Mysore, Oct. 8:

Following objections to convert R.K. Narayan’s house at Yadavagiri into a memorial in his name by some Kannada litterateurs, the matter was taken up by the Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes who wrote a letter in this regard to the Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal urging him to allocate funds to set up the memorial. The full text of the letter written by Oscar Fernandes is produced here below:

Dear Shri Kapil Sibal Ji, 5th October 2012

R.K. Narayan, the celebrated writer who wrote in the English language, was a resident of Mysore. A memorial was conceptualised to honour his memory. The creation of ‘Malgudi’ was his contribution to the literary world, as also his creation of so many loved and memorable characters. A controversy has recently broken out with some Kannada writers aligned to the Right-Wing claiming that R.K. Narayan was not a Kannadiga and therefore opposed the establishment of a memorial for him. Some others like Girish Karnad, U.R. Ananthamurthy and others support his memorial. I am enclosing an article written by Prof. K.C. Belliappa, former Vice- Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University, in the Outlook Magazine dated 8th October, 2012 for your kind perusal.

In this light, it may be a step in the right direction if your Ministry may kindly consider making some contribution to erect a memorial for Shri R.K. Narayan, who is indubitably one of India’s finest writers in English. I shall be grateful, if you could kindly consider the request and do the needful.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

(Oscar Fernandes)

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / October 08th, 2012