S.L.Bhyrappa

The raging debate/name-calling that is going on in various media on the topic of ಆವರಣ, S.L.Bhyrappa and U.R.Ananthamurthy had so far failed to elicit any response from Bhyrappa himself. He has now however given an interview to the blog churumuri.com

Bhyrappa is very eloquent which is not unusual for a writer. The man is also very earnest in his speech and mannerisms which rivets the listener to his words. This interview is no exception.

I had the chance to observe him at the AKKA Sammelana in Baltimore last year. I never saw him smile once in all the three days. Indeed, he has a rather dour demeanour. He kept to himself, eating alone and sitting at a distance from everyone if he could help it. This in sharp contrast to the likes of Chandrashekhar Patil who would not be seen without his entourage. Or Lakshminarayana Bhatta who being such a pleasant and friendly person always had people around him.

I also observed that Bhyrappa is usually reluctant to volunteer his opinion on anything. Sometimes though, someone would say something that provoked his sensibilities so much that Bhyrappa would squirm in his chair fighting the urge to say something, fret some more, and then finally stand up and say it like it is. And when he spoke, people listened. He also has a way of putting his arguments that tells us it is the last word. URA is probably right in calling him a ಚರ್ಚಾಪಟು for he certainly knows how to debate well.

His spoken Kannada is tinged by his roots and gives a quaint intimate feel to his scholarly speech. For example, he says "ಇಟ್ಟ್ಕಂಡು" instead of the city standard of "ಇಟ್ಟ್ಕೊಂಡು", and "ಮಾಡ್ಕಂಡು" instead of "ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಂಡು". I remember a few letters that the late Govinda Pai had sent my grandfather which I found in his stack of correspondence. He had used the word "ಮಡಗಿದ್ದೇನೆ" instead of the more standard "ಇಟ್ಟಿದ್ದೇನೆ" which brought immediately the picture of a gentle grandfather instead of the professorial image I had of him.

I doubt however if anyone would describe Bhyrappa as endearing. For some reason, every time I think of him, the image of Sardar Patel comes to my mind. Both are no nonsense types who didn't tolerate idiots all that well. Both of them got bad press for a variety of reasons. And both of their fields of work would be remarkably empty without their respective contributions.