H.S. Venkatesha Murthy, writer, said on Thursday that writer Vaidehi’s works were mature, straight, simple, and above all, compassionate.
He was speaking after releasing the first audio book produced by the Manipal University Press titled “Vaidehi Dhwani” coinciding with Ms. Vaidehi’s 70th birthday, at a function organised here by the Manipal Centre for European Studies (MCES). Ms. Vaidehi herself has read the stories written by her.
Mr. Murthy said that Ms. Vaidehi had written novels, plays and poems. Her poems always touched the soul of the readers. In all her works, there was spontaneity. “When one read her works, one felt that the words are flowing effortlessly from her pen. Similarly her children’s literature brings the world of children alive. Not only is it lively, but it makes readers recall their childhood days,” Mr. Murthy added.
He said audio books were one of the means of taking works of Kannada literature to the youth, who knew Kannada but could not read it or did not have time to do so.
He concluded his speech with sonnet on Ms. Vaidehi, where he wished that he should have had a younger sister like her.
In her speech, Ms. Vaidehi said it was the generation of her parents, which had inculcated the qualities of love, compassion and feeling for fellow beings in her. People had become too individualistic now. Her childhood and society in Kundapur was a simple one, wherever one felt for everyone else. “Those ties were based on emotion and not on money as it is now,” she said.
Parents were now focusing too much on their children’s education and future prospects. “With the result, the children have no childhood,” she said.
“This is the best birthday of my life. I will cherish it forever. We should find new ways of taking Kannada literature to Kannada lovers,” she said.
‘Vaidehi Dhwani’ audio book released in Manipal
Published - February 13, 2015 12:00 am IST
