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Mysore was an inseparable part of him

Deepa Ganesh & R. Krishna Kumar

Bangalore/ Mysore: It was Sharada Prasad’s childhood dream to be a Kannada writer, as he himself acknowledged in his writings. Though this dream was never realised (his books were translated into Kannada), Mysore remained an inseparable part of him.

In many of his writings Mysore resurfaces: the days when he was R.K. Narayan’s neighbour and the short but unforgettable walk to the post office with the Malgudi man; his dear friend of 62 years, the photojournalist T.S. Satyan; the period of the freedom struggle; memories of S. Nijalingappa.

And Mysore is unlikely to forget him too. Ask an old student of Maharaja’s College, and you will hear the story of how the then British principal allowed Sharada Prasad to write his examinations when he was jailed during the Quit India Movement. It turned out that Sharada Prasad got the first rank.

In the Mysore dialect, H.Y. Sharada Prasad would be described as a sajjana – a good human being who combined dignity, grace and simplicity. He often lamented that he had lost touch with the Kannada world. Yet only a Kannadiga could have written with the insights Sharada Prasad had into some of the legends of the State.

In the good old days of Doordarshan’s monopoly over the airwaves, he interviewed Kannada’s most forthright speaker and writer, Shivaram Karanth. A quiet man of chaste words, he asked Karanth: ‘Do you think literary talent is inherited?” Karanth, with his characteristic sharp humour, replied: “See Sharada Prasad, the only thing that you get by inheritance is disease, nothing else.” Sharada Prasad burst into laughter.

When Karanth died, he wrote an obit that captured the writer’s grandeur: “The king elephant will no longer tramp the southern forests. Karanth is no more.”

Equally unforgettable was his obit on the legendary musician, Mallikarjun Mansur. “The torrent has gone back into the magic mountain from where it used to flow,” he wrote. “Mallikarjun did not possess a regal bearing. He did not clothe himself in princely robes ... He was content to be inconspicuous. He continued to look like a shopkeeper’s accountant. His airs were what he sang. He did not put on any.”

Austere and unpretentious: Sharada Prasad’s description of Mansur applies to his own writings.

“True Gandhian”

A freedom fighter, journalist and speech writer for three Prime Ministers, Sharada Prasad was a contemporary of literary personalities including Gopalakrishna Adiga, C.D. Narasimhaiah and A.N. Moorthy Rao.

Mr. Satyan, who spent many years with Sharada Prasad, or Shourie as he was known to his friends, recalled and shared some of the cherished moments with The Hindu.

“We were collegemates but there was a disruption in his studies as he was jailed during the Quit India movement. Sharada Prasad’s speeches electrified the students who willingly courted arrest, and filled the only jail in Mysore.”

A notable feature of Sharada Prasad was his felicity with the language, be it English or Kannada, and he was a guide to many of the journalists, always helpful.

Mr. Satyan said Sharada Prasad was a quintessential Mysorean and remained humble despite being the speech writer for three Prime Ministers. He was a true Gandhian. The servants quarters in his house in Delhi always remained vacant as he believed in doing the work himself, be it dusting the house or washing his personal car.

Sharada Prasad left Mysore in the mid-1940s after graduation but was in touch with his old friends. He looked forward to guests from Mysore as he cherished the “typical tokens of Mysore — jasmine, betel leaves and avarekalu.”

“I last met him in March this year but Parkinson’s disease had taken its toll on Sharada Prasad and it took him nearly 45 minutes to recognise me,” sighed Mr. Satyan.

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