I knew Girish Karnad. So did several others who live in south Bangalore. You could spot him interacting with a manager in a bank if you happened to visit that bank branch sometime or the other. Or during his morning walks at the Mini Forest park, behind JP Nagar Third Block.

He lived in an independent house in JP Nagar called “Karnad Ganapathi’’ for a long time until he shifted to an apartment on Lavelle Road in the central business district where he spent his last days.

I knew Karnad from when he came to audition actors for his movie Ondanondu Kaaladalli (Once upon a time) at former AIR director Vaman Rao’s house, which is near mine in Dharwad. The movie finally launched Kannada cinema’s iconic actor-director Shankar Nag who went on to direct Malgudi Days .

Karnad would sit there for hours discussing his movie script with Rao and a few others whom I couldn’t identify at the time. Dharwad was, and to some extent still is, the cultural capital of north Karnataka. You could be walking alongside a Karnad, or a DR Bendre (Jnanpith Award winner and a renowned poet) or a Sham Ba Joshi (an authority on Kannada cultural history).

I first spoke to Karnad when I was a reporter for a Mumbai-based afternoon daily. I had watched some of his movies. His Yayati , Samskara , and the play Tuglakh were household names among Kannadigas. He was also part of the new-wave movement that swept the Indian film industry during the seventies. His Manthan , Swami, and Nishant were a must-watch and always a topic for intellectual discussions.

Karnad would talk freely whenever I called him over the phone for a quote and would patiently explain his stand on issues. For as long as I worked for that newspaper, I used to be called, “The Karnad Reporter” - for being able to get him to talk on various issues which my paper would dutifully publish.

But I never met Karnad personally and during those morning walks in the Mini-Forest park, I coudn’t introduce myself to him as I was afraid of disturbing his walks. Also, I had not read a single work nor had I watched any of his plays.

Now that he is gone — being cremated without State honours, as per his wish — one wonders how one would want to remember him — as an excellent playwright, a literary giant or as a thespian?

It depends on what part of his work touched you the most.

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