Remembering Alanahalli

Yesterday was the birthday of one of my favorite Kannada author, certainly one of the unforgettable names in Kannada literary world, Sri Krishna Alanahalli.

Parasangada Gendethimma, Bhujangayyana Dashavatharagalu, Kaadu, remains as the evergreen favorites for Kannada literature lovers.

Sri Krishna Alanahalli was born on 3^rd April, 1947 in Alanahalli, Heggadadevana Kote Taluk, Mysore district.

He completed his post graduation in M.A. (Philosophy) in 1969. He worked as a lecturer in Mysore University and Central Institute of Indian Languages, from 1969 to 1979. Then he became a full time writer and immersed himself in different fields like literature, cinema, agriculture, journalism. He actively took part in contemporary politics as well.

I am very much impressed by his three novels Kaadu (1972), Parasangada Gendethimma (1978) and Bhujangayyana Dashavatharagalu (1982).

In Kaadu, the author narrates the story in the eyes of small innocent boy named kitty. The story unfolds the life in a village where kitty witnesses the world which is full of hatred and violence which he can’t understand. The story was made into movie in 1973 directed by Girish karnad, starring Lokesh and Amish Puri and Nataraj. The movie won the National award for second best feature film in 1974.

In Parasangada Gendethimma, the author depicts the effects of so called civilized world on the innocent rural people in the villages. Gendethimma himself becomes the victim of his innocence and morals and ethics. The story was made into movie starring Lokesh and directed by Maruthi Shivaram.

In Bhujangayyana Dashavatharagalu, the author depicts the life of an individual, how his personal and business life affected by some ill minded people in the village, and how he becomes more mature with circumstances of life. The story was made into movie, acted and directed by Lokesh.

Some of the short stories that I liked by Sri Krishna are Thapta, Thore, Agunthaka, and Sambanda. Sambanda tells us the story of author and his childhood girl friend whom he meets after 8 years and the difficulties in her married life in the backdrop of cast, village and city.

What I really liked about Sri Krishna’s stories is the the kind of characters that he depicts, they are so real. And I liked the ethnicity that he preserves in his stories. His stories are full of innocence, lust, and revenge and jealous in the backdrop of rural areas.  The characters in his stories suffer from physical desires and mental turmoil’s.

Many of his works have been translated into other languages like Malayalam, Hindi, Martahi, Gujarathi, English, German and Russian.

He got Sahitya Academy Prashasti for his poetry collection Mannina Haadu in 1966.

He received Karnataka govt prize for Kaadu in 1970.

He was awarded Karnataka Sahitya Academy Honorary prize, posthumously in 1989.

Kannada literature faced huge loss when Sri Krishna passed away on 4^th January, 1989 at the age of 42.  But he still lives among us through his works.

More Links

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