Kefa, the pen name of A. V. Keshavamurthy, is a familiar name for those who have been reading humorous writings published in Kannada periodicals. He was popular in the 70s and 80s. For unknown reasons, he receded to oblivion without much recognition. This is a collection of his select writings respectfully edited by one of our thinking writers, S. Diwakar.
Kannada literature cannot boast of rich tradition of humorous writing. “Koravanji”, a periodical’ meant to publish humorous writings did not last long. Humorous writers and their writings are not taken seriously by critics either. Writers like T.Sunandamma, Dasharathi Dikshith, H.L. Keshava Murthy and others are not considered important writers of the language. Kefa’s humour is tasteful, subtle and sensitive. It is borne out of rich-old Mysore upper middle-class Brahmin culture. Of course, much of the humour in the book looks contrived. There is a scheme with which the 25 episodes are narrated. Panduranga Rao, the narrator and endearingly addressed as ‘Pandu’ by his acquaintances, is a lazy and fun-loving bachelor who is fond of nicer things in life. He is a proactive member of a club called “Mygallara Sangha”. He agets into some problem – domestic, social, political, and most importantly, they have no solutions. But, the intelligent and ubiquitous assistant, Shourie, who is sharp and hardnosed, solves those problems and transfers all the credit to his master ungrudgingly.
Pandu’s community consists of Babu, Jagga, Raghanni, Kitti, Venku, Sheeni, Raja, Chandi, Peter, Bhansingh, Gulabi Mala and others. Though the locale of all their activities is the simple old Mysore of 50s and 60s, more particularly localities in Mysore like the Clock Tower, Shivarampet, Ittigegud, Chamundipura, Old Agrahara, etc., the characters are drawn from different walks of life. They hail from different religions, cultures, and linguistic backgrounds. The narration is studded with the Mysore delicacies like bisibelebath, badanekayi vangibath, laadu, gasa-gase payasa, aambode, Mysore jasmine, Nanjanagud Rasabale, ‘strong’ coffee, topping all this with the wine parties in the evenings at ‘Mygallara Sangha’. Besides, you have ‘Ghantaghosha’, the local newspaper whose prime concern seems to be publishing the activities of ‘Mygallara Sangha’ and nothing else.
During all the activities of the lazy Pandu and Shourie, there is rich humour rendered in Kannada which looks outlandish. Though the Kannada used here is not like that of Kailasam whose mix of Kannada with English and Urdu was unique, one cannot not miss code mixing and code switching, the main purpose of which is to evoke laughter. Expressions like ‘seetastha’ (taking his seat), ‘sippebitta’ (he sipped), ‘rich soillu’ (fertile soil), ‘thumba clanishu’ (too clannish) are linguistically interesting expressions. There are occasionally translations of English idioms which look comical in Kannada like ‘skeletons in the cupboard’ becomes ‘yaryara beerunalliro asthipanjara’. ‘Don’t ficker bus’ refers to private transport buses of those days which were largely driven by muslims. The typical expressions of the time like – ‘ardha cigaretu samaya’, ‘morning show shuruvago samaya: etc., makes for an interesting observation of what constituted the time markers of the period of a particular class and lifestyle.
K. Sundara Raj (The Hindu)
Title : Best of Kefa Edited: S. Diwakar Publication: Ankita Pustaka Rate: Rs. 95/-
Filed under: ಹಾಸ್ಯ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ | Leave a comment »
ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಪ್ರೀತಿ 