Poetry makes the impossible likely

Can poetry lead to reform? That was the question that was up for debate at the launch of Mukunda Rao’s new book, In Search of Shiva.

The discussion was attended by Chiranjjiv Singh, retired bureaucrat, Dr Narendra Pani, professor at National Institute of Advanced Studies and Prasanna Chandrasekar, teacher of English and lover of literature and Jamuna Rao, MD of Dronequill Publishers.

The evening began with the launch of the book and Jamuna Rao reading excerpts from it. Mukunda Rao teaches English at Dr Ambedkar Degree College, Bangalore and is well known for his earlier novels like Confessions of a Sanyasi, The Mahatma: A Novel, The Death of an Activist, Trials with Truth and Chinnamani’s World.

In Search of Shiva is set in the midst of the social turmoil of the 12th century northern Karnataka when a socio-cultural movement was launched to annihilate caste and create a new egalitarian order. The reform inspired a cultural renaissance and the poetry that emerged pulsates with life even to this day. Mukunda Rao uses the freedom of fiction to make this period come alive.

Full report here DNA