108-yr-old Kannada magazine closes due to fund crunch

DHARWAD: A century-old Kannada magazine that incubated many young writers and fashioned a new literary path for decades has wound up for want of funds. Sadbodha Chandrike was launched by Venkatesh Trivikrambhat Kulkarni, popularly called Galaganatha, in Haveri district's Anandavana, Agadi, in 1908. Some of the writers who were first published through the magazine include Jnanpith laureates Masti Venkatesh Iyengar and V K Gokak, reputed authors Betageri Krishna Sharma, Shriranga, Ta Su Shamrao, N K Kulkarni, B P Kale and K Shamrao. The magazine came out every month with a new theme and literary motif — and without a break — for 108 years. At its peak, it had 20,000 subscribers. Jnapith laureate D R Bendre was an avid reader of the magazine. The subscription dwindled to 5,500 with the advent of electronic media that reduced the reading habit among people. Galaganatha was a devotee of saint Sheshachala Sadguru, who inspired him to start the magazine. Not that the magazine didn't have any hiccups, but the subscribers ensured the blocks were cleared. Not for long, though. New-age printing technology escalated production costs, and publisher Gurumurthy Chakravarti shifted the magazine printing to Bengaluru. "Our annual subscription was Rs 100, not a big amount. We had 5,500 subscribers spread across the country, but only 1,500 were paying the subscription regularly. Our monthly bill was Rs 70,000, and subscriptions yielded just Rs 15,000. As the burden started increasing, we had to take the painful decision of stopping the magazine's publication 10 months ago," Gurumurthy said. His appeals to the government to support the magazine by providing paper at concession went unheeded. Hundreds of readers have expressed regret at the closure of the magazine and want the magazine back on the stands, but very few bother to renew their subscriptions. Gurumurthy said: "Many subscribers haven't paid for 7-8 years. We can revive the magazine if the arrears are paid and people pay subscription regularly," he added. Father of novels Galaganatha was considered the father of novels, but he was largely ignored by successive governments, literary pundits and his home district of Haveri. Galaganatha was born in a rich family at Havanur of Haveri taluk on January 5, 1869. He gave up everything to write novels. He was a social reformer and thinker, and taught in schools. He edited Sadbodha Chandrike for many years. Some of his popular stories are Kannadigara Karmakathe, Madhava Karuna, Vilasa, Kumudini, Bicchugatti, Kamalkumari and Chatrapati, which he published and sold on the streets. -TOI