Noted Kannada poet and literary critic Prof Sumatheendra Raghvendra Nadig passed away in Bengaluru this morning. He was 83. Ailing for some time, he suffered a heart attack and died in a private hospital at 6.25 am.
A prominent name in the Kannada modern literary movement, Prof Nadig is remembered and cherished for his Dampatya Geetha, an autobiographical collection of poems on love and marriage. Many other notable works included - Panchabhoota which is in fact, considered an important contribution to Indian literature.
Apart from this, he had written books for children, short stories and translated well known literary works from English and Bengali to Kannada, including the works of Rabindranath Tagore. He was known for his literary criticisms on fellow greats like - Da Ra Bendre, K S Narasimhaswamy, Gopalkrishna Adiga and others.In his lifetime, Prof Nadig worked in many academic institutions around the world including Temple University and Haverford College in the US and of course, Bangalore University.
The great poet once said, -"Poetry makes strange things happen. I reach the society in me, and the society meets me in my poetry.-"Writers, academicians and others condoled the death of Prof Nadig and said, -"In his passing away, we have lost a great poet from the literary movement.-"