IN FOCUS
Shivamogga
Whenever the proposal to utilise water from River Sharavathi to quench the thirst of Bengalureans surfaces in the corridors of power in the capital, novelist Na. D’Souza from Sagar in Shivamogga district raises his voice to oppose it. He led a series of protests against such a move in 2019. Again, recently, when the talk on the project resurfaced, the writer reiterated his stand and appealed to the people of Malnad to oppose it, highlighting the damage the project could cause.
In his six-decade career as a writer, Na. D’Souza has always responded to issues that he believes are detrimental to Malnad. In fact, his career began with witnessing the pains of displacement that the people of Sagar and Hosanagar taluks in Shivamogga underwent following the construction of the Lingamakki dam to generate power. Being a typist at the office of the Sharavathi Project back then, he listened to the stories of many people who came to meet the officers every day. And those stories compelled him to write the travails, livestock and wildlife.
Satyanarayana G.T., a writer and resident of Karuru in Sagar taluk, feels that Na. D’Souza has been the voice of the voiceless. “Hundreds of people who lost their homeland have found a place in the novels of D’Souza. In fact, his novels based on displacement offer us the details of our native place that we miss a lot,” he said.
Tenant farmers
His other interesting work is Kolaga, a novel that narrates the story of historic Kagodu Sathyagraha, a struggle of tenant farmers against the landlords in the early 1950s. As a youth, D’Souza was a keen observer of the struggle that attracted socialist leaders like Rammanohar Lohia to Sagar and face police action.
D’Souza has penned 40 novels, many short stories, plays, and stories for children as well. His story Mulugadeya Urige Bandavaru for children won him a Central Sahitya Akademi award. He presided over the 80th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held in Madikeri in 2014. Whenever there is an issue concerning local people, he hits the streets and joins the protests. D’Souza was one of a writers who received multiple threat letters in recent years allegedly from right wing activists.
Among the short stories and novels that D’Souza wrote, Dweepa, a novella, brought him fame and wider recognition in the literary world after it was adapted into a film. Noted director Girish Kasaravalli directed the play in 2001, and it won a national award.
Through the family of three people, the author narrates the travails of displacement. First, it was published in a weekly in 1970. Later, it was published in book form in 1978. Girish Kasaravalli was adapted into a movie in 2001. Actress Soundarya, who played the role of Nagi, added value to the movie with her performance. It was screened at many international film festivals. The novella was translated into English om 2013 by Susheela Punitha as part of a series published by Oxford University Press.
His other novels that figured on the silver screen are Kadina Benki, (Directed by Suresh Heblikar, Baluvali, (Director: Sirigandha Srinivasa Murthy), Bettada Purada Ditta Makkalu (Director: Kodlu Ramakrishna) and Antharya (Director: Manu)
Over the years D’Souza has written 45 novels. Suvvi Prakashana, a publishing house in Shikaripura, has recently brought out his complete works in nine volumes. “The volume of his writing is also tremendous. He has written nearly 6,000 pages,” said Sunil, the publisher. Besides novels, he wrote short stories, plays, plays for children and poems, among other things.
