Girish Karnad was one of India’s foremost actors and playwrights. He passed away in Bengaluru in June 2019 at the age of 81 | Photo Credit: Getty Images
It is a late summer evening; The playwright is sitting by a window in his Bengaluru home, looking out at a tree in the garden, oblivious to the sound of traffic that forms a continuous sound background.
“Look at that… at the end of the branch, that’s… that’s a fruit bat, sucking on the mango fruit. If it flies you’ll see the mango… Ah, it’s gone. “
The voice is unmistakable, despite the tired rasp.
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“I must say it’s been a lot of fun writing the play.” he is Girish Karnadtalking with the author and translator Arshia Sattar and in a series of conversations with filmmaker/educator Anmol Tikku, a few days before his death on June 10, 2019. Sitting on his terrace, “with an oxygen tube up his nose and an oximeter on his finger,” Karnad recounts his life as a writer and cultural administrator, his time with the Sangeet Natak Akademi, his foray into cinema ( “I was never interested in films, I hated films”), and talked about the state of affairs. Kannada literature and theatre.
two year chase
The recordings form the backbone of a new podcast series from the Bangalore International Centre, anchored by Sattar and Tiku, and supported by Nilekani Philanthropies. As Sattar explains in the introductory episode the river has no fear of memories The meetings resulted in a two-year search in which Karnad steadfastly refused to commit, until one day suddenly, he agreed to remain an unfinished attempt to document his memories. But what he achieved is significant, offering a glimpse into the prodigious masterpiece and how it came to be.
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Karnad’s reminiscing voice has been complemented by fellow travelers in Kannada theater and literature – Vivek Shanbaug, Shanta Gokhale, and Sunil Shanbagh, among others – who give context and perspective to the memories. “Certain themes kept coming up in these conversations,” recalls Sattar. Theater, Existentialism, Being a Public Intellectual, The Art and Craft of Playwriting. The nine episodes that make up the series will unfold around these themes, creating a kind of oral history from which a student of contemporary theater or literature will find much to learn. In between each episode are skits from Karnad’s plays, rendered Bangalore Theater artist.
a view of Snake Mandal here, from the other hiwadna there, a brief reading from broken images Which raises the question of authenticity and inspiration of the author. These brief exclamations bring Karnad’s work to life and serve as a teaser for those who may not be familiar with it. There’s some backstory to each – Karnad talks a little in this introductory episode about how he came to be perhaps his most famous play, TughlaqA look at the mad emperor who remains a legend for our times.
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Obviously, the tone of the podcast is celebratory, with Sattar and Tiku playing along with appreciative narrator exchanges that can seem a little self-conscious at times. At one point, Sattar comes close to exclaiming, “Oh, Snake Mandal… is my favorite play!” But there is a quick pivot in the reading of the play that leads us to the source of wonder and invites us to share in it.
the river has no fear of memories Combines the art of biography with cultural history and packs it into a podcast, making good use of the medium. Haunted Theme Music, taken from a song in hiwadnaEach episode takes us in and out, feeling more than a little sad for what’s not there, but grateful for what’s been given.
The Hyderabad-based writer and educationist is fighting a losing battle with the chaos in her mind.