Soon, relive revolutionary writer Triveni at Mysuru museum

An anonymous fan of writer Anasuya Shankar, popularly known as Triveni, is donating an undisclosed amount for the restoration of the writer’s house and its development into a museum on Railway Station Road at Chamarajapuram in Mysuru.

Once the museum ‘Bellimoda’ opens, it will be the third museum for a literary personality in Mysuru. The others being the houses-turned-museums of litterateur Kuvempu and novelist R K Narayan. There is hardly any museum for a woman writer in Karnataka at present.

Meera Kumar, daughter of Triveni and founder president of Triveni Shankar Sahitya Prathistana, is supervising the project.

Meera said she had thought of developing the 120-year old house and its 90-year-old extension into a museum on the lines of the family homes of William Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon in the UK, during a visit there in 2006.

“My dream is being realised now, thanks to the generous donor, a fan of the novels of my mother. A resident of Bengaluru, he does not want to reveal his identity. We have roped in expert architects Pankaj Modi and Raghunath for the restoration as the structures are heritage buildings,” she said.

Triveni, once a household name in Kannada literature, wrote 21 novels and 41 short stories from 1950 to 1963.

The stories have been published as three anthologies. Five of her novels were made into movies in Kannada – Sharapanjara, Bellimoda, Hoovu-Hannu, Hannele Chiguridaga and Kankana.

Triveni shot to fame for her barrier-breaking, revolutionary subjects she chose to write, which even male writers did not dare to touch. She won several awards, including ‘Devaraj Bahadur’ award and the state award. Her works are read widely even today and some of them have been prescribed as textbooks in schools and colleges.

Pankaj Modi said the restoration will be done carefully, using the same kind of materials used a century ago.

“The works are expected to be completed in a year. Some portions of the restoration will be left exposed for the benefit of architecture students. The furniture that Triveni used will be curated to recreate her home, its ambience and times,” he said.

Meera said her father S N Shankar, a retired English professor, remained a widower after the demise of her mother in 1963, till his last breath in 2012.

“My father had preserved all my mother’s belongings and handed them over to me, when I returned from the US. Almost everything that my mother used like her sarees, manuscripts, notings and makeup kits is there. There will be a hall for literary activities in the museum,” she said.

Parvathi Vattam, a family counsellor, said a counselling centre will be part of the museum as most of the novels deal with the psychology of humans.

“The centre is the brainchild of Triveni’s granddaughter Dr Anusha Kumar, a psychologist pursuing higher studies in the US,” she said.