loss and I had to send him to Bombay. There, he collapsed after a heart operation for

cancer

malignant

of the

thymus

gland.

I still

remember

a

question of his, "Father, if I die what will you do?" Malavika, my eldest daughter had completed her M.A. with Kshama, Psychology and later on studied Clinical Psychology.

childhood

my

second

S.S.L.c.

and

and

daughter p.u.c.

courses

Ullas,

my

second

son

completed

their

respectively.

In October, 1962, I was sixty. Many friends cherished it and organised felicitation functions in many parts of Karnataka. Special mention must be made of those held at Udupi, Shimoga, I was loaded with Ankola, Karwar, Mysore and Bombay. garlands and presented conferred

an

honorary

with purses. doctorate

on

The Karnatak me

who

was

University not

even

a

graduate! The Mysore University followed suit. What pained me during the Mysore function was, its Vice-chancellor, K.M. Panikkar did not care to speak to me, his honoured guest either during

the convocation

or during

the dinner for which No. 143

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64 / Indian Lit eratufe he had invited me!

These honours

turn a writer's head. functions,

very

few

For out have

would

and felicitations should

of the many read

my

books,

who attend the

are

rest

not such mere

fans! troupe staged its first performance my Yakshagana were attended at Bombay, they by art critics and members of foreign missions. Alkazi cJled its choreography brilliant. Two When

of dialogues and introduction of the violin factors—dropping and clarionet in background music—fiad made the performances But, for the same reason, they became unpopular impressive. with the tx'aditionalists.

I make no complaints against my readers or audience as I too have given them bitter doses in my writings which they had to

swallow

without

murmur.

In 1965, my elder daughter Malavika wanted to marry a doing a. course in Psychi young Punjabi doctor, Ravi Kapoor, His parents were refugees from atry in the same Institution. Lahore

and

their

was

marriage

to Arya Samaj rites. In 1959, Begnt Hager, medal

came

Stockholm,

Archives, for

my

research

celebrated

at Amritsar

according

Curator of the International to

work

Puttur on

and

me

presented

Yakshagana.

The

Dance a bronze

same

work

won for me the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award later. For a pretty long time, I had been writing books for young and old. A symposium on adult education was sponsored by

I was one of the two delegates from India where I impressed upon others that if the purpose of adult literacy should be of any use, the adult must be provided with enough and more books on things that would sustain his the Unesco at Teheran.

interest for reading. Next year, I visited Kabul on the invitation of a friend, Shrisha Achar, who was doing teaching work at a College there. He arranged a trip for me to Bamiya. At Bamiya,

I saw two gigantic statues of Buddha with mutilated faces, a tomb at Kabul and work of fanatic muslims. I visited Babar's on my way back, crossed the Suleiman mountains. To receive the Padmabhushan

title from the Government,

I went to Delhi

May-June 1991

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í Do My Bit I 65 via

En route, I visited Bhubaneshwar and saw many both there and at Konark. They were fantastic. While temples to Kathmandu in I had of the flying Nepal, glimpses Himalayas. At Kathmandu, I saw the temple of Pashupatinath and Calcutta.

Swayambhunath. From Kathmandu, I flew to Delhi and from there to Khajuraho. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Chandelas had built over a hundred temples magnificently in Nagara style. There I saw numerous sculptures of Vishnu, Ishwar, and Durga. The erotic sculptures depicting sexual perversions seemed to be out of place. We have very little literature in Kannada about the architecture of our country and so I pro duced an illustrated volume on Chalukyan architecture and sculpture. Alkazi's interest in Yakshagana was responsible for showing a Hindi version of it at Delhi. . . With a view to write a book on Painting in Karnataka, I visited Bijapur, Nipani, Nargund, Shrirangaptna, Belagola etc., took numerous colour photos. This book was published by the Mysore University. This made me more ambitious, and write books on Indian Sculpture and another big volume on

World Art, Architecture, etc. I toured, in 1972, USA, where I visited museums, galleries and places of natural beauty like the Yellowstone Park, Grand Canyon, etc. These sights and the achievements of the people of USA thrilled me. It was after seeing the large number of National Parks in USA, I learnt the importance of ecology in our life. In 1979, I visited Hong Kong, with our Yakshagana troupe. This trip was financed by the iccr and Government of Kar

nataka. There, the Chinese watched our performances with great interest. Next year, the Japan Foundation sent a team of artistes to study the folk theatre in India. They chose Yakshagana and so we were invited to visit Japan. the visit seminars During were arranged on theatre, and experts attended them; they stuck

to their chairs

the whole

day and their interest was deep and the actual During performances of our Yakshagana audience was all eyes and concentration. During a

detailed. plays,

No. 143

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66 / Indian Literature conducted tour of the country, we had lovely glimpses of ancient Japan in places like Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazava and Sapharo. On our way back, we halted for a day at Bangkok where we could see

some

old

temples,

and

sculptures

palaces.

Turning back to the subject of the theatre, I feel that the potentialities of puppet theatre have not been fully exploited by us in India. All our themes were mythological, but they could include other types of fantasies and stories for children. When the Emergency was declared in 1975, I felt fundamen tal rights of the people had been cut short and in disgust I returned

title to our President. I was not my Padmabhushan happy with the functioning of the Janata Government either. The craze for power displayed by the members of the old guard disgusted me. I felt that after the attainment of Independence, our

leaders

were

more

concerned

with

themselves

than

with

the

country.

In 1978, the Janata my

Chairmanship

of

the film production

enough

Government set up a Committee

to frame

on

experts

the

a film

committee.

a unanimous

report

not

sure

of its

acceptance.

being

Rao,

a

young

the

land.

All

considered. So,

to the

My second daughter Kshama, could not continue her studies. Padmanabha

policy

were to be

submitted

for

then

after

aspects

There

a year

Congress

under

or

were

so,

we

Government,

after getting her B. Sc. degree, She chose her life-partner in lawyer

from

Madras

and

her

marriage had to be arranged. Two friends of mine, Ramakrishna Aithal and Anandram Holla, bore much of that burden for me. They arranged it at Bangalore. It was only in my seventies, I could realise my dream of It was during this period that living on my writings alone. Aithal arranged a gala felicitation function in my Ramakrishna honour. Chief Minister Hanumantayya presided and I felt happy The to find many readers of my works among the audience. of and K.S. Haridas of brothers Bhat Pai Manipal Udupi I cannot arranged an equally grand function for me at Udupi. but narrate here a small incident that pained me. It was the use May-June 1991

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t Do My Bit I 67 of Yakshagana artistes in full dress made to stand on either side of the path right from the gate of entry to the dais. But this artistes hurt me. Art is greater than display of Yakshagana individual. After four decades of stay, for me, Puttur had become a dull after the departure of Molahalli Shivarao. place, especially Ramakrishna Aithal had built a house at Saligrama and wanted

me to stay there. For my children, this departure was a wrench. to dispose

I wanted

of my

but

house,

the

Government

wanted

to

purchase and preserve it. My second son Ullas, after getting an engineering degree, decided to purchase a few acres of land near Nagarhole, a sanctuary. There, he wanted to cultivate tobacco, and indulge in his hobby of bird and wild life watching. The Meerut University conferred the D. Litt, degree on me.

Thanks

to the efforts of some Kannada people working there. Sometime later, I went to Bombay to receive the Jnanpith Award and stayed there with the Jains. This award brought me notoriety. Hence, the Janata Party wanted me to contest the Lok Sabha seat at Chikmagalur against Indira Gandhi. Due to my age, I had to decline, but I took an active part in the election campaign

against

The Mysore to be

tionary

member. Ranganna

her.

University wanted their English-Kannada revised

and

set

up

At the first meeting, declared

that

the

work

a

committee.

the would

I was

Prof.

Chairman, be

over

Dic made

in

three

a

S.V. years.

Even after ever so many years, the work is yet to be finished, the reason

being,

there

are

not

enough

experienced

men

who

can

do the work.

Many members did not take the work seriously and the process became too slow and slipshod. I attended a Conference at Ernakulam, held to popularise science and literature. Inaugurating it, I said, "My writings had

nothing to do with political 'isms'. I want to be true to myself." While talking to the participants there, I felt that the organisers of this seminar had greater interest in Communism than in science

I was impressed by proper! At a literary meet in Maharashtra, the courtesy and regard shown to me by the organisers. At No. 143

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68 / Indian Literatute another time, when I visited Bombay, the Director of Music at the AIR, Ramesh Nadkarni wanted me to address the members of the Arts Circle, Bombay University. I did so, rather with diffidence. The title of my talk was "Music, Movements and Later I learnt that the audience very much appre Meaning". ciated the talk. When, on another such demonstration, Dnyanesh war Nadkarni, wrote a few good words about my talk, I

a sigh of relief! At another meeting of Hindi writers in Calcutta, they expressed the hope that in future, I would write in Hindi. I had to tell them, "Abandon such hope. Kannada being my mother tongue, I will lisp my joys and sorrows through breathed

it." In my long life, I have come friendship had cheered me: D.V. aware

people

Dinakar

of

the

sincerity;

and

democracy

worked for the educational

Desai, of North development and

of

importance

who

across many worthies whose who made the Gundappa,

B.G.L.

G.P.

Kanara;

a

Swamy,

Rajarathnam,

Professor

of

culture;

and economic for his zeal

Botany

and

a

researcher in his field; S.N. Moodabidri, well-known to Bombay Lives of such people can be models citizens for his generosity. for us all. Aware of my innovations and experiments in folk drama,

a

Ken

Newzealander,

Ray

by

name,

asked

me,

"What

after you?" I replied, "I do my bit and leave it at that." I have never bothered about the future. Living with others, I This I have done, with dedi have striven for common good. cation and to the best of my ability. Excerpts Sagar:

from Huchchu Akshara

manasina

Prakashana.

hat tu mukhagalu,

1950.

1984 edn.

Translated from Kannada by D.V. Pot dar

May-June 1991

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