The Kannada Chekhov in our midst

Even as Konkani is his mother tongue, Kannada lets Vivek Shanbhag connect with himself.
Vivek Shanbhag|JITHENDRA M
Vivek Shanbhag|JITHENDRA M

Growing up in a small coastal town in Karnataka, he started to write and publish while still in school. At 17, he moved to Mysuru where he found his window to the world at the Mysore University’s English Department.

He went on to become one of the most popular authors in Kannada.
With Ghachar Ghochar, one of his four Kannada novels, he made the literary circle sit up. Penguin Books, UK, launched the English translation of the book, his international debut, in 2016. It received rave reviews as a genuine representation of Indian literature.
His style has been compared to Chekhov, a compliment that the Bengaluru-based author casually shrugs off saying, “No two writers are alike.”

Keep an eye on 54-year-old Vivek Shanbhag for his singular style, flavour and gusto. Though his mother tongue is Konkani, he writes in Kannada while he can also do so in English.
“You have to have a certain relationship with a particular language to write in that language. Also, the fact that you are able to connect with something deep inside you through a language propels you to write in that language,” he explains.

It took Ghachar Ghochar 10 years to evolve before the actual process of writing started one ethereal morning, and then it was just a span of six months to put the first draft down.
Full of intricacies, the book needed a combined effort of 18 months to be translated into English. “A translation is a significant piece of work; you have to get the tone right to do justice to the original work,” he says.

Srinath Perur, author of If It’s Monday It Must Be Madurai, impressed Shanbhag before receiving permission for the translation work.
And he did an excellent job, admits Shanbhag, and says, “Every book in every language is different.

One has to address the translation to the human situation.” Perur is translating another of Shanbhag’s novels, Ooro Bhanga, due to be published in mid-2018.
 Known as an extremely self-critical writer, Shanbhag places utmost significance in the phases post-first draft, where he revisits and polishes the manuscript.
Reading for an author is an important part of his work. “Not for research,” but to grow and develop, and expand the horizons of the mind.
“It’s always better for a writer to not depend on his writing for a livelihood,” says Shanbhag, acknowledging that circumstances can be different. “I write because I want to and not because I must.”

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