nameof religion thatis behindsuch
practices. It is veryeasyto under-
standtheconspiracybehindbrah-
minisingthe Dattatreya of the Natha
traditionwhohadrejectedthe caste
system” (FromTheWayI SeeIt:A
GauriLankeshReader).
In a photographof theera,one
canseeKarnadposingwithGauri
Lankeshandotherprogressive intel-
lectuals fromKarnatakasuchas K.
MarulasiddappaandG.K.Govinda
Raoduringa hurriedlycalled press
conference.In another photograph,
Karnad is seenleadinga procession
calling for communal harmony.
Thus,Karnadwasnot an intellectual
whocalled for reform onlythrough
his pen.He tookto thestreets and
mobilised supportin hisfight against
communalism.
A secondissuethathe tooka
standon is moredirectlylinkedto his
vastcreativeoeuvre,specificallyto
his playTheDreamsof TipuSultan
in whichhe bringsout the nuancesin
thecharacterof Tipu.In 1996,the
BBCcommissionedKarnadto write
a radioplayto markthe50than-
niversaryof IndianIndependence.
“Theplotobviously hadto dealwith
someaspectof Indo-Britishrelations
andI immediatelythought of Tipu
Sultan,oneof themostpolitically
perceptive andtragicfigures in mod-
ern Indianhistory,” Karnad writesin
theprefacetoTheDreamsof Tipu
Sultan. In thefirst act itself, Karnadreferences oneof Tipu’s dreams in
whichhe getsa dilapidatedtemple
repaired. Thisplaydidnotgetthe
admiring sighs that followed his
other plays like Yayati,
Hayavadana,TaleDanda,Tughlaq
andOdakaluBimbabut,lookingat
it in retrospect,perhapstheplay
offeredevenbetter insightsintothe
troubledconsciousnessof our nation
as prejudicial opposition to Tipuwas
in its nascentstagethen.
Karnad’s obsession with TipuSul-
tan wasprescient as a few years later
there was a severe kerfuffle in
Karnataka, with the State govern-
mentdeciding to mark the birthday of
Tipu Sultan as TipuJayanti in 2015.
Karnad was invited to speak on the