Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka

by Srikar Raghavan

About the Book
CULTURAL ENQUIRY AND LITERARY EXPLORATION, A HISTORY OF POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL MOVEMENTS—THIS IS A COMPLEX, NUANCED AND OPEN-MINDED INVESTIGATION INTO MODERN KARNATAKA.
Karnataka is one of India’s most diverse states, as rich in literary and cultural traditions as it is in democratic struggles and political churns. The twentieth century witnessed the birth of a modern Kannada renaissance, accompanied by the emergence of a powerful social conscience. One young man’s desire to explore this vibrant historical backyard, born out of a feeling of being linguistically unmoored, compounded by worries over an increasingly opaque political direction, leads to an ambitious—no, audacious—attempt to unpack the region’s social and cultural histories.
Rama Bhima Soma is an enterprise of translation and rediscovery, packed with stories and conversations. The life and times of legends like Kuvempu and Shivaram Karanth; the fall of Socialism and the rise of the Hindu Right; the intellectual ruminations of U.R. Ananthamurthy, D.R. Nagaraj and M.M. Kalburgi; the wildly popular television serials of T.N. Seetharam and the community-centred one-woman theatre shows of Du Saraswathi; a brief history of Naxalism in Karnataka and glimpses of other complicated legacies of the 1970s’ Left—the book explores a dizzyingly wide sweep of Karnataka’s contemporary history, seeking, above all, to forge new connections and begin fresh conversations.
Marshalling a diverse range of literary and scholarly resources, framed through biographical sketches and immersive reportage, Srikar Raghavan’s genre-bending work of narrative non-fiction reanimates some pivotal moments in the making of modern Karnataka. The result is a sizzling dish of ideas rescued from the deep freeze of historical amnesia. ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌

About the Author
Born in Bangalore and brought up in Mysore, Srikar wrote this book while living in a small village named Parkala in South Canara. Something of that inward trajectory has permeated these pages, he believes. An inveterate bookworm, Srikar fancies himself more of a reader than a writer. He also loves to trek, travel and fiddle around on a guitar.

Genres: India

677 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 6, 2025

Reviews

[Manmeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a special book! An unusual meander through the literary, environmental and sociological evolution of modern day Karnataka. The book is a mind expanding journey into what has really shaped the state. The source material is kannada literature, writing and conversations with idealists across the spectrum who carry a deep affection and responsibility towards the land and people. An astounding achievement!

[Ananya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rama Bhima Soma derives its title from a traditional children’s game played across Karnataka and indeed, much of India, though its name and rules shift subtly across regions. A game in which the ball is constantly in motion, passed between players with no single entity able to claim permanent possession, is, as Raghavan himself notes, an apt representation of democracy – an ever-shifting, contested space where dominance is transient and where the vitality of the whole depends on the ceaseless movement of ideas and power. It also encapsulates the very ethos of the period Raghavan investigates. Rama Bhima Soma is an ambitious and deeply immersive project – a roving inquiry into the tumultuous and electrifying decades that shaped modern Karnataka. An intellectual history, a travelogue, a work of literary excavation, Rama Bhima Soma resists easy categorisation, much like the very cultural landscape it seeks to map. It is, at once, a historiographical intervention, a reckoning with ideological inheritances, an elegy for vanished political possibilities, and a chronicle of literary ferment in a state that, across the 1970s and 1980s, emerged as a site of intense intellectual and political upheaval. The book moves fluidly between biographical sketches, historiographical analysis, literary criticism and social commentary, creating a richly textured portrait of a state whose cultural life has been as intellectually vibrant as it has been politically tumultuous. At the heart of Rama Bhima Soma is Raghavan’s unrelenting inquiry into the intersections of literature and politics, memory and history, nostalgia and critique. In reconstructing these “enormously interesting times”, as he calls them, Raghavan refuses to succumb to either hagiography or lamentation; instead, he unspools a narrative that is simultaneously erudite and restless, unflinchingly aware of the ideological betrayals, unfulfilled promises and contradictions that marked these decades. Raghavan’s method is polyphonic: drawing on a staggering breadth of sources – archival material, Kannada literary movements, first-hand interviews with activists and writers, and deep textual analysis, piecing together a narrative that is as fragmentary and dynamic as the period it seeks to capture. It resists the twin temptations of nostalgia and hagiography, choosing instead to navigate the messiness of history. But Rama Bhima Soma is not just about what has been lost; it is also about what remains, often in unexpected places. Consider his treatment of the Kannada word bayilu, which stretches across meanings, denoting everything from an open, expansive field to a metaphysical state of merging with the formless. Raghavan puts bayilu to work as a conceptual tool, using it to illustrate not only the richness of the Kannada lexicon but also the cultural and philosophical expansiveness that is at risk of being lost in the present political climate Perhaps it is this quality: the ability to capture both the ideological struggles and the imperceptible shifts in cultural consciousness, that makes Rama Bhima Soma such a necessary intervention. It is a staggering intellectual achievement – provocative, meticulous and necessary. Full review for Wire - https://thewire.in/books/the-many-liv...

[Rohit · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely incredible and one-of-a-kind book. A whirlwind tour of the cultural, social, and political history of all corners of Karnataka, written with flourish and depth and a deeply personal touch. Touches on everything from mid-century literature clubs, to Maoist insurgents in central jungles, to contemporary environmental movements. And a special pleasure to read for somebody like me, who has vague connections to the state but only superficial knowledge of all the different regions and cities I've visited over the years on family vacations; can't think of a better way I could have filled out my knowledge of the region with this level of color and character.

[മോസിൻ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I applaud and envy Srikar Raghavan for the amount of reading, learning and contemplating that went into creating this magnificent work.

“Cultural investigations”, as a book, can take many forms; with the large variety of social movements and types of cultural artefacts in the concerned region (Karnataka) and period (mainly 20th century), it is possible for such a book to become a drab info-dumping exercise and a slog for readers.

Rama Bhima Soma is successful in not falling into that category. There is a seamless criss-crossing of ideas, histories, interviews and the author’s ruminations when any topic is considered, and many of these entities appear and reappear across chapters. It is impressive that this is done without the writing and flow taking a hit. Raghavan is honest when he says that these are “cultural investigations”. He treats “cultural” as the general word that it is when assessing movements and ideas, and goes beyond the typical movies and literature, to art, yakshagana, poetry, bodybuilding, and many other facets of culture. And “investigations” is showcased in two ways, one through the author’s readings and conversations with various personalities, and the other through his own opinions and critiques of people and movements.

The breadth is not limited to cultural artefacts as mentioned above. This is also present in the movements the book covers (Naxalism, ecological protests, Dalit-Bandaya, Navya, feminism to name a few) and the ideas used to analyse them (Marga-desi, the author’s concept of bayalu, Dalit progress as value or property, etc.). There is an organic coverage of Karnataka’s regions; while Bengaluru and Mysore obviously do feature, there are chapters that are primarily situated in other areas like the Canara coast or Malnad.

Having gone into this information-laden book as a non-Kannadiga who only knew about Kuvempu and Rajkumar, I was pleasantly surprised with how accessible it is. It leaves you with many reading recommendations as well! I hope we can have more writers borrow this book’s format and apply it to other regions. Will definitely revisit this book.

[Swapna Peri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka by Srikar Raghavan is a brilliant study of Karnataka's sociopolitical and cultural evolution in the late twentieth century. Blending journalism, literary history, and social investigation, Raghavan takes readers through an era marked by creativity, political turmoil, and a search for equality and justice. Through immersive reporting and biographical portraits of influential figures like Kuvempu, Shivaram Karanth, and U.R. Ananthamurthy, Raghavan intertwines the region’s rich literary heritage with key political developments, such as the rise of the Hindu Right and the decline of socialism, making the book educational and engaging for a wide range of readers. 📖✨

With its non-linear structure and genre-bending techniques, the book delves deep into Karnataka's complex identity, weaving together topics from Naxalism to community-focused theater. Raghavan’s ability to connect diverse elements—political movements, television, and philosophy—emphasizes the interconnectedness of Karnataka’s cultural fabric. Rama Bhima Soma is more than a historical account; it's a rediscovery of the state's history and destiny, offering profound insights into a region often overlooked in mainstream narratives. Meticulously researched and written with lyrical prose, this narrative non-fiction is an essential read for those looking to understand modern Karnataka. 🌟📚

[Rishvanth Reddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent achievement- From capturing the trajectories of literary movements, journeys of the trade union movement, the naxal movement, Dalit movement and DSS, environmental movements, and genesis and contradictions in all the major ideologies that operated in the state, and the immense power of few individual figures. I read and will remember this as a book of ideas, history, biography, bibliography, ethnography and geographies (and a good amount of interesting gossip). I was reminded of Javier Marias’s pen portraits whenever author was writing biographical elements. The sensitivity with which the author dealt with all the topics- especially communalism and divisions within the Dalit movement-is my favourite part.

The one thing I wish was this book to become a template, a ‘gesture’ for other writers to write a similar book about their own states and not stick to the regular temporal chronologies.