It was a life lived well
M. MADAN MOHAN
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Narayanrao Krishnarao Kulkarni became a household name in North Karnataka with his popular radio programmes. The endearing Nani Kaka is no more.
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PROLIFIC N.K. Kulkarni has to his credit 13 novels, eight books on literary criticism, 20 one-act plays, and biographies
He was amiable and soft. It was a characteristic trait of the nonagenarian Kannada writer, N.K. Kulkarni, popularly known as his pen name Enke, who died in Dharwad last week, at the ripe age of 92. There is not a form of literature that Enke didn't engage himself with.
In his career that spanned six long decades, he wrote some 30,000 pages of literature. Nevertheless, the coveted president's post of the Kannada Sahitya Parishath eluded him throughout, despite the fact that his name was in the run for the post on several occasions. Though Enke was upset with this, he never spoke about it. One always wondered if that permanent smile he wore was a façade to conceal the ever so many disappointments, personally and professionally. Narayanrao Krishnarao Kulkarni who was born on August 29, 1913, in Gadag, was always interested in literature. He joined All India Radio and served the institution as Producer for 33 years. His focus was mainly on dramas and he continued to pursue it even after his retirement.
Even as he pursued a career in AIR, he never gave up writing. In the hospital, on the bed, a few days before he died, he told his friends that he would write an article on how he suffered the fracture. However, that was a wish unfulfilled.
With AIR
It was during his service in AIR that Enke became the household name in Karnataka and people started fondly calling him Nani Kaka (Nani uncle). This was after his role in a serial run by the AIR and became a universal uncle to the young and old alike. His soft voice, the ability to narrate events and write and direct radio plays, had won him a large circle of admirers. It established him as a popular speaker, who could keep his audience spellbound and regale them too.
A prolific writer, Enke has to his credit 13 novels, eight books on literary criticism, 20 one-act plays, biographies and innumerable articles on personalities of the cultural world of Karnataka. His book on Sawai Gandharva of the Kirana Gharana and his biography of Gangubai Hangal, Nanna Badukina Haadu are the most memorable ones. Nanna Badukina Haadu has been translated into English also. He took great pains to profile several artistes of Karnataka.
He was in constant interaction with Kannada writers like the late Da.Ra. Bendre, late Sham.Ba. Joshi, the late V.K. Gokak, the late Ram. Shri. Mugali and many others. He wrote a number of articles, which recalled his association with the late Da.Ra. Bendre. This was even serialised in a Kannada newspaper. His book on Gokak evoked lot of admiration. He had emerged as an authority on Kumaravyasa, a 14th Century poet who penned the epic Mahabharata in Kannada. Enke is said to have done a lot of work, but is yet to see the light of the day. He has left a body of manuscripts, waiting to be published.
His initials NK also stood for North Karnataka, a region, which he loved and spoke openly about the injustice done to the region. A number of awards came his way including the Rajyodaya award and the Academy award and the latest being the honorary doctorate conferred on him by the Karnatak University. The old and fragile NK was brought on stage to receive the honorary doctorate and the scene is still etched in ones memory.
As Dr. Siddalinga Pattanashetti, who brought out two felicitation volumes on NK on the occasion of 70th birthday, puts it thus: "NK is a combination of a historian, novelist, playwright, music lover and connoisseur of art all rolled into one that Karnataka has seen in the recent years."
In summing up Enke's life, Dr. Pattanshetti says how the man kept all the pain for himself and spread happiness around him.
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