He had earlier worked for the Deccan Herald and Hindustan Times and had also contributed to the Irish Times. At 26, Sugata was also the youngest editor of Aniketana, the English literary journal published by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy. His earlier publications include Ekushey February, an edited volume in Kannada on mother tongues and Phoenix and Four Other Mime Plays, translation of mime plays from the Emergency years in India. He was awarded the British Chevening Scholarship in 2000 and the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Prize for literary translation in 2005.