Just A Few Pages- Some Memories of Saraswati Bai Rajwade

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About the Book This book is a coming together of two women writers of modern Kannada literature; one from its early period, the other, a contemporary. Saraswati Bai Rajwade, the early writer, became a fable, a mythology, leaving behind only the shadows of her writing. Vaidehi, the contemporary writer, reinvents Rajwade from the folds of history and gives her a life in the present.

Saraswati Bai Rajwade was born into a poor family in the Dakshina Kannada of yore. By chance, she stepped into theatre and later into films. But all the glory that came to her unexpectedly, vanished just as suddenly. She later became the wife of a rich and high official, travelled abroad and underwent immense suffering. In her pain and loneliness, she took to books and also began to write and attained glory as a writer. In the last years of her life, she returned to a life of austerity and anonymity.

Vaidehi has collected bits and pieces from her life and wanting, presenting before us a unique tapestry. In this tapestry, Vaidehi's perceptions criss-cross with Rajwade's life and writing.

Art does not reside in the object, but in its close encounter with life. This work unfolds before us as a grand illustration of such twin narratives.

About the Author Janaki Srinivasa Muphy, popularly known by her pen name Vaidehi is one of the most significant and prolific writers of modern Kannada. An author of 43 works, consisting of short stories, poetry, fiction, reminiscences, essays, children's plays and translations, Vaidehi's creativity is multi-faceted. Her stories are well crafted and its chief characters are women. One of the distinguishing features of Vaidehi's writings is that, while she deftly registers the silent groans and whispers of women trapped in patriarchal customs and beliefs, she also reveals the hidden strengths of such women who devise their own ways of protest against such a system. Many of her works have also been translated into English. She is widely read and has received many awards, such as the Anupama Award, the M K Indira Prize, the Karnataka Sahithya Academy Awards, the prestigious Dana Chinthamani Attimabbe Award, the Masti Award, the Rajarshi Nalvadi Krishna Raja Wodeyar Award and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award. She has been conferred Doctorate by the Karnataka State Open University.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages