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’Your mother lived. I didn’t. It’s unforgivable to not live,’ he told Jyoti who brought them coffee.
He felt shy for having made such a ponderous statement. He sipped the aromatic Malnad coffee and said, ‘Come, show me the rogue’s picture. Let’s see if I can see what you have seen.’
*
This story, which bears the title Bete Bale Otiketa in Kannada, appeared in his anthology Aidu Dashakada Kathegalu (Akshara Prakashana, Sagar, 1995).
*
U. R. Ananthamurthy is one of India’s key literary figures and an important representative of the ‘Navya’ movement (the new movement) in the literature of Kannada. His works have been translated into many Indian and European languages and have been awarded major literary prizes, including the Jnanpeeth Award in 1994. He was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Bhushan in 1998.
Ananthamurthy consciously writes in Kannada and not in English. A detailed bibliography and select essays may be found on his Website
Deepa Ganesh is assistant editor at The Hindu, Bangalore. She writes and translates for various journals and magazines.
This translation was edited by Indira Chandrasekhar, founding editor of Out of Print.
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