Poornachandra Tejaswi was a man of complex personality and simple mannerisms that the Kannada literary world has ever seen, observed Mr Belavadi Manjunath, a lecturer from Chikmagalur.

He was presenting a personality sketch of late Tejaswi on the first day of ‘Shanthi Rangotsava’ organised by Shanthi Charitable Trust and Arunodaya Educational Institutions to commemorate late Tejaswi and P Lankesh at the school premises on Saturday.

Tejaswi was not a playwright; he was basically a storyteller and a novelist. The way in which he documented the colloquial language of Malnad and the humour-mixed serious thoughts are considerable, he said.

While his (Tejaswi’s) father looked at nature with a sense of adoration, he looked at her with a sense of research and unravelled her mysteries, Mr Manjunath defined.

He who propagated the philosophies of Lohia and Socialism, lived a life without hesitating to anybody, he said and presented various examples from Tejaswi’s life to sketch his profile.

Karnataka Nataka Academy President Srinivas G Kappanna, in his inaugural address, appealed that everybody should commemorate the way in which both Lankesh and Tejaswi presented Kannada literature  before the world. Appreciating the contributions of Terikere towards folk scenario, he said the organisations which had convened such a unique programme in a town limit was commendable.

Kuppali Kuvempu Foundation Secretary Kadidal Prakash presided. Television artiste Shivajirao Jadhav, theatre director Shashidhar Bharighat were present.

The programme followed a ‘Veeragase’ performance by a troupe led by G P Jagadish from Giriyapura that enthralled the audience.