By Prof. G.L. Shekar

Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa is a Pan-Indian writer and has touched the hearts of millions of literary lovers across the country through translation of his novels and classic works.

Dr. Bhyrappa has special attachment particularly to Pune and Mumbai, for his books  (both in Kannada and Marathi) have many readers. There are a good number of his admirers in Kannada Department of Mumbai University as well. Dr. Bhyrappa has visited the Department several times and has spent a great deal of time with the faculty and students.

In May 2022, when he visited Mumbai to inaugurate the renovated auditorium Gokula, Dr. G.N. Upadhya, Head of Kannada Department of Mumbai University, arranged for an informal discussion with Dr. Bhyrappa and students. This literary discussion was documented and subsequently published as a book titled ‘Bhashegala Gadi Gedda Bharatiya.’

The articles of this book are diverse in nature, very passionate, sincere and nascent. The authors have lucidly written about Dr. Bhyrappa’s novels; the way characters are built and the uniqueness of writings that touch the readers.

One of the articles compares the bond Dr. Bhyrappa has with Mumbai that was also cherished by Dr. Shivarama Karanth.  There are articles about ‘Bhitti,’ ‘Mandra,’ ‘Yana’ and ‘Parva.’ Dr. Bhyrappa’s candid thoughts about his magnum opus ‘Parva’ are included in the book. Some of the facts mentioned in this book are not even mentioned in his article,  ‘Parvavannubaredaddu.’

Dr. Bhyrappa has indeed conquered the linguistic boundaries across the globe through ‘Parva,’ which has been  translated to Russian and Chinese languages.

Another striking feature of this book is an article which consolidates all the non-fictional writings of Dr. Bhyrappa. It is definitely unique as we seldom see his non-fictional work being discussed elsewhere. ‘Bhashegala Gadi Gedda Bharatiya’ has been received well by Kannadigas, particularly in Mumbai.

It was released recently at Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs by Jnanpith awardee Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambar at a function organised by S.L. Bhyrappa Sahitya Pratishthana.

Dr. G.N. Upadhya is the Editor while Dr. Uma Ramarao is the Co-editor of the book, which contains fourteen articles authored by the members of the Kannada Department. The 214-page book, published by Kannada Department of Mumbai University, is priced at Rs. 250.