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| Photo courtesy :Wikipedia |
Few people ignite your mind and become constant source of
inspiration. He was one of them. But his inspiration was silent one. My
upbringing was a regional one and it the time of turbulence. Assam was burning
in 80s and 90s.
Till than I knew him as an actor. Then the passion for
cinema started. One Sunday evening dordarshan was supposed to play Kalyug the
movie by Shyam Benegal. Till then I knew his value so sat down to watch it eagerly
from the very first. After about 15
minutes I realized that it was a screen play adapted from Mahabharata. It was a
perfect adaptation in modern time to me.
I wanted to know the script writer. It was Girish Karnard. The movie, the script inspired me and I
understood the value of Girish Karnard. I never had the opportunity to see
Utsav, the movie he directed. (How can I? it was regarded as adult movie. Thanks
to the spicy Media my impression was also not that high about Utsav until I
discovered Girish Karnard the original writer and thinker)
Then while lurking inside the district library bookshelves I
discovered a collection of his play. I had a long association with Assamese Armature
Theater throughout my parallel carrier as a medical student. (1994 to 2006 it’s
a lot of grilling we all medicos has to face) . His plays thrilled me because
of various reasons. Originality and appeal is acknowledged by all. The
political subtext I was not aware of (or cared for till few years back) My
appeal to his stature was because of my regional sentiments. I always thought
and believed that regional language has all the appeal and talent to get
international attention. But the gap between the killer language in which I am
writing and my regional language is too vast. In those days may Salman Rushdie
had uttered something derogatory about the regional language of India. It
pinched me like anything. And I wanted to answer him back (though I know I was
and still am a nobody) At that moment Girish Karnard was a real answer to Rushdie’s
allegations that vernacular language don't have any potential and contribution
after independence . This man with Marathi as his mother tongue, prolific in
English , PhD in Mathematics from UK was
writing in Kanada and has a world wide appeal. After that I have followed his
activities.
His strong public
intellectual activism and persuasion of historical and mythological myth in
creative writing are unmatched. Could not meet him personally, could not watch
more of his plays on stage are few of my disappointments.
