Sri Girish Karnad 1938-2019

Remembering musicians of the recent past
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rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Sri Girish Karnad 1938-2019

Post by rshankar »

Decades ago, it was the fall of my second year at PGI. The time for the annual north zone cultural festival in Chandigarh, a 5-day celebration of dance and music in an Open Air Amphitheater, with the main event held from 7 pm. After 3 evenings of bharatanATyam by Ms. Yamini Krishnamurthy, the sublime Ms. Malavika Sarukkai, and the fabulously graceful Ms. Alarmel Valli, and an evening when Pt. Birju Maharaj and the then very young Ms. Shaswati Sen cast a spell on us, the final attraction offered was a Hindi play - a play adapted by Girish Karnad from his (own) original in Kannada. He also played the title role(s). It was the basis for the much-acclaimed (Kannada) movie, nAgamaNDala....

After some deft begging, pleading, and artful rearrangement, I traded my call duties and went to the play. For nearly 3 hours, we sat in the darkened theater space, completely in Sri Karnad’s thrall. The theme, and scenes from the play haunted me for days and weeks to come!

He was a master of his craft in his prime, and it was a privilege (for me) to experience it live.

Thank you, and RIP, Sri Karnad!

https://www.thehindu.com/specials/giris ... 761160.ece

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Sri Girish Karnad 1938-2019

Post by arasi »

Ravi,
An outstanding person in the arts brought to focus by your personal recollections, thanks...
May his soul rest in peace!

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