Sir,

After hearing Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa at the Mysuru Literary Fest on Sunday, my thoughts went back to the days when he participated in some of the protests MGP held for public causes.

Let me share a few instances of Bhyrappa’s activism that I have witnessed. The first time I met Dr. Bhyrappa was during the election for Mysore Legislative Assembly in which I was contesting as an independent in 1995.

I was going from house to house seeking votes and also asking voters to buy my booklet, “Decline and Fall of Mysore: Who is responsible?” I was selling the booklet to raise money from voters to finance my election while some candidates were giving money to buy votes.

Dr. Bhyrappa’s was one of the houses I visited in Saraswathipuram. I requested him to vote for me and also asked him if he could help me by buying a book. In response, he gave me an envelope with a Rs. 500 note while the price of the book was just Rs. 10. In addition, he offered to support my candidacy by giving a press release stating reasons for his support.

Dr. Bhyrappa was one of the very few intellectuals who felt that honest professionals should be supported if one were to cleanse politics. I had appealed to several well-known authors, professors and important personalities in Mysore. Many of them appreciated the fact that I was contesting but refused to come out publicly to support me or my cause.

Last year when MGP started “Save Chamundi” campaign, one of the intellectuals to come forward to get involved in the campaign was Dr. Bhyrappa. At 9 in the night he called MGP Office seeking assistance to deliver a press note written by him in support of the campaign. His letter generated immense support to “Save Chamundi” campaign.

When a protest was organised by Let’s Do It Mysore! at the foot of Chamundi Hill early in the morning, Bhyrappa enthusiastically participated in it. What was even more interesting was his participation in the public meeting held at Institution of Engineers. This event was to debate the so-called development atop the Hill. Bhyrappa participated even though he was neither a chief guest nor an invited speaker. This speaks about his social commitment.

– Bhamy V. Shenoy, Mysuru, 21.6.2017