Image courtesy: Live Mint

In a way we belonged to the same generation of English writers, somewhere between the old guard of the Famous Three (Narayan, Raja Rao and Mulk Raj Anand) and the writers who came later and made Indian writing known through the world. I first knew him as the writer of  the Marathi novel Saat Sakkam Trechalis. He never wrote in Marathi again. I don’t know exactly what it was that made him so angry and bitter that he turned to English, but I saw an example of the hostility he must have faced in the nasty expletive a Marathi writer once used against him. Happily, Kiran got over whatever it was that had happened. And he was fortunate to be happily bilingual, he could write in both Marathi and English with equal ease.  His books like Ravan and Eddie, Cuckold and God’s Little Soldier established him as one of the India’s best English writers. Cuckold was an amazing book, it is one of the books about which I think `I wish I had written it’. I met him during the launch of God’s Little Soldier in Bangalore. He was touchingly pleased that I had gone for his launch. 

I am very glad that Kiran got both recognition and appreciation in his last years. Too often writers don’t get it in their life time.  Writers like to be remembered through their books and I am sure Kiran will be remembered for his Cuckold, that it will continue to be read for years to come.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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The Indian writing community is grieved at the loss of yet another fearless writer. Renowned writer Adil Jussawalla said, “Kiran, though deeply affected by local and national events, was never a parochial writer. He wrote passionately against the unjust and brutal effects of our social and political systems, he was quick to expose our hypocrisies, but that, I believe, is because he never gave up on a vision he held on to all his life – a humanely generous vision, its grounds compassionate, its scope international. We have lost a treasure.”

Speaking to the Indian Cultural Forum, poet Keki Daruwalla, who was on the jury which awarded Nagarkar the Sahitya Akademi award, said, “I am very very sorry at this terrible loss. He was a very fine writer. I read his book Cuckold and I found it exalting.”

Author and poet, K Satchidanandan remembers Nagarkar for the fine bi-lingual fiction writer he was as well as for his commitment to social movements. He says, “[Kiran Nagarkar] will be remembered for a long time for his acute political awareness, profound humanism, deep sense of humour and irony and uncompromising stand against every form of authoritarianism and hierarchies of power. I have lost an intimate friend, and India, an extraordinary writer of grit and skill.”

Writer Githa Hariharan, reflecting on his legacy, said “Kiran Nagarkar showed us what it is to be a questioning writer and citizen. Both his work and his life were guided by reason; he was outspoken, willing to take risks. The best tribute we can pay him is to continue the good fight.”

Kiran Nagarkar was a friend and advisor of the Indian Writers Forum. His loss will be felt deeply. In 2015, when the forum was just finding its feet, Nagarkar visited our studio and spoke about one year of the Modi government at the centre and its attack on rationality and scientific temper.

Read more:
Ananya Vajpeyi in conversation with Writer Kiran Nagarkar
“Har Koi Chahta Hai Ek Mutthi Aasmaan”

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum
 

The post Kiran Nagarkar: An extraordinary writer of grit and skill appeared first on SabrangIndia.