a day ago
New crop of English writers from Belagavi keen to make their presence felt
Belagavi, the border district of Karnataka with multi-lingual heritage, has been a fertile ground for writers and translators. The list of writers hailing from the district who produced original work, criticism, and translations is long.
Kannada and Marathi
Since ancient times, the region that is presently called Belagavi district produced great Kannada writers like Rajaditya, Parshva Pandit, Nemichandra, Kuvalayananda and Bhalachandra.
In later years, Betageri Krishna Sharma, Basavaraj Kattimani, Bhujendra Mahishawadi, Babasab Ahmedsab Sanadi, B.M. Inamdar and others contributed greatly to the language.
In recent times, writers and translators like Chandrakant Pokale, Ramakrishna Marathe, Balasaheb Lokapur, Dadasaheb Chougale, Sarjoo Katkar, Nadeem Sanadi, Shobha Naik have kept Belagavi in the limelight.
There is an impressive crop of Marathi writers too. They include Baba Padmanji Mule, Gurunath Abaji Kulkarni, Madhuri Shanbagh, Shobha Naik, Jyotiba Patil, A.R. Sohro, Subhash Akkole and others. Deshpande, legendary humourist, theatre personality and music critic, taught in a college in the city in the 60s. Veteran Konkani writer V.V. Shenoy hosted the world Konkani conference in Belagavi a few years before his death. Recent writers include Minion Gonsalves, Louis Rodrigues, and Elaine Borges.
Kuntu Sagar from Ainapur was a Sanskrit writer and linguist. Prakrut scholar A.N. Upadhye knew 14 languages, and created memorable Kannada works. Other Prakrut writers include Basavaraj Khadabadi and S.P. Patil. Vidya Sagar Muni and Sri Vidyananda are notable Hindi writers from Belagavi district.
But now, the new breed of writers is using English as their preferred language. Some of them are in school while others have picked up the pen later in life. Due to the use of English and due to the benefits of online technology, they are gaining wider recognition.
Young aspirations
Atreya Anand Patil is packing his bags to go to Udupi to join a pre-university course in one of the colleges there. 'The next two years will be focused on examination oriented study. I do not think I will get enough time to read poetry or novels,'' says the student from Gokak. The bright student who wants to join a national institute for professional studies, has published his first book of poetry when he was in the sixth standard, and he has written another 100 poems since, which are unpublished, says his father Anand Patil, who runs an oil factory in Gokak.
Pranav Shashibhushan Bayari, a student of KLS public school in Belagavi, has not only written an English novel at 15, but has also succeeded in selling it online. He says his novel The Rusted Riddle: Echoes of The Locked Past, was written in secret. 'I did not tell anyone that I was writing a book, not even my parents. But when I told them, they were very supportive. Most of my friends, teachers and relatives knew only after it began selling online,'' he said.
It took him a year to write this 460-page about a young adult hero's adventures. Pranav plans to write a sequel this year. A Kannada novel is also on the anvil. The book is about a child who investigates the murders of his parents. Pranav was inspired by Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling. His parents hail from Chikkamagaluru. His father K.S. Shashibhushan, and mother Savitri run a pharmaceutical business in Belagavi. They are surprised and proud of Pranav's writing.
Vedant Phadke, 18-year-old college management student, has several dreams and is working hard to achieve them. He is a poet, story writer and aspiring film maker and budding entrepreneur. He has written his debut novel The Epics of Ved Verse – Part 1: Arjun, which was inspired by Indian mythology and historical narratives. It is racy and visually enriching with detailed accounts of nature and the inner workings of the human mind. Growing up in the picturesque village of Kadoli, he was fascinated by nature and the mythological stories the elders told him. He aspires to be an entrepreneur and produce films that have an impact.
Multiple talents
Niranjan Navalgund is a polymath. He won his national level chess championship in primary school. Now in his early 20s, he is a FIDE Master and FIDE Trainer. He is a former National U-17 chess champion and a Commonwealth silver medalist in the U-18 category. He divides his time between online coaching for chess players around the globe, conducting matches, writing and running Nivedarpana, a music academy, and Lively Library, a library for students, founded by his late mother Nivedita Chandrashekar.
His literary journey took flight in 2014 when his first short story was published in Chronicles of Urban Nomads (Readomania). Since then, he has contributed to several anthologies, including Hide and Seek, Magic of the Mask (A Little Chorus of Love), and Okay (A Beginner for a Beginning by Author's Ink). His co-written short film B-Tweets won an award at the Barcelona Planet International Film Festival. A dream during a train journey inspired his debut novella, The Lively Library and an Unlikely Romance, published by Readomania. He later self-published Over a Cup of Chai on Kindle.
Niranjan also explores Japanese poetry forms like haiku and haibun, with works featured in journals such as Sonic Boom. His younger brother, Chidambar Navalgund, is a poet and haiku enthusiast whose debut collection The Sound of Healing was published by Yavanika Press.
Anuradha Mirji is a novelist, journalist, content creator and film maker. She began writing when her family moved to her home town of Belagavi. After a science degree from Govindarama Seksaria Science College in Belagavi, she went to Manipal for her post-graduation in Mass Communication. She was a reporter, feature writer and content creator for some time. She worked in television and video production company, where she wrote scripts as well as shot and edited video content. She has directed documentaries such as The Living Dead about the endosulphan pesticide issue in Kasargod and The Kishkinda Trust about the empowerment of women in Anegundi. Her debut novel Finding Love Again took shape in Belagavi. Bengaluru-based Braj Kishore Gupta of Giant Step group has published it. She is working on her second novel now. The new story is set in Mangaluru and Kasargod, and the beautiful villages she discovered during the making of the documentary.
Later in life
Marie Raghavan is a poet who began writing late in life, but has published six collections in a short span of time. Her first solo collection Magical Movements was released in Bengaluru. She is the Director, The Formist Group, a realty company with projects in Bengaluru and Belagavi, and a life-skills trainer. She has been supporting initiatives like the Rostrum Diaries, a platform for young poets in Belagavi. 'My poems are an answer to the question as to how to accept, tolerate and love people with different personalities,'' she said.
Sudhir Joglekar is a city based businessman, journalist and columnist. It was his background in social movements aimed at organising the poor working classes that led him to literature. 'I started writing only in the mid-80s as I was deeply involved in social movements before. Subsequently, I started writing weekly columns in Tarun Bharat and Newlink dailies.'
'I began writing novels after I realised that there was very little material on the ancient epics of India in international literary fora. A few years ago, I retired from my printing business and began reading world literature. I have published the first two volumes of the proposed trilogy of Indian epics, and I hope to release the third and final volume sometime later this year,' he said. His novels on the Mahabharata are set in a futuristic setting. His books are products of international collaborations. While the books were printed in India, they were designed in Japan and Australia.
