Sorry, Karnad Sir, RIP
Of late, media campaigns against ‘liberals’ has become a fashion, with a section of the media causing Girish Karnad great pain with reports on his stand against intolerance. It all came to an end on Monday, with one admirer of Karnad putting it to rest. Pained by the insensitive, vicious assault on the legend
by some ‘rogue’ media, he apologised to him on behalf of the entire media after his passing. “Regarding the detestable campaigns some sections of the media carried out against you in the past, I apologise on behalf of the media, brothers and sisters. Please forgive us,” he said. But will it change the new-age media? RIP to Karnad, and also the good old sensitive media.
No showy funeral, DKS stumped
It was a clash between the showman world of politics and the no-frills world of scholars. Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, who visited Kalpalli crematorium in Byappanahalli to pay tribute to the author and playwright, just couldn’t fathom why the family of Karnad turned down the government’s offer of a funeral with state honours. He insisted and persisted, but the family remained firm, until finally, historian Ramachandra Guha requested DKS to leave. Guha told him that he had “made his point and the family was not interested”. The minister turned to the media and spoke about how the state had honoured Karnad by declaring a holiday, and wanted to give a guard of honour. He then went back to the family, hoping the members would change their mind. They didn’t. Clearly flummoxed, Shivakumar said, “The children turned down the guard of honour. The chief minister had also given instructions, but the family did not want it.” He left much before the body was cremated, after which neither he, nor other politicos, were given an entry into the cremation hall where family and close friends mourned.
Coorg connection runs deep
Girish Karnad’s wife Dr Saraswathy Ganapathy is from Kodagu, and belongs to the powerful Kodandera family. The Karnad family’s latest Coorg connection is seen in his son Raghu Karnad’s novel, ‘Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War’ which is based on the real-life account of a Kodagu officer of the colonial British Army. Kodagu mourned the passing of its son-in-law on Monday.