What does it mean to read The Essential U.R. Ananthamurthy at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rhetoric and roadshow could not help the BJP in Karnataka’s recent assembly election? In his last book, Hindutva or Hind Swaraj (2014/ 2016), U.R. Ananthamurthy (URA) vehemently criticised Modi’s political culture and genuinely practised what the Greeks called ‘parrhesia’ — speaking truth to power. The present volume, consisting of carefully and judiciously selected pieces, helps us grasp this liberal mind and his times.
Three volumes of URA’s writings in English — U.R. Ananthamurthy: An Omnibus (2008), Rujuvathu: Selected Essays (2014) and Hunt Bangle Chameleon (2014) — are already available to readers. This new anthology includes excerpts from four novels, five poems, six short stories, nine essays and speeches, besides excerpts from life narratives — Suragi (2012/ 2017) — and A Life in the World (2019), a book of interviews Chandan Gowda conducted with URA.
