Last Sunday (27.3.2011), there was a function at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, which I attended along with N. Ramanuja who presided over the function. The function was of a rare type and it was to release the Compact Disc (E - book) of the Kannada monthly Koravanji meant for humour literature.
Its Editor (practically everything) was Dr. R. Shivaram, popularly known as Rashi. He was a medical doctor but his stethoscope could detect humour. It seems that he was a regular reader of “Punch”, the internationally known humour magazine.
The college in which he was studying auctioned all the old magazines including Punch and Shivaram managed to collect Rs. 3 to buy them. But the Principal himself purchased it at Rs. 4. The boy was highly disappointed. But the understanding Principal presented all these volumes to Shivaram as a gift. This precious gift from the Principal was a turning point in the career of young Shivaram and years later he started the monthly magazine Koravanji.
Actually its first issue appeared on the Ugadi day of Chitrabanu Samvatsara (1942). It lasted for 25 years and when people were expecting to celebrated the Silver Jubilee, he closed it because of many factors including the financial problem. Kannadigas should lower their head in shame for allowing this to happen. Each monthly was sold at 4 annas or 25 paise. The newspaper agents purchased the copies but did not pay the Editor / MD. The doctor who had made a good name had no cure for these agents. That is history now.
I had known Dr. Shivaram but not intimately. In the marriage of my sister – in - law held at Mysore which he attended practically I spent about 2 hours with him. He was making jokes about history, historians and archaeologists.
The word Koravanji in Kannada refers to a group of tribal women living in different parts of South India. They have a distinct dress, have a good voice and earn their livelihood by telling the fortune, which is generally referred to as Kani. They claim a divine origin for their clan. In their lore, it is stated that Parvathi herself took the form of a Koravanji and hence they consider Parvati as their mother. Though magazine Koravanji lives in memory, belles of Koravanji tribe are with us inspite of urbanisation.
The antiquity of humour (hasya) is very difficult to determine; it should be old as the man (including woman) himself. But the million dollar question is who laughed first? However, Hindu Trinity is considered to be the originators of emotions. Sage Bharata in his Natyasastra refers to humour as one of the nine emotions. Let us not worry about these theoretical questions.
Coming back to magazine Koravanji, it has to be accepted that it created a revolution in literary circles. With the help of another humourist N. Kasturi, Shivaram started the publication of this monthly magazine, mostly containing humourous skits, light hearted poems, parodies, gossip, limericks, cartoons etc. Thus the entire gamut of different aspects of human life became the subject matter of Koravanji and that was the reason why it became an instant success.
Another significant feature of Koravanji is the healthy humour. Obscenity never crept into the pages of Koravanji. Obscene jokes and double - meaning dialogues which are the order of the day was never there at Koravanji, which is a great quality indeed; Dr. Shivaram's desire was to create a group of readers who could be elevated to higher levels, rather than going down to their base level. That was what Punch in English did. Thus Rashi fulfilled not only his literary obligation but more importantly socio - cultural obligation. In this sense, it is said the writer is the creator.
The obligation of any newspaper/magazine is to create a band of writers who could fill the pages of the magazine with distinction. Prabuddha Karnataka of the Mysore University is a good example for this. Rashi did this in ample measure and gave birth to Kefa, Rami, Arase, T. Sunandamma, Vaidya, Bagur, Kollegal Ramanjuna, Shiva Kumar and a host of others.
Another strong forte of Koravanji was the cartoons. It is said that the internationally famous cartoonist R. K. Lakshman, perhaps began his career in Koravanji. Proverbs are found in plenty in Koravanji. Based upon the age - old proverbs these writers created new proverbs taking contemporary scenes into consideration.
Now, coming back to the function, it was as star - studded programme. Highly respected Prof. G. Venkatasubbiah released the CD. Suresh Pai, a great philanthropist, inaugurated the website. Dr. Mathoor Krishnamurthy inspired by the occasion narrated the Chatribrahmana story sending people into laughter. A. R Mitra as usual was a great hit. Humourist Vaidya was also a great success. I spoke about humour in history but could make audience burst into laughter. Kollegal Ramanuja, now famour as N. Ramanuja of Vidya Bhavan who has written articles in Koravanji got a lot of applause for his humourous speech.
The real star of the function was Sri Manu Baligar, the energetic and far-sighted Director of the Dept. of Kannada & culture. I have not seen a more active, dedicated, generous and efficient officer. He is an exception to the usual brand of bureaucrats of vanity and negative thinking.
This CD had two architects; one is Manu Baligar and the other is Ramanuja; the latter conceived it and former made it reality. Another miracle happened! Manu Baligar requested that each CD be sold at Rs. 100 and the remaining amount could be subsidised.
Shiva Kumar, the son of Rashi, welcomed the gathering while Belur Ramamurthy compeered the programme with lot of humour. A good lunch was a bonus on Sunday. The CD prepared by Prof. Yoganand with the help of Arjun is a wonderful tool. Just a click takes you to the world of humour of 300 issues of Koravanji. The sorrow of Koravanji going to the forest at the age of 25 is greatly lessened by her daughter / sister Aparanji. More about Aparanji on another occasion. Rashi has become immortal by this CD.
