Girish Karnad: Dharwad’s cultural ambassador

DHARWAD: The world may have been Jnanpith awardee playwright Girish Karnad’s stage, but Dharwad was where he enjoyed staying. It was in this dusty North Karnataka town that he bloomed as a litterateur. Even as a celebrity, he used to move freely in the city and rarely missed an occasion to visit.
After completing his primary education in Sirsi, Uttara Kannada district, Karnad moved to Dharwad for his secondary school and college education.The city played a huge role in shaping his career as a scholar, playwright, actor and director.
Karnad explained his love for Dharwad beautifully in his autobiography ‘Adadata Ayushya’. “The plain below the series of bald hillocks with shrubs was the place where we used to play lagori every day without fail,” he wrote. “It was routine to crisscross the hilly region and walk along the railway track. I learnt swimming in the pond opposite Someshwara temple without the knowledge of my father.”
Karnad moved to Dharwad in 1952 when his father Raghunath, a government doctor by profession, was transferred from Sirsi to District Civil Hospital, Dharwad. The family initially lived in a rented house in Saraswatpur and then bought a bungalow.
After studying at Basel Mission Boys’ High School for two years, Girish joined Karnatak College for a BA course with Maths and Statistics. Karnatak College gave Karnad’s talent impetus. VK Gokak, who was awarded the Jnanpith later, was the principal. Gokak and Da Raa Bendre, another Jnanapith laureate poet, made a huge impact on young Karnad, prompting him to begin his career as a writer and director of plays.
He secured the first rank at the University and went to Mumbai to pursue MA.