Noted writer Chandrashekhar Patil passed away around 6.30 am on Monday morning at a private hospital in Bengaluru. He was aged 83.
He was suffering from age-related ailments and survived by his wife and two children. Family sources have said that his body will be brought to his Gayathri Layout house where the final rites will be performed.
Who was Champa?
Born in 1939, Champa was a rebel who was one of the foremost voices of the Bandaya movement. He was a student of Linguistics and the editor of the influential literary journal Sankramana which was started with two of his friends Siddalinga Pattanashetti and Giraddi Govindaraj in 1964.
Chandrashekhar Patil was always at the forefront when it came to supporting the cause of the Kannada language and Karnataka. He was known for leading many social and literary movements such as Gokak agitation, Bandaya movement, anti-Emergency agitation, agitation for the implementation of Mandal report, Farmer's movement, etc.
After retiring as professor of English from Karnataka University, Patil served as the President of Kannada Sahitya Parishat and as the Chairman of Kannada Development Authority.
Protesting the assassination of his friend and Vachana scholar MM Kalburgi, he had returned his Pampa Award, the highest literary honour of the government of Karnataka.
Life in Theatre
He adopted absurd techniques to provide satirical take on society in his plays. In his 1969 play, 'Appa' was inspired by 12th-century philosopher Basaveshwara's 'vachana' which dealt with a son of a prostitute searching for his father.
In his 1971 play Gurutinavaru, he tried to showcase how friends become strangers and strangers become friends due to circumstances. His Tingara Buddanna was inspired by the mythological story of Bhasmasura.
It told how the character of destroying others ultimately leads to self-destruction. Champa also penned street like Nalakaviya mastabhisheka or 'Nalakavi's Consecration' in 1979.
List of his plays:
Appa -1969
Gurtinavaru – 1971
Tingara Buddanna – 1971
Gokarna Goudasani – 1974
Nalakaviya Mastabhisheka – 1979
