Reprint of Bharatisuta’s Edakallu Guddada Mele released
Madikeri:
Critic Narahalli Balasubramanya on Friday stressed the need for re-writing the “literary history” of Kannada works and authors, stating that debates on them confined to a few writers.
He was speaking after inaugurating a State-level seminar on “Bharatisutara kadambarigalu mathu samajika sandarbha” at the Kodagu Patrika Bhavan hall here organised under the auspices of the Kodagu District Kannada Sahitya Parishat and the Karnataka Sahitya Parishat, Bangalore.
Works of many Kannada writers had been neglected. Bharatisuta, who had to his credit 61 works, including novels, was one of them, Mr. Balasubramanya said.
He said most of the “navya” writers hailed from the academic background. A writer had to self-analyse his work instead of waiting for someone to view it critically. Bharatisuta was a Gandhian, but leftist ideals had profound influence on him.
Mr. Balasubramanya said that Bharatisuta’s works reflected the flavour of Waynad in Kerala and Kodagu where he lived. The relationship between man and nature, his penchant for the proletariat class, and man-woman relations were the highlights in the works of Bharatisuta. The candid views of the writer on “instinct and nature” were relevant to all times, Mr. Balasubramanya said.
He released the reprint of Edakallu Guddada Mele, one of the novels of Bharatisuta, on the occasion
M.H. Krishnaiah, president of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, who presided over the function, termed the works of Bharatisuta the “encyclopaedia” of Kodagu. Bharatisuta reflected the culture of Kodagu in his own inimitable ways. He started writing on the themes of progress much earlier than a movement for progressive writing in Kannada started in the 1940s. Only a few writers wrote about the tribal people and Bharatisuta was one of them.
Mr. Krishnaiah offered to bring out one of the two unpublished works of Bharatisuta on the occasion. The Kannada Book Authority could be approached for publishing the other works, he said. The academy was prepared to associate with the Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy with a view to unveil the multi-faceted aspects of Kannada literature through comparative studies, Mr. Krishnaiah said.
President of the Koadgu District Kannada Sahitya Parishat T.P. Ramesh recounted the arduous path Bharatisuta had to tread during his 61 years of illustrious life as a teacher, writer and novelist. Bharatisuta’s son Vijayashankar received a memento. V.N. Mallikarjunaswamy, Registrar of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, welcomed the gathering. Papers were presented by K.P. Balasubramanya Kanjarpane, Kavita Rai, Thithitra Rekha Vasant and Anil H.T.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / October 17th, 2009
