'Ila Bharatham' by IPS officer hits stands

Sounds by musical instruments were overpowering the lyrics in light music, spoiling the essence of literature, said noted writer S L Bhyrappa here on Thursday

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In his address after releasing ‘Ila Bharatham’, an epic authored by DySP Dharanidevi Malagathi,at a programme organised by Kannada Sahitya Parishat at Kuvempu Institute for Kannada Studies (KIKS), Bhyrappa said that light music had once popularised modern Kannada literature.

Lauding the yesteryear’s popular playback singer P Kalingarao who had successfully adapted the poems to light music, Bhyrappa said those who came after him experimented more with instruments and singers, thus depriving the music connoisseurs of the literary essence.

Recalling his student days, Bhyrappa said a teacher called Veerabhadraiah was rendering Kumaravyasa Bharatha with holistic touch.

“However, when I joined college, there was a restriction on the lecturers not to sing the poem. As a result, most of the lecturers now lack the singing ability, which has had a cascading effect on the students,” Bhyrappa said.

He also said that students have failed to evince interest in poetry as it was not reaching them effectively.

On the epic

Speaking on the book, Prof N S Taranath from KIKS described ‘Ila Bharatham’ as a women centric literary work. “It unveils the world of women through various sequences of Mahabharatha. A total of 1,705 poems in the epic says it all,” he said.

Experience

Narrating her experience while penning the tome, Dharanidevi said, “I started work on the epic in the year 2001 with 220 poems. Initially many advised me to write it in navya style of literature. I however eventually ended up writing it in the ‘Bhamini Shatpadhi’ style.”

She said that she had thought about the plot 22 years ago and had written a story for a weekly then. “I was advised to research deeply into it as there were different versions of Mahabharata in different parts of the country,” she added.