In this episode, I am in conversation with Srikar Raghavan about his book, ‘Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka’. With rigorous research and profound sensitivity, this work examines the trajectories of Karnataka’s Literary, Trade Union, Naxal, Dalit, Socialist and Environmental movements. It also delves into the genesis and contradictions of all the major ideologies that have operated within the state and highlights the contributions of several individual figures, including Saketh Rajan, Syed Issaq, Shankar Mokashi Punekar, Shantaveri Gopala Gowda, Dr. Rajkumar, Pratibha Nandakumar, M.K. Indira, U.R. Ananthamurthy, S.L. Byrappa, and Ram Manohar Lohia. This episode and the book itself offer a scholarly exploration of the ideas, events, biographies, and movements that have significantly shaped the cultural and social fabric of Karnataka.

References: 

1. Srikar Raghavan: About, Twitter, Instagram
2. Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka by Srikar Raghavan
3. Rama Bhima Soma Website
4. Essays by Srikar Raghavan: The Adversary (On Saketh Rajan and Naxalism in Karnataka), Running after the light: Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy’s writing searches for a new moral order
5. Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi
6. Chomana Dudi by Kota Shivarama Karanth
7. Provincials: Postcards from the Peripheries by Sumana Roy (Review by Srikar Raghavan)
8. Bringing Ambedkar and Gandhi together by Ramachandra Guha
9. The Flaming Feet and Other Essays: The Dalit Movement in India by D.R. Nagaraj
10. The Life and Times of George Fernandes by Rahul Ramagundam (Spotify, Apple Podcasts)
11. Chomana Dudi, Moga Padeda Mana by Kota Shivarama Karanth
12. Remembering U R Ananthamurthy by Chandan Gowda
13. U R Ananthamurthy: Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man (Translated from Kannada to English by A K Ramanujan), Bharathipura (Translated from Kannada to English by Susgeela Punitha), Avasthe (Translated from Kannada to English by Narayan Hegde)
14. Vamshavriksha, Daatu by S L Byrappa 
15. Varadambika Parinaya Campu of Tirumalamba (Translated from Sanskrit to English by Sujatha Reddy)
16. Songs for Siva: Vacanas of Akka Mahadevi (Translated by Vinaya Chaitanya)
17. Tungabhadhra by M K Indira
18. A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B.R. Ambedkar by Ashok Gopal
19. Staging a folk epic by Sweekruthi K (On Daklakatha Devikavya, a play adapted from works of K.B. Siddaiah)
20. Making History: Karnataka’s People and their Past- Volume I (Stone Age to Mercantilism), II (Colonial Shock, Armed Struggle) by Saki (alias Saketh Rajan)
21. Naanembudu Kinchittu (Autobiography) by Dr. Mogalli Ganesh
22. How the Brahmins Won: From Alexander to the Guptas by Johannes Bronkhorst
23. Who was Shivaji by Govind Pansara 
24. Library with 11,000 books burnt down in Mysuru, librarian vows to rebuild it by Sanjana Deshpande
25. Syed Issaq- Mysuru’s ‘library man’ rebuilds his dream, on his own labour by Karthik KK
26. Sri Ramayana Darshanam by Kuvempu (Translated from Kannada to English by S M Punekar)