Noted Kannada writer K.V. Tirumalesh, 82, passed away in Hyderabad on Monday. He was suffering from age-related illnesses. He is regarded as one of the most versatile writers across genres and a man with eclectic interests.
Though primarily recognised as a poet and honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award for his innovative work Akshaya Kavya — “a long narrative sans story or aim” as he described it — he wrote extensively across genres, including plays, short stories, novels, translations and criticism.
Born in 1940 in Karadka village, Kasaragod district (presently in Kerala), he was a linguist by training and taught at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad. He also taught at Iowa University, United States of America, and in Yemen for short periods of time.
In the 1960s and beyond
Tirumalesh made his debut with a collection of poetry Mukhavadagalu in 1968 and is considered one of the important modernist (Navya) poets of Kannada. While his early poetry is acclaimed for its modernist sensibilities and influence of European existentialism, he reinvented himself and became more diverse in his influences and writing in later years. For instance, he wrote songs, ten collections of children’s poetry among others.
“From his collection Avadha, you cannot categorise his poetry as modernist alone.... He once told me that Avadha should be treated as a poet’s scrapbook. He was constantly experimenting,” said writer M. S. Sriram, who had a close association with Dr. Tirumalesh.
Though primarily recognised as a poet and honoured with the Sahitya Akademi award for his innovative work Akshaya Kavya — “a long narrative sans story or aim” as he described it — K.V.Tirumalesh wrote extensively across genres, including plays, short stories, novels, translations and criticism. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
“In an interview he said “baddhate ondu bandhana” (commitment is confinement), which probably best encapsulates his writing and life,” said Dr. Sriram. Tirumalesh’s eclectic interests — from science to linguistics — is evident in his writings and translations. “It was tough to say what wouldn’t interest him,” Dr. Sriram said.
Noted critic Rahamath Tarikere said Tirumalesh, like Girish Karnad, Vivek Shanbhag, Umarao and Jayant Kaikini, came from a cosmopolitan world and his writing was influenced by the essence of his multilingualism. “Being born in Kasaragod, he knew Malayalam, taught English, wrote in Kannada and lived in a city that was predominantly Telugu and Urdu speaking,” he observed. “His real poetry was inspired by the everyday life of Hyderabad and its history,” he opined.
Sriram also said like Yeshwant Chittal who lived in Mumbai, Tirumalesh, who lived in Hyderabad, also did not receive the recognition he deserved. But both Chittal and Tirumalesh have influenced a generation of writers, which is more intangible to assess.
As translator and linguist
Tirumalesh translated several writers including French writer Gerard De Nerval, Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke and American novelist Herman Melville. He also translated the Spanish epic Don Quixote. While his two plays Caligula and Tiberius are critically acclaimed, he also wrote at least three novels and four collections of short stories. He not only became a newspaper columnist but also embraced technology and became a blogger in recent years.
“Tirumalesh was a linguist and one of the rare few who used to write very sensitively about language,” said another critic Dr. Purushottam Bilimale. Three collections of his writings on Kannada language, several collections of criticism and essays have also been published. His works Bendre Kavyashaili, Astitvavada and Kavyakarana are critically acclaimed.
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