Concept of my first Kannada Novel-

“ Tarangini Teeradalli” ( ತರಂಗಣ ತೀರದಲಲ )

(Book released on 21st October’2012)

The South Indian tiny and secluded village Bhimanadoddi (now renamed as Taranginipura) situated on the bank of river Tarangini has people belonging to various caste and creed. In this village, there are houses belonging to Brahmins, Vakkaligas, Lingayats, goldsmith, barber, Muslims, Christian and scheduled caste & scheduled tribes. Villagers are involved in various economic, social and cultural functions to maintain social harmony. Their sense of unity shows, when they participate in all the festivals. Bhimanadoddi may appear isolated and removed from the map of India, but it is compensated by the literate villagers. Their active involvement in ceremonies and rituals irrespective of the religion created a wonderful bond of love and affection. The regular involvement of the villagers in Ganesha Chaturthi, Dasara, Deepavali, Kaarahunnime and Satyanarayana puja, Muharrum, Christmas and Good Friday shows how united they are. Earlier Ramachar Bevinur an old man and priest of the Maruti Temple read out Puranas, religious discourses, on special occasions.

Present priest of the Maruti temple, Keshava Murthy continued daily pujas to keep alive the belief of the villagers the sense of existence of God. Villagers had belief that by participating in all rituals they will be protected from famine, disease, death and despair. If the rainfall fails, the villagers fall at God’s feet. There is also another temple of Goddess Mariyamma, who is popularly called as a “Graama Devata” (Village Goddess). Every year devotees arrange annual

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jatra (fair) of Goddess Mariyamma. People from the surrounding villages also attend the Mariyamma jatra with full faith and devotion. They enjoy participating in the various adventurous games and indulge in shopping in the makeshift shops. During this period a cattle fair is arranged by the gram panchayat. The choice of this tiny secluded village setting is strategic in view of the noble cause to develop a model village of India.

Protagonist of the novel Dheerendra Manjunatha Taranginipura (in short ‘DHEEMANT’, which means in Kannada wise, learned, intelligent and smart) got the inspiration from the famous model villages of India. He went to three selected model villages of India and interacted with the persons responsible and gained thorough knowledge on model village.

People with this name ‘Dheemant’ tend to be very warm and nurturing. Such persons are extremely reliable and are often found taking care of others rather than him. They have deep need to try and create harmony in their surroundings. Bhimanadoddi village is an enchanting story of how the illiterate poor villagers educate themselves and continue studies with zeal and enthusiasm. The impossible task was possible through the wonderful ideas of a delightful local man Dheerendra, an ex- Indian Foreign Service professional, who commands not only wisdom and humor but a rare quality of team spirit. He was very much depressed, when he witnessed the entire villagers were under the grip of one disease or the other. In the absence of medical facility the death rate was increasing everyday. He came to India on leave, when he was working as a Diplomat at Washington DC. Two days before of his visit, he lost his parents on the same day. The

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horrible situation of village Bhimanadoddi influenced him very much. He took a bold decision of resigning from 20 years of service and stay in the village with noble cause to improve the condition of the villagers. His wife Shailaja was also equally influenced by the situation prevailing in the village. She gave her acceptance to go ahead with the noble mission. Behind every successful man, there is a woman. Shailaja has proved it by dedicating herself to the noble cause. Apart from Shailaja, there were other persons and institutions, which helped him to achieve the goal. The vested interest people in the village created number of problems to Dheerendra. Even these cruel people threatened to murder him, in case if he continued his efforts. He faced all the situations boldly and achieved his goal after six years.

The technique of the novel is an attempt to follow a unique method of traditional systems of remote village with a modern outlook. Novel begins with the opening lines of nature’s description of sun rise and its beautiful scene of colorful rays on the river Tarangini. The people visit the river early in the morning to enjoy the natural scene. The place has become tourist centre attracted by Indians and foreigners. People coming from other places watch the beautiful sun rise in their own perspective. For instance, a scientist will see with a scientific mind. A research student will see with research mind. A religious person views the scene with devotion in his mind. Children enjoy the scene too. Others have come to pass the time. Their activities are highlighted.

The title of the Kannada novel “Tarangini Teeradalli’ has got wider meaning. Tarangini is a holy river. Teeradalli means on the bank of the river. It is a

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story of the people on the bank of the river. The story is about six decades of four generations ups and downs of the river bank villagers is depicted. The natural scene of sunrise and sunset on the river, mountains, big banyan tree with platform are some of the attractions for the people of India and abroad.

It is a sincere attempt to use innovative Kannada language with creative ideas. It is also a sincere attempt to narrate the developments that shook the village is expressed in an effective way. The novel is significant because of its noble theme. There are about 80 people in the novel in one context or the other. About 20 to 25 people directly or indirectly interact with the protagonist. Out of 3000 population of the village about 90% favor for development of the village. The 10% of the population were highly influenced section of the village and rightly called as vested interest people stopped the noble cause with their actions. The hero of the novel Dheerendra belongs to third generation. The villagers felt the sense of community and freedom for the welfare of the village. The novel is an attempt to depict systematically as how the villagers join the mainstream of movement to reach the goal. The tension between the village community and the vested interest people was of do or die situation. Ultimately the villagers won under the able leadership of Dheerendra. He was able to get the support and active participation of all of his friends to achieve the goal.

The novel is divided into 30 chapters. First and second chapters are dealt with the nature’s beauty and the attractive picture of the model village Taranginipura (earlier Bhimanadoddi). One chapter is exclusively dealt with the peaceful life of first generation with

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the limited resources. Subsequent chapters are dealt with the second generation of the two families became vested interest and created vitiated atmosphere. Few chapters are dealt with childhood life of protagonist and his friends. The end is happy as well as tragedy. It is happy for the villagers of the Bhimanadoddi. The village has become an advanced model and smart village of India. It is a tragedy for those vested interests, who indulged in unlawful activities even, attempted the murder of a protagonist for their personal gain. They had a criminal record of duping the public money and murder of innocent people. Dheerendra was on their hit list. With God’s grace, he survived from these unwanted social elements. But his left leg was injured during the shoot out. He was admitted in the hospital and recovered from the injury. The wicked persons were sentenced 15 years imprisonment with one year rigorous imprisonment. The associates of these criminals were also sentenced imprisonment according to their crime.

After discharge from the hospital, Dheerendra came to Bheemandoddi and realized that the prominent families of the village Patel and Sahukar will be vanished without a legal heir. He thought it should not happen. He suggested Sumangala (wife of Sadashiv Sahukar) to arrange marriage of Durga and Jyoti. She accepted the suggestion and accordingly arranged the marriage. After one year Durga and Jyoti gave birth to male babies.

There is a changed peaceful atmosphere in the houses of Patel and Sahukar. People were happy to see the change. Dheerendra was completely cured from the leg injury during the shoot out and discharged from the hospital.

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