'His Life, Words And Deeds Were
Silent Teachers'
Appeared in rediff.com July
02, 2025 16:26 IST
Shivanand Kanavi remembers his
father, the eminent Kannada poet Nadoja Chennaveera Kanavi.
IMAGE: Chennaveera Kanavi, the eminent Kannada poet, on an early
morning walk on the Karnatak University Dharwad campus. Photograph:
Kedarnath
To say in a few words about Nadoja
Chennaveera Kanavi, -- Apparu for us, his and Santadevi's children, -- is very
difficult, but I will try.
He passed away on February 16, 2022.
June 28 being his birthday, he would have been 97 now.
He lived a full and creative life
and, in many ways, he was an ideal father. Now that I too have grown up
children and even college going grandchildren, I know how in many ways I fall
short of the standards Apparu set for fatherhood.
He was strict and helpful when we
were children but as I grew up and started going to Karnatak College in
Dharwad, his attitude totally changed. He became a friend.
He never imposed his religious,
political or personal views on me in any way.
I was and am an atheist. He was an
admirer of Basavanna and other Vachanakaras of the 12th century. He would do
his ishtalinga pooja in the morning in the privacy of
his pooja room. He never went to a temple to worship nor did
any homa, havana etc.
He at the most cautioned in me in my
youth if I was making some radical choices in career but was always democratic,
liberal and non-intrusive.
He never spent time preaching me
about life and values. His life, his words and deeds were silent teachers.
We used to enjoy the first recitation
of most of his new poems as soon as he finished writing them. But when his
creative process was on, he could not be disturbed and he would be in his
intellectual cocoon, meditating his words and lines during his daily morning
and evening walks or pottering around his home garden.
He had a great sense of humour and
was an excellent mimic. He used to take us in our childhood to all the morning
shows of English comedies at the Dharwad cinema talkies on Sundays. We saw many
Laurel & Hardy, Jerry Lewis films with him.
He enjoyed them perhaps even more
than us. Comedians Narasimharaju and Balakrishna of Kannada films were his
favourites.
Even as he grew older he did not lose
his love of comedy and even slapstick. He used to regularly watch television
comedies like"Papa Pandu. We used to be amused by his child-like
enjoyment of slapstick.
He was certainly a unique person in
my experience because of his integral personality. His inner world and outer
world were one.
He was very sensitive and kind
hearted towards all. Family members, friends, strangers, even plants and
animals.
He had the amazing empathy and
circumspection to not to lose his balance in evaluating anything or person. At
the same time he genuinely appreciated the positive elements and talents and
creativity in others while ignoring their accompanying weaknesses.
He was very civil and polite and
without a shade of arrogance but also had a quiet self confidence.
Not only in his external public
behaviour but also in front of us, within the family. They were not a facade
for him. It was his inner nature too.
I have seen enough creative people in
arts, literature, science and technology who could rarely appreciate and admire
their peers while thinking no end of themselves.
He had none of that publicly or
privately. That requires a great amount of integrity, balance and self
confidence and a secure personality.
He was a poet who created and lived
in his poetic world.
Many people think he never got angry.
They are wrong. He used to get very angry with any shoddy work or badly
organised event or poorly proofed copy.
I was lucky that I spent about a year
with him just before Covid and discussed his Samagra Kavya as
well as Vachana Sahitya.
I miss him. I wish I had spent more
time discussing literature; his and others. He lives on among not only in the
memories of his family and friends but also in all lovers of Kannada poetry.
Shivanand Kanavi, a frequent contributor to Rediff.com, is a
theoretical physicist, business journalist and former VP at TCS.
He has authored the award winning book Sand to Silicon: The Amazing
Story Of Digital Rechnology (Tata McGraw Hill, 2004, Rupa Books 2007)
and edited Research by Design: Innovation and TCS (Rupa Books
2007).
