He was speaking at the release of ‘Jeevana Dhare’, a book written by paediatric cardiologist Dr Vijayalakshmi Balekundri at Shivaratrishwara Kendra here on Sunday. Jeevana Dhare is a collection of columns she has written in Prajavani over the past two years.

“Dr Vijayalakshmi has done a commendable job at a time when the number of experts writing columns in Kannada has declined. Many have taken to English writing because of historical and commercial reasons. This loss of passion for Kannada has adversely affected the development of Karnataka. Thus, experts should meet the challenge by writing in Kannada.”

Dr Vijayalakshmi knows the pulse of the reading public and uses simple language to convey her thoughts.
Journalist Vishveshwar Bhat said being a columnist is extremely difficult as it calls for punctuality, more so in the case of doctors as they are hard-pressed for time.

Noted writer D Javare Gowda termed the book an unique product of Dr Vijayalakshmi’s sensitivity, scholarship interspersed with a sense of keen observation of life and its happenings.

Simplicity of the narrative style makes the book an interesting read, noted research scholar M Chidananda Murthy.

‘Jeevana Dhare’, published by Sapna Book House, is priced at Rs 100 and contains 75 columns. Topics in the book ranges from poverty, life in rural areas to exploitation of women.