Girish Karnad: India’s last renaissance man

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Girish Karnad: India’s last renaissance man

Monday, 23 May 2022 | PROF SATYA NARAYAN MISRA


As we celebrated Raja Ram Mohan Ray’s 250th Birthday on May 22, the memories of his pioneering contribution towards socio-religious
movement trickled in. Ram Mohan Ray was a polyglot who studied ancient texts like Vedas and Upanishads and also Koran and Bible. It was he who pleaded before the Viceroy for abolition of pernicious practices of Sati, child marriage and polygamy. He also pleaded for inheritance rights of women. The Brahmo Sabha which he created in 1828 segued into the Brahamo Samaj movement with prominent adherents like Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray, who can
be considered as the torchbearers of India’s renaissance.

However, the genesis of renaissance could be traced to the Republic of
Florence which took decisive steps to transit from the middle age to
modernity, by adopting new thinking in art, architecture, politics,
science and literature. It has always been an enigma why renaissance
happened in the city of Florence and not elsewhere. Eric Weiner in his
fascinating book “Geography of the Genius” writes how Florence was
swampy, malarial and prone to bubonic plague. It was also surrounded
by spiteful bellicose neighbours. He quotes Plato who wrote: “what is
honoured in a country will be cultivated there.”

Athens honoured wisdom, it got Socrates, Rome honoured power, it got
the Roman empire.  Florence honoured art, it got Leonardo da Vinci.
Weiner writes that on January 25, 1504, a group of famous artists like
Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Botticelli congregated in Florence to
choose a suitable location to display city’s latest master piece
created by Michelangelo “David”. Though these artists had intense
rivalry, it did not stop them to celebrate the genius of an
individual. Florence had the unique distinction of having a workshop
which was mentored by Verrocchio which trained the greatest artists of
their time including Leonardo. Interestingly, Verrocchio believed that
creativity is not a free floating skill that can be taught. Verrocchio
mentored his students to develop thinking styles and encourage them to
find problems.  Leonardo was a problem finder and hence, he excelled.
Pablo Picasso, the great artist used to say “computers are stupid
because they give only answers.”

While the genius of Rabindranath Tagore and originality of Satyajit
Ray are well known, it would be interesting to study the contribution
of Girish Karnad , the last renaissance man who died 3 years back.
Girish Karnad was born to a father who married a widow which was
opposed by the community, by following the rites of Arya Samaj. He did
his graduation from Dharwad and subsequently MA in Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. Just as Florence was the epicentre of art, Dharuad was the confluence of music when musicians with Hindustani classical tradition used to sing along with Carnatic style. No wonder, it produced
exceptional musical maestros like Gangubai Hangal, Mallikajun Mansoor, Bhimsen Joshi and Kumar Gandharb. It also created a cultural glue when Bhimsen Joshi anoints Rashid Khan as his successor. Religion never mattered to these masters of music.

Karnad’s contribution as the renaissance man can be seen as a great
script writer, actor, director and activist. The 50s saw the emergence
of a rare film director Satyajit Ray, with his Apu Triology (1955-1959). The 1960s saw the rise of great script writers in India with Badal Sarkar, writing in Bengali, Mohan Rakesh in Hindi, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi and Girish Karnad in Kannada. Karnad shot into fame with his 2nd play, Tuqhlaq, written in 1964 about an idealistic 14th century ruler who shifted the capital from Delhi to Dauladabad. He wanted to foster Hindu Muslim unity and secularism. However, his decision became catastrophic as he was not realistic about the ground level difficulty. Tughlaq as an allegory of the Nehru era which started with enormous hope for the Indian masses peters into disillusionment with his obsession with socialism and the Chinese debacle of 1962.
The other play that became very popular was Nagamandala in 1997. It
was a folk tale showing the predicament of a woman who becomes a
victim of her husband’s lust and ruthlessness. Karnad was deeply
influenced by Bertolt Brecht concept of “Complex Seeing.”

Karnad, the actor, made his debut in the iconic film Samskara (1970)
based on a novel written UR Ananatamurthy (1965). It was a blistering
attack on the caste system and moral superiority of Brahmins.
Initially censored, it won the national award beating Satyajit Ray’s
Pratidwandi. The other movie in which he excelled was Nisant (1976)
directed by new wave director Shyam Benegal. In the backdrop of the
caste conflict in a village, it brings out how an intrepid veterinary
surgeon ensures success of milk cooperative revolution triggered by
Varghese Kurien. Karnad directed Ondanondu Kaladili (Once upon a time) based on Seven Sumrai of Akira Kurusewa. The film had fascinating stunt scenes, delineating the code of warrior’s ethics with a modern vision.

Karnad was raised in a world without electricity. However, he
electrified India culturally. He was most comfortable in a theatre
hall, when the lights go out and stories play out. Karnad was an
activist who publicly condemned demolition of Babri Masjid and wrote
an open letter against hate politics. He championed the cause of
multiculturalism and ‘diverse and equal India.’ He wore a placard on
September 7, 2018 “Me Too Naxal” to commemorate the 1st anniversary of Gauri Lankesh, the journalist who was brutally killed because her tirade against rising right wing fundamentalism. Karnad died on June 10, 2019. As per his wishes, there was no floral procession and no VVIPs to perform his last rites. He was an agnostic.

Tagore, the great renaissance son of India, wrote that ‘the mind
should be without fear and the clear stream of reason must not lose
its way in the dreary desert sand of dead habits.’ In these turbulent
times when religion is being used to divide the country on religious
lines, the voices of these renaissance men would hopefully resonate
and take us out from the tunnel of hatred, bigotry and divisive
politics.

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