Cultural fraternity of Delhi pays tribute to Girish Karnad

Rajkamal Prakashan Samuh organised a condolence meeting to give tribute and celebrate the life of famous playwright, film director and actor Girish Karnad at Triveni auditorium, Triveni Kala Sangam.

Apart from various active theatre groups in Delhi, the event was attended by cultural activists, musicians and people from literary, art and cultural communities. Some of the speakers present at the event were MK Raina, Tripurari Sharma, Bharat Karnad, Arvind Gaur, Anwar Jamal, to name a few. Girish Karnad was the recipient of Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, and Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India. His rise as a play writer in the 1960s, marked the coming age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada.

All the books of Girish Karnad have been published in Hindi by Radhakrishan Prakashan. Some of his famous translations by Radhakrishan Prakashan include 'Agni Aur Barkha', 'Tughlaq','Yayati', among others. His recent book 'Tipu sultan ke khwaab' was also published by Radhakrishan Prakashan, while two books are under production and will be out by end of this year.

In remembrance of Girish Karnad's plays, M K Raina said that "Whether it was Babri Masjid demolition, Emergency or Gauri Lankesh's murder case, Karnad always took a stand on all these issues."

The former director of National School of Drama, Tripurari Sharma also paid her homage at the event. She said that she has grown up watching and reading his plays. She always found his writings to be inspiring. She also added that "He had a fearless and persistent personality, and this also reflected in his writings."

Famous Critic, Devendra Raj Ankur said, "Girish Karnad has paved the way for the future play writers. Also, despite the cultural world, one should not avoid their social responsibilities and take a stand against social evils."

Filmmaker, Anwar Jamal, while sharing his experience said that "Even Shyam Benegal and Satyajeet Dubey knew that they couldn't build a scene or a character without the presence of Girish Karnad."

Ashok Maheshwari, Managing Director of Rajkamal Prakashan said: "Girish Karnad was a man of convincing and intuitive principles."