MYSORE: The city of Mysore played a huge role in the making of U R Ananthamurthy, the literary giant.
He came to the city in the early 50s to complete his BA Honours and then joined as a faculty member in Maharaja’s College and later the University of Mysore. This was when he began interacting with a galaxy of great writers. While the likes of celebrated author R K Narayan, English professor C D Narasimaiah and writers Chaduranga and Gopalakrishna Adiga were his mentors, writers like Purnachandra Tejaswi, Sumathindra Nadig, Rajeev Taranath, P Lankesh, Na Rathna, A K Ramanjun and K Ramdas were his contemporaries.
According to his student C K Ravichandra, now professor at UoM, it was the association with these figures that shaped Ananthamurthy. He was also deeply influenced by the Birmingham cultural movement and his frequent foreign assignments, where he met many writers.
Ravichandra said Ananthamurthy used to regularly meet Chaduranga, Sumathindra Nadig, V K Nataraj and others at a coffee house near Prabha Theatre and discuss literary and political issues. Murthy liked to hear old Hindi numbers of Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt, Hemanth Kumar and others from the ‘Jute Box’ at the coffee house.
In one of his interviews to Akashvani, Ananthamurthy had said he felt like both a student and a teacher in Mysore. He had said he hardly went to college and often spent time in Iyer’s Canteen chatting with friends.
When Ananthamurthy was a student at Maharaja’s College, poet laureate Kuvempu was the principal. He stayed at Suttur Hostel and Sarvajanik Hostel during his student days and writer G H Nayak and socialist leader Kadidal Shamanna were his roommates.
Meeting Narayan
Writer R K Narayan, who laid a foundation for English writers in the city, was a frequent visitor to the English Department when Murthy used to teach there.
Apart from this, Murthy’s association with socialist leader Shantaveri Gopalagowda and others and his involvement in the movement against the Emergency made him a stronger human being, Ravichandra said.
Murthy was the kind of teacher who would share interesting anecdotes with his students. He had an overarching consciousness and opened doors to the world of contemplation and thought.
“I was influenced by a lot of his teaching and writings. He did not restrict his teachings to classrooms, but even did it outside. His death has created a void in the literary world,” said Prof K M Chander, writer.
A majority of English teachers in the University of Mysore now and had completed their post-graduation before 1987 are Ananthamurthy’s students. After his retirement in 1987, he disposed of his house in Saraswathipuram and moved to Bangalore.
Though he expressed willingness to return to Mysore, things did not work out. He owns a farm at Alanahalli on the outskirts of the city.