From: rkumar@ee.iitd.ernet.in (Dr. C.P. Ravikumar)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: A Tribute to Niranjana, Kannada writer and man of letters
Date: 15 Apr 92 07:34:23 GMT
X-Unparsable-Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 22:00:50 ist


	Niranjana -- A Tribute
	++++++++++++++++++++++

	C.P. Ravikumar

Kannada writer Niranjana passed away recently.
The creator of "ChirasmaraNe," "Mrityunjaya," 
and "Vimochane" is no more.

Niranjana was his pen-name.  His real name
was Kulukunda Shivarao.  Niranjana was one
of the few Kannada writers who accepted
writing as a profession.  He began his
career as a journalist, but is better known
today as a novelist -- the writer who created
such gems as "ChirasmaraNe".

In his early days as a journalist/writer, 
Niranjana was well known for his leftist
tendencies.  In fact, he was an active
contributor to the "Pragathisheela ChaluvaLi" 
(Progressive Movement) in Kannada literature.
Another prominent writer who was part of this
group is Basavaraja Kattimani.  Niranjana's
early novels such as "Vimochane" (The Riddance)
and "Rangammana Vathara" (Rangamma's Apartment
Complex)  clearly indicate his sympathy for the
leftist movement.  His novel "ChirasmaraNe"
(Rememberance Everlasting) which won him several
awards and a permanent place in the Kannada
literary world, is about a rebellion organized
by a group of young men of Kayyur against oppression.
At the forefront of this rebellion are Appu
and Chirukanda, who finally become victims of
the oppressors.  It is difficult for any reader
to finish reading "ChirasmaraNe" without 
getting misty eyed; the novel is so charged
with emotion.  Yet it is not melodrama.  Niranjana
had once admitted that he had wept after he finished
writing the last chapter of ChirasmaraNe -- the chapter
in which Appu and Chirukanda are hanged to death.

That was how Niranjana was.  A man full of
emotions; a writer who felt strongly about
the society.  In his later years, his emotional
outbursts were more frequent -- he wept when
he spoke at public gatherings.  "I don't  
feel anything if I see villains, rascals
and corrupt men in the gathering.  But when
I see honest and  truthful people in front
of me, full of hopes and dreams in their
hearts, I crumble at the thought of their
expectations."


		* * *

Very few writers in Kannada have achieved
as much as Niranjana did.  He has over 
twenty novels to his credit.  He has
written numerous short stories.  Of these,
some of the most well known stories are
"The last customer" (the story of a 
beggar girl who is abused by the society),
"The lone star twinkled" (story of a
village which will come under water
due to a dam construction), and "Oil for the lamp"
(story about the exploits of the British Government
in India).

Being a journalist, Niranjana wrote prolifically
for Kannada magazines and newspapers.  He became
a popular columnist. 

Niranjana will perhaps be remembered most for
bringing out "Viswa Katha Kosha" and "Jnana Gangotri". 
"Jnana Gangotri" is a Kannada Encyclopaedia
is seven volumes -- one of its kind.  The volumes
are classified on themes such as  science, technology, 
literature, sports and entertainment.  I grew up
reading these volumes.  It was my little window  
to the outside world.  

It was when one of the volumes of Jnana Gangotri
was being released that Niranjana had a paralytic stroke.
That left him cripple -- bound to his wheel chair
for the rest of his life.  But he continued to work.
Not only did he complete Gangotri in time, he went
on to achieve much more.  He lead a mammoth project called
"Vishwa Katha Kosha", a 25-volume series of short stories
translated into Kannada from various languages.  He
edited the entire series and had them ready for
release in a record time of 5 years.  He also wrote
his epic novels, "Mrityunjaya" and "Hejje" despite
his ailments.

Mrityunjaya is a unique novel in Kannada literature;
it is a story set in the background of river Nile,
in the time frame of the Egyptian civilization.  A
story of a rebellion against oppression.  Menepta,
the hero of the story, is a farmer from a village
along the banks of river Nile.  The farmers are unhappy
due to the heavy taxes levied upon them by their rulers.
Menepta travels to the capital city to raise a voice
of protest in front of the kingmen on behalf of the farmers.
He becomes a pawn in the political game of the leaders.
Menepta is placed in arrest for his "crime."  He is later
killed.  Menepta is "Mrityunjaya", or the one who has
conquered death, for his ideals and his spirit have lived
past him.  Niranjaya first thought of writing the novel
when he was working for the encyclopaedia.  He found the
story of Menepta as a brief remark in some archives.
The writer's imagination filled in the rest.  Of course,
there was a lot of toil.  He had to conduct a great deal
of research to recreate the scenes of Egyptian civilization.

When Niranjana was writing "Hejje" -- a novel about ancient
India --  Navakarnataka Publications contacted him to
lead the project "Vishwa Katha Kosha."   At the expense
of delaying the completion of his novel, Niranjana accepted
the challenge.  Through his immense list of contacts,
he put together a compendium of over 500 short stories
from all over the world.  These were either already
translated into English, or had to be translated especially
for the project.   The English translations were given
to a selected list of Kannada writers for translation
into Kannada.  The sheer volume of the project makes it
a tough job to manage it.  Helping Niranjana in this work
was his daughter Seemanthini;  she meticulously typed the English
translations.  I was lucky to have been involved in this
project.  I was then a second year B.E. student, aspiring
to be a writer.  I had translated a play from Hindi to
Kannada.  The play was Bakri (The Sheep) by the late Sarveshwar Dayal
Saksena.  "Kuri" -- that was what the Kannada version was called --
was received very well by the Kannada audience.  It was staged
by the drama group Samudaya.  M.S. Sathyu (of "Garam Hawa" fame)
directed the play.  Niranjana, who had read the reviews of Kuri,
sent the publishers to my house.  Would I be willing to translate
a volume of short stories for Vishwa Katha Kosha?  *Would* I?
Soon I received a set of 13 Vietnamese short stories translated
into English.  I carried the manuscript of the translation
to "Kathe," Niranjana's home.   I was immensely sheepish
about meeting someline like Niranjana face to face.
What are his expectations of me? Will he like my translation?  
What if he doesn't?  

When we -- I and my father C.H.P. (a writer and an old time
friend of Niranjana) -- stood at the gate of Kathe, my father
warned me about the dog in the house.  Sure enough, a
ferocious looking dog came like a lightning when I tried
to open the gates.  Niranjana, who was then alone in the
house, looked out of his window and saw us.  He called at
the dog and assured him it is all right.  He beamed at
us.  My father introduced me to him.  "I have heard a lot
about Kuri.  It's too bad I cannot go and see it," He  said,
pointing to his paralyzed legs. "But I have asked Anupama and 
Seema to go and see the next show."  Anupama was Niranjana's
wife, an accomplished writer herself.

And soon we were talking like old friends.  Niranjana looked
at my manuscript with interest.  He glanced through the
pages and the titles of the stories.  "What did you do about
the pronounciations of the Vietnamese names?" He asked.
I explained the difficulties I had had with names such
as "Nguet" and "Ng".   "We are trying our best to
get the correct pronounciations of these name," he
said. "You don't have to worry -- we will fix it
in the final print."  And indeed he did.  When the book
was released, he said some of the nicest things about me
in his speech.   

A few years ago, Niranjana's health worsened considerably.
I heard about him through my father's letters.  When
Anupama Niranjana died, Niranjana lost his friend 
and companion.  His suffering finally came to an end in
March 1992.  He will be long remembered for his 
writings -- for Chirasmarane, for Mrityunjaya,
for Jnana Gangotri, for Vishwa Katha Kosha.


-- Ravikumar