It is easy to call Dr. G. Krishnappa fondly known as Bendre Krishnappa a walking encyclopedia of the great poet, Da. Ra. Bendre. That he is: but to call him just that is to undermine his unfathomable passion for Bendre – he is not merely an information treasure house of Bendre, but has lived the poet every moment of his life. He has been in the service of the poet for over six decades, and Krishappa believes that a lot is still left to be uncovered. Bendre enters every line that he speaks, whatever be the subject. To then have a conversation exclusively on Bendre with him simply means that it pulsates with words, thoughts, and lines from Bendre’s literary corpus. In Krishnappa’s fervidness, the magic of the Avadhuta poet lingers on in you -- not always entirely in meaning, you are enchanted by the music of those words and Krishnappa’s charming rendition.
But how can you get Bendre if you don’t unearth him in meaning? asks Krishnappa. His new book, Bendre Kavya: Pada Nirukta , is the work of 30 years with over 1400 words decoded from Bendre’s poems. Pada Nirukta is not just a dictionary, it mentions the poem where the word appears, the context, explanation, the culture to which it belongs etc. “I was in high school when I first heard Bendre’s poem. My teachers Konanduru Lingappa and G. Sham. Paramashiviah taught ‘Ilidu Baa Taayi’ so beautifully. Lingappa sir even read to us other poems from Bendre. I was moved… I think those who come from poverty are touched by Bendre’s poems. For instance, look at these lines from his early poem, Uyyale: Hallada Dandyaga, Modalige Kandaga, Enondu Nageyitta . This poem is a song of love, but later he says, Suttu Happalada Hanga Soragide Soppanga… With a husband as poor as me, you look careworn, he says. I had seen how my mother used to struggle the entire day, and I felt that this autobiographical poem was a song about our lives too.” Even with all the poverty and hardship, life was rendered beautiful by his mother’s love and father’s recitation of Lakshmisha’s Jaimini Bharatha , Nala Charitre and his own fascination for Bendre.
After a diploma in automobile engineering, Krishnappa got a RTO inspector’s job. He used to frequent the Gandhi Sahitya Sangha in those days and heard Siddavanahalli Sharma and G.P. Rajaratnam. “Rajarathnam would never forget to say that irrespective of the nature of our jobs, we must all serve the cause of Kannada. It became the mantra of my life. I realised that sloganeering, walking protest marches is of little use. Instead, I decided to take Bendre to every nook and corner of the state. I began to hold Bendre Poetry Recitation contests in schools and colleges, and distribute his poetry collections to children. I saved some money from my earnings and started this in 1988 in Belgaum district. I have distributed thousands of books every year. I have not taken any help from the government or any other institution. I have done it on my own,” he explains. The Da. Ra. Bendre Kavya Koota organises a poetry contest, and a critical essay contest for post graduate students. They identify budding poets and give three cash prizes.
“I saw Bendre twice in my life, once when he came to Gandhi Sahitya Sangha, and the second time when he became the chairperson of the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana. I was close to his poetry but not to him. But when I started Bendre Kavya Koota, I came into contact with Vaman Bendre and the rest of the family members, and have remained close through the years.” To study Bendre, says Krishnappa, is to study the life and culture of the Kannada people. A new world of meanings opened up as he started to unravel the mysteries of many of the words. Krishnappa gives tens of examples. “I have great respect for our finest critic Kirthinath Kurthukoti, I have learnt a lot from him as well. But Kurthukoti, while explaining the poem Uyyale , read the word ‘madaga’ as ‘madagaja’. Tell me which mother would call her child an elephant? It is wrong, the word is actually ‘madaga’ which means sluice. A child that flows out of the mother’s body, like water flows out of sluice gates, is an embodiment of her life sources itself -- hence the use of the word madaga , a native word. So it is with Naaku Tanti . People who do not understand the poem speak frivolously. I do not want to waste precious time over them. Aavu means cow, and it is likened to this world that holds all of us. With years, a poet’s language grows rich with symbolism. As a reader you too should grow. As I read more and more of him, I felt I should understand the yogi in Bendre...,” says Krishnappa, who tells you several interesting stories about Bendre’s notes in the book, Shankara Mahamanana, about the word Maalingana Balli, Maavina Peepi .... every word has a story. “If we do not understand folk, we will not understand Bendre,” he adds with finality.
“Today’s poets should study Bendre seriously. ‘Tochiddu Geechiddu’ doesn’t become poetry. We have a huge tradition from Pampa to Kumaravyasa to Kuvempu to Putina, poets who spent an entire lifetime thinking about poetry. It is not easy to write. Bendre’s poetry never existed in the obvious. He read voraciously -- physics, maths, astronomy, music.... everything. And his writing was an outcome of his complex thought process. According to me, Bendre is the only poet who has recast the 12th century Sharana movement in his poetry.” He recites more poems to support his finding.
There’s no place in Karnataka that Krishnappa has not journeyed with Bendre. There’s no poem that he fails to recall. One poem leads to the other, and Krishnappa’s eyes well up with tears. “In my opinion there’s no greater poet than Bendre. To me, Bendre is Kannada.”
(Bendre Kavya: Pada Nirukta by Dr. G. Krishnappa will be released on February 6, at Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Bangalore 5.30 p.m.)
