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The Literary ‘Insider–Outsider’ of Karnataka
Girish Karnad lived a paradox, being perceived from the outside as an insider in the Kannada literary world, while the Kannadigas saw him as an outsider.
Scores of obituaries have been written since the passing of Girish Karnad (19 May 1938–10 June 2019). Quite expectedly, there has been great praise from all the corners of the world for his achievements in drama and cinema. However, what went unnoticed was the precariousness with which Karnad lived his life and the sheer audacity with which he excelled in all that he did. He never held a permanent job anywhere, which compelled him to act in commercial films like his last film, Tiger Zinda Hai (2017). Perhaps his seven-year tenure with Oxford University Press (OUP) at
Madras, after his master’s degree at Oxford University, was the most secure of all the positions he held in his lifetime. As an ex-member of OUP, as a fellow Kannadiga, and as someone belonging to his son’s generation, I would like to share my views on Karnad.
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