'I'm coming to realise what Appa wanted me to learn'

YOU may know him as Swami's father in the beloved Doordarshan adaptation of Malgudi Days, the leading man in cult classic film Manthan, as the playwright behind seminal plays like Naga-mandala and Hayavadana that continue to draw full houses decades after they premiered, or perhaps as the director behind the Kannada film Shankar Nag-starrer Ondanondu Kaladalli. However, one may have known him or his oeuvre, 81-year-old Girish Karnad's passing on this day in 2019 after suffering from multiple organ failure, was felt deeply by the collaborators, friends and family, and fans, he left behind. A literary giant, a prolific actor-director, and outspoken activist who never shied away from taking a stand — this is how he is known as a public personality, but who was he behind it all? In remembrance of Girish Karnad on his sixth death anniversary, his son Raghu Karnad, a Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar-winning writer, gives us a glimpse of the man behind the scenes.

- MAHIMA NAGARAJU

What is the earliest memory you have of time spent with your father?

There is one memory that's been on my mind recently. It's from some time in my teenage years. My father caught me at the top of the stairs in our home in JP Nagar, gave me a copy of the Mahabharata and said I should read it. This was unusual because he wasn't one for giving presents or offering advice. Of course, I didn't take his advice at the time but now, at a different stage of my life. I'm coming to realise what he wanted me to learn and understand — as an Indian, about that book and the cultural fountainhead that it is for us.

Is there an anecdote you think captures who your father was as a person?