V.K Gokak | |
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| Born | (1909-08-10)10 August 1909 Savanur State,Princely state,Deccan States Agency,British India (Savanur in present-dayHaveri district ofKarnataka) |
| Died | 28 April 1992(1992-04-28) (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Professor, writer |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Literary movement | Navodaya |
| Spouse | Sharada Betadur |
| Children | 4 |
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Vinayaka Krishna Gokak (9 August 1909 – 28 April 1992), abbreviated in Kannada asVi. Kru. Gokak, was an Indian writer in theKannada language and a scholar of English andKannada literatures. He was the fifth writer[1] to be honoured with theJnanpith Award in 1990 forKannada language, for hisepicBharatha Sindhu Rashmi which deals with theVedic age. In 1961, Gokak was awarded thePadma Shri from the Government of India forDyava Prithvi.
Gokak was born in aDeshastha Brahmin family[2] on 9 August 1909 to Sundarabai and Krishna Rao.[3] He was educated in Majid High School,Savanur, and attended theKarnataka College Dharawada where he studied literature. He was later awardedfirst class honours by theUniversity of Oxford. On his return from Oxford in 1938, he became the principal ofWillingdon College, Sangli. He was principal ofRajaram College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, from 1950 to 1952. Between 1983 and 1987, he served as the president of theSahitya Akademi. He also served as the director ofIndian Institute of Advanced Study,Shimla, and theCentral Institute of English,Hyderabad. He was an ardent devotee of the spiritual guruSathya Sai Baba and served as the first vice-chancellor ofSri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning,Puttaparthi, between 1981 and 1985, after a stint with theBangalore University.[4] His novelSamarasave Jeevana is considered one of the typical works of Navodaya literature in Kannada.
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Gokak was a prolific writer in both Kannada and English. He was deeply influenced by the Kannada poet D.R Bendre who mentored him during his early forays into Kannada literature. Bendre is reputed to have said that were Gokak to allow his talent to bloom in Kannada, there was a bright future in wait for Gokak and Kannada literature. HisKavyanama (Pen name) was "VINAYAKA"
His epicBharatha Sindhurashmi is 35000 lines long.
His novel 'Samarasave Jeevana' was translated by his daughter Yashodhara Bhat into English under the title 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' and released to worldwide popularity.
In the 1980s, Karnataka was in the midst of an agitation which demanded the replacement of Sanskrit with Kannada as the medium of instruction in schools. V.K Gokak also headed the 'Gokak Committee' which recommended declaring Kannada as the first language in schools in the state.
Gokak's writing reflected his interest in religion, philosophy, education and cultures. His education abroad prompted him to write two sets of travelogues.
The Navodaya movement was at its peak and Gokak stayed true to his spirit- his poems showed nuances of Victorian poetry, oral traditions in Kannada storytelling and epics in Sanskrit and Kannada.
V.K Gokak wrote many collections of poetry under the pen name Vinayaka. These collections include 'Samudra Geethegalu', 'Baaladeguladalli', 'Abhyudaya', 'Dhyava Prithvi' and 'Urnabha'.
Gokak's anthology of poetry by Indian poets titled The Golden Treasury of Indo Anglican poetry was a treatise on poets like Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu and Toru Dutta, Nissim Ezekiel and Kamala Das.
In the late 1960s he was deeply influenced by Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi and over the years, Gokak became the medium for translating the guru's words into English and spreading it to the world. His book 'The Advent of Sathya Sai' explains the meaning of Sathya Sai Baba's miracles, his work with the poor and his impact on the educational system.
The state of Karnataka hosts a series of literary events to mark Gokak's birth centenary on 9 August of every year.
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