JOIN USRangayana chief no more
His close friends and theatre lovers, who had seen him actively participate in the three-day Rangayana theatre festival in Shimoga till Tuesday afternoon, were in for a shock as Halemane (62) passed away after a massive cardiac arrest at his residence in Dattagalli Layout, Mysore, on Tuesday night. Halemane, who took charge as the director of Rangayana last year, was successful in organising theatre festivals and seminars during his tenure.
On the last day of the festival in Shimoga, the students of the Mysore-based theatre school dedicated the show of ‘Gokarnada Goudashani’ by Prof Chandrashekhar Patil as a homage to their beloved teacher. Halemane had planned to launch a branch of Rangayana in Shimoga.
The Government had even allocated Rs 35 lakh for the proposed Rangayana branch and preparation was on for the foundation-laying ceremony scheduled to be held in a couple of months.
However, the hopes of theatre lovers to see Shimoga become a theatre hub have been shattered with the sudden departure of Halemane from the world stage.
Linguist, social activist
Besides being an academician and social activist, Halemane was also a well-known linguist. He had worked in various positions for more than 30 years with the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.
A native of Haalugona in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk in Tumkur, he completed his basic and secondary education at Tiptur, and his post-graduation from Annamalai University. He was also a member of various commissions and textbook drafting committees.
Politicians, academicians, theatre enthusiasts, amateur theatre activists visited Rangayana in Mysore, where Halemane’s body was kept for public to pay their homage on Wednesday. District in-charge Minister S A Ramdas, Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta, and others paid their last respects to Halemane.