The country has been in moaning over Girish Karnad, the noted playwright, theatre personality and film actor who passed away on June 10 at 81 after a prolonged illness.
Monday evening saw people – those who knew Karnad, those who worked with him, those who loved his work and those who are aspired to walk in his path – throng India International Centre to learn more about the man at A Life of Cultural Resistance: Paying tribute to Girish Karnad. The overflowing auditorium with people even settling themselves almost touching the table set for the speakers was indicative of the love people had for him.
“Girish Karnad lived a full life – rich with work, ideas, friends and causes that we can only think of this evening a beginning of a tribute,” said Githa Hariharan, author of The Thousand Faces of Night, who chaired the session. She talked about the ways in which Karnad located himself in the theme ‘Indian culture.’ One such element was languages; Karnad not only knew several languages but also drew on the resources of these languages. Hariharan disclosed, “His English was impeccable. He translated his Kannada plays into English, but his fluency in English didn’t keep him from choosing his writing language – Kannada. Neither his writing language Kannada or his mother tongue Konkani kept him from working in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Malayalam. He is an example of how a multilingual environment can be turned into an advantage, rather than a barrier.”
Another aspect important to Karnad was myth and tale, and history. Though important to his work, this did not make him vulnerable to nativism or being frozen in the past. Rather his use of myth and tale was open-ended. While the past fed his creative energy, it was actually the present he was engaged with – be it his plays, ideas, speaking up for freedom of speech or against crushing of dissent. Hariharan believes that one way to see Karnad’s life is to see it as a philosophical quest that is modern, secular, rational and always inclusive.
Highlighting Karnad’s role in the Indian theatre, poet Ashok Vajpeyi shared, “Karnad along with Vijay Tendulkar, Mohan Rakesh and Badal Sarkar established a parallel theatre that entertained less and disturbed you more. He reinvented traditions in his work right from Yayati in 1961.” Vajpeyi also stressed that unlike most of us who think about the consequences before taking a stand, Karnad raised his voice without thinking twice. At Film and Television Institute of India, Karnad pushed for the establishment and consolidation of the New Cinema movement in the 70s and 80s. At Sangeet Natak Academy, he criticised that classical dance as being overtly Brahminised and pushed for a new, contemporary dance. And at the Nehru Centre, he pushed for greater space for art and culture. “The best way to remember Karnad is through a camaraderie of creativity, courage and conscience, remaining active and dynamic while continuing to grow despite the impediments that are there.
Reminiscing Karnad in the 60s and 70s was theatre actor MK Raina when a national grid had formed led by Karnad, Tendulkar, Sarkar and Rakesh. During this period Raina had come to Delhi as a student before settling down here for good. “Hindi had become a catalyst. Plays from across India would be translated here and performed across the country. It was also the time when National Film Development Corporation of India was established and the parallel cinema movement had started. They [the grid] started to raise questions, breaking the established norms of cinema…on the other hand, one question kept rising. What is Indian theatre? All we had been doing was to make various adaptations of Western plays. During this period, a wave to create our own grammar from our indigenous folk forms rose. The response was Karnad’s Hayavadana, followed by others.”
As the evening came to an end with various speakers remembering Karnad, his plays being read, Carnatic music vocalist TM Krishna gave the event a befitting end – he sang in Kannada, the Vachana of Basavanna talks about invert and outward purity.
Karnad’s life
Githa Hariharan believes that one way to see Karnad’s life is to see it as a philosophical quest that is modern, secular, rational and always inclusive.