A new book series on 54 women personalities from diverse fields, different districts and caste backgrounds, published by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy, attempts to create a space for them in public memory — women whose contributions have remained on the periphery of Karnataka's social, cultural and political discourse.
On June 5 the Karnataka Sahitya Academy released a series of 54 books on notable women from Karnataka. "A year ago, the Department of Kannada and Culture gave a grant of Rs 30 lakh to the Karnataka Sahitya Academy to publish this series. The Academy brought in HL Pushpa and Meenakshi Baali to edit the series, along with Prabhu Khanapure and Harish Kumar as sub-editors," said LN Mukundaraj, president of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy.
Among those featured are Sarojini Mahishi, Karnataka's first woman Member of Parliament; environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka, renowned for planting and nurturing 385 banyan trees along a 4.5-km stretch between Hulikal and Kudur in Bengaluru's south district; and social reformer Pandita Ramabai, the first woman to receive the title of ‘Pandita’ for her scholarship in Sanskrit.
Other figures in the series include freedom fighter and cultural activist Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, journalist Gauri Lankesh, Hindustani classical vocalist Gangubai Hangal, and educationist Umabai Kundapur, among others.
"The editors selected these personalities based on certain criteria. They should all be deceased and relatively little should be known about them publicly. They were also chosen from diverse fields such as art, science, culture, and politics. The editors further ensured that women from every single district in Karnataka, and from different caste and class backgrounds were represented," Mukundaraj added.
Speaking to TNM, series editor Meenakshi Bali said, “Our limitation was that we could only release books on 54 personalities. Figures such as Maharani Kempa Nanjammani remain virtually unknown. These women have not attained visibility in our textbooks or our conversations.”
Speaking about the skewed gender ratio in Kannada language textbooks, Meenakshi noted, “Some literary figures are included in the Kannada optional syllabus, such as Sara Aboobacker, but have largely remained in the dark room of history. With this book series, we are making an attempt to start a conversation about these women.”
When asked whether books can still find an audience in the age of social media, Mukundaraj was unfazed. "It is an old worry that nobody reads anymore. With every generation, this question keeps coming up. The same question came up when Gubbi Veeranna started his theatre company and everyone started attending theatre performances.”
Gubbi Veeranna was a pioneer theatre practitioner in Karnataka who established the Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company.
Mukundaraj added, “When films began to be made, people were concerned about theatre. When television became widespread, they worried about films. Whether it is films or social media, the question never goes away. People who read will read, and those who don't will never pick up a book.”
Each title in the series has been published in Kannada with a print run of 1,000 copies and will be available at the Karnataka Sahitya Academy book stall at Ravindra Kalakshetra, Bengaluru.
This article was written by a student interning with TNM.