Nagaveena M
In all cultures, writers have separate and honorable positions. The aura of creativity and an almost sanctified capacity for originality accrues to writers. Dr. V.C Airsang is one such legendary writer who occupies a position unique in Kannada literature. The topic of his poetry spans the entire horizon of subjects of his era, from romantic to socialistic to nationalistic. Recently Dharwad University honored him with the Doctorate Degree for his remarkable contribution in the field of Literature.
Born in the city of Dharwad in 1930, Dr.Airsang developed immense interest towards poetry since childhood. He holds the Bachelor of Science degree from Karnataka Science College, Dharwad. Though physics and chemistry were his major subjects, the passion took over the profession and he released his first book”Suprabhaata”-Ambudiya odalindudayisi in 1947. His work expresses truth and experiences of life impressively. Till now he has penned more than 2000 poems and 30 books. His songs range beyond the mythological to find their place in the heart of a human lover, whose dreams and desires never die, whose sighs and smiles, whose cries and laughs never ends.
He started his career at railways before embarking on a literary pursuit that was to yield several poem collections. With his lucid and graceful style, he has made a remarkable name in Akashavani, as many renowned musicians have voiced his poems. Shantamathi Gangolli (Anuradha dhareshwar) was the first one to present his poem as a song ‘Geeta enna jeevana” from the poem collection “Sudha Charita” in Akashavani. Later his vibrant style influenced many renowned artists like Pt.Basavaraj Raj Guru, M.S.Kamat, Balachandra Nakod,Sangeeta Katti Kulkarni, Basavaraj Gonal, Madhav Gudi, Vasundhara Nilagara, Shulabha Datta NIralagi, Lata Nadgera, Radha Desai, Shripad Hegde, Parameshwar Hegde, Vishwanath Nakod, Shrikant Kulkarni, Nanda patil, Ganesh Patil, Krishna Hangal, Ganesh Desai and many more to voice his poems. His narrative technique has connected his poems to magic realism. Apart from poetry he has done great job with melodramas as well. “Duruva Tare”, “Meera Charite”, and “Yesu Charita” are the melodramas that make an attempt to rank him with the greatest names in the literature. “Mohini Bhasmasura” a dance drama is the most popular among all his works and has been performed more than twenty five times on various platforms.
The poems written by Dr.Airsang are all framed under the rules of poetry which gives it a structure. All poems have an inherent form of laya in them, which gives the perfect balance of emotion and rhythm and attracts musicians to perform them. He himself is a Tabla artist which gives him a strong musical background to write poems in musical form which in turn can fit into a laya system. The lyrical beauty, brilliant use of rhyme, simile and astonishing varieties of emotions, yet still confirming to the strict classification of verses brings out his uniqueness in literature. “Udaya Geeta”is his favourite collection of poems. It is a perfect package of all sets of emotions of life. Even it includes patriotic songs describing the sacrifices of “Lal Bahadur Shastri” and “Rani Channamma”.
“All my poems have been set to taal and meter, which inspire musicians of all times to pick them up” says humble Airsang with a huge sense of satisfaction.
He is married to Saraswati Airsang . After the demise of his life partner, though it was difficult, he kept his personal spirit on. That is when he came out with poem collections “Baredavanu naanalla”, “Kaveri”, “Baalina Kannu”, “Eno Hosatu”, “preetiye Preetiyu” and many more. He has four children and his son “Jagdeesh Airsang” has glorified the musical tradition for which Dr.Airsang has laid the foundation as a tabla artist, under the guidance of Pt. Basavaraj Bendigeri.
He has been felicitated and honored by various academies and institutions, some of them are: Karnataka Bala Vikas Academy Award, Chuncha Shri Award from Balagangadhara Swamiji, Veeranjaneya Award from Bangaramakki, Suvarna Karnataka Vaibhava Award,Shikshana Siri from Chilipili Prakashana, Chintana Shri Award from Gadaga Kannada Sangha, Nagamma Foundation, Varshikotsava Award and many more. He had been the president of “Dharwad Taluk Kannada Sahitya Parishat” in 2011 and with outstanding accomplishments and a dynamic personality, recently he was honored with the position of “President Of Dharwad District Kannada Sahitya Parishat (2017)”.
On his works M.Phil has been done by Vijaya Kumari and P.hd has been perceived by F.D.Gaddi Gowdar from Dharwad University.
He keeps himself active in all social platforms, though never expected any recognition or reward. Many Institutions have honored him with various titles. He believes in simple living and his social concern as a poet and as an individual is remarkably appreciable. Till today, being an environmentalist, he pedals the cycle and distributes his books free of cost to the interested musicians. Even today his boundless energy and enthusiasm pushes him to demonstrate the extremely disciplined and dynamic living. Compassion for others and commitment to life are his major strengths and his influence as a poet is profound for the field of literature.
