Growing Up Karanth

KOTA SHIVARAMA KARANTH was the ultimate Renaissance Man. A giant of world literature, he produced dozens of novels, plays, children's works, autobiographies, popular science books, translations and much else. In 1977, he was awarded the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award for the novel Mookajjiya Kanasugalu. But Karanth was more than a writer. He also dabbled in journalism and movie-making, ran a publishing house, and campaigned for environmental and political causes. He was instrumental in transforming the ancient dance-drama form of Yakshagana for a modern audience.

While a great deal has been written about the man and his genius, there is little material about the intimate details of his life. Through much of his creative career, for instance, Karanth was unflinchingly supported by his wife, Leela. The Karanths had four children. The eldest, Harsha, died in 1961. The other three, Malavika, Ullas and Kshama, came together to present this uniquely personal account of what it was like to be the children of a creative genius. Growing up Karanth documents their 'rare privilege', while also detailing the world of Shivarama Karanth through their eyes.

Multi-layered and nuanced, critical and affectionate, and filled with revelations that open up new facets of their father's life, Malavika, Ullas and Kshama reveal Karanth and his times like no one else can.

KOTA ULLAS KARANTH was originally trained as an engineer, but pursued his passion for wildlife biology, getting his Master's degree at the University of Florida, USA (1988), and Doctorate from Mangalore University (1993). Focusing on tiger ecology, Karanth has published over 150 scientific articles, 8 books in English and 4 books in Kannada. He has been recognised by the Fellowship of the Indian Academy of Sciences, and been awarded with the Presidential honour Padma Shri and J. Paul Getty award from the World Wildlife Fund, USA. He has academic affiliations at the University of Florida, USA and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - NCBS, Bengaluru.

MALAVIKA KAPUR is a Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, after retiring as head of the Clinical Psychology department at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS). Kapur has published 20 books and over 100 articles and received the Fellowship of the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists, British Psychological Society, and Lifetime Achievement awards from the National Academy of Psychology.

KSHAMA RAU developed a passion for performing arts from her father and became an accomplished Odissi dancer and a dance teacher. After graduating in chemistry, she trained in Odissi at the Kalakshetra in Chennai and later received advanced training under Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra. She directs her dance school, Nrithya Shilpa, at Bengaluru. Kshama Rau is a member of the advisory committee established by the Government of Karnataka to oversee the restoration of Shivarama Karanth's Balavana.

Karanth. Kuvempu, Bendre-the trinity of modern Kannada literature, the pride of Kannadigas; three distinct personalities representing three distinct cultural regions of Karnataka: Kota Shivarama Karanth, coastal Karnataka: Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa, Old Mysore: Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre, northern Kamataka It was Shivarama Karanth who took the culture of Karnataka beyond the shores of India with his dance and music. After Rabindranath Tagore, no one had mastered as many art forms as Shivarama Karanth. Tagore was a major inspiration to Karanth. He had visited Shantiniketan as a young man. It was fitting, therefore, that years later Tagore's Visva-Bharati University awarded him its honorary doctorate. Desikottam. Tagore and Karanth were similar in many ways, both polymaths. The title of Karanth's autobiography in Kannada, Hucchu Manasaina Hatthu Mukhagalu, was rendered in English as the Ten Faces of a Crazy Mind. It was translated by his friend and admirer, H.Y. Sharada Prasad. Ten faces' is an understatement, though.

I first met Shivarama Karanth in the early 1970s. It was at a meeting chaired by the chief minister of Karnataka, Devaraja Urs. Everyone present deferred to Karanth. With his leonine face and handsome figure, he dominated the gathering. Behind that formidable presence there was a lifetime of hard work and achievement. Genius alone, even an incandescent one like Karanth's, is not enough. After all, it was Thomas Edison who said, 'Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety nine per cent perspiration." Karanth worked hard all his life. His achievements are astonishing. And that made his public persona forbidding. But to those who knew him well, he was like a mighty tree alive with bird song in its luxuriant canopy.

His children, Malavika Kapur, Ullas Karanth and Kshama Rau, have narrated what it was like growing up being 'Karanth'. This book is not a conventional biography of the great man; it is the children's homage to a loving father, while also setting the record straight. They do not flinch from reality and tell the truth; this is a trait inherited by them from their parents. Their father's greatness is well-known. But as they have recorded, their mother, Leela Karanth was great in her own right. This book is a tribute as much to her as to him. Finally Leela Karanth gets her due.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages