A legend forgotten on his birth centenary

mangalore: birth centenaries of noted personalities are big celebrations even after their death. however, few are even aware that, come wednesday, it is the 100th birth anniversary of jnanpeeth awardee and a legend in his own right, late dr kota shivarama karanth. except for a few programmes, neither has the government nor the organanisations claiming to strive for the promotion of literature cared to commemorate the occasion.a litterateur par excellence, a scholar and critic in various indian art forms including yakshagana who demonstrated yakshagana even at the age of 95 plus, an author of numerous books on science and literature for children, a social and environmental activist in true sense and a walking encyclopedea as he was called, karanth is a forgotten personality today. when asked, president of the state kannada sahitya parishat, harikrishna punaroor said programmes `were' being organised in some places including saligrama, udupi and mangalore. however, he admitted that due importance was not being given. ``though shivaram karanth deserves much more than the state's tribute, it is unfortunate that we find only a few who can impress upon the government in this regard'', regretted punaroor. the only programme to be held in the sity is being organised at the university college here under the banner of eaikavi and kannada sangha of the college. karantha namana as it is called, will be attended by prof amrith someshwar, principal of the college prof k. narayanan nair and librarian of the university dr m.k. bhandi. no big names associated and nor organsisations. punaroor did not buy the criticism that the sahitya parishat had lagged behind in paying tributes to karanth on his birth centenary. he told the times of india that a special programme was being organised at saligrama of udupi district where karanth spent most of his last days. the programme to be organised on october 14 will feature the honouring of senior scholar l.s. sheshagiri rao who will be conferred with the karantha sahitya puraskara and attended by former chief minister m. veerappa moily, he added. all said and done, the government's attitude towards this great personality has been pathetic, may it be the centre, state or the local administration. while, the reels of the 13-episode serial produced by noted film producer sadanand suvarna are gathering dust at doordarshan without a sponsor for telecast, the proposal to bring out a commemorative stamp of karanth has been kept in cold storage. the district administration and the city corporation of mangalore are not far behind. despite a resolution to name pilikula nisargadhama in karanth's name over an year ago and the decision to rename the balmatta road in the city after shivaram karanth, the resolutions seems to have been forgotten.