In most autobiographies truth ends with the early years of one's life, writer and critic Giraddi Govindraj is supposed to have remarked in a private conversation. “But Girish is different,” he added, speaking of the rare candour that his book rings with. At the release of Girish Karnad's autobiography “Aadadatha Ayushya” in Bangalore recently, the spokesperson of Manohara Granthamala, the 78-year-old publishing house based in Dharwad, recalled this.
At the Dharwad release, prior to the Bangalore one, well-known critic G.S. Amur had said something similar: “it is the first complete and mature autobiography in Kannada”. This was also perhaps his response to the acclaimed English writer V.S. Naipaul's observation that Indian writers were incapable of writing autobiographies.
“It is 50 years since my first book was published by Manohara Granthamala. Today, my autobiography is also being released by them. Between then and now, all my books have first been released by them. Do I need to say more about our relationship?” Karnad observed. With this, he put an entire tradition in place – from the founder of the publishing house G.B. Joshi to Ramakant Joshi down to Sameer Joshi, as also the relationship between writers and publishing houses, and how they feed off each other's warmth and trust.
Every locality in Dharwad has something that invariable traces itself back to Bendre's creative output, “it extends even to our emotional spaces as well,” said Karnad, explaining the name of his book that is borrowed from a Bendre's poem. In many ways, Karnad's autobiography seems a tribute to his early years in Dharwad that shaped and groomed his imagination as a writer. As he read some passages from his work, it was only a reiteration of the fact that how, in its language and in its scope, the autobiography has not only enriched the Kannada literary world, but has also redefined our understanding of an autobiography in the Indian context.
“My thanks to the literary journal Deshakaala and the Kannada daily Prajavani who, through their enthusiasm to publish excerpts from my autobiography, gave me confidence to go ahead with my work,” added Karnad.
“Girish Karnad is not just an important writer, but a multi-faceted genius. It was an honour for us to run parts of his autobiography,” said K.N. Shantakumar, editor of Prajavani , who released the book. He paid a glowing tribute to Manohara Granthamala, acknowledging their pride of place on the Kannada literary map.
Three other books that were released are “Antarangada Mrudanga” by Narahalli Subrahmanya, “Hole Makkalu” by Bidarahalli Narasimhamurthy, and “Naa Badukalikke Ollepa” by Lohit Naikar. All the writers read passages from their book.
