Acclaimed theater and literary figure Girirish Karnad is creating ripples after he tagged Ravindranath Tagore a “ mediocre, second rate playwright”. The man with many hats had stirred an another controversy earlier by calling Indian origin Caribbean writer V.S Naipaul as “ anti-Muslim”.
"He was a great poet certainly, one of our greatest. And he got the Nobel Prize in 1913 when most of our modern literature was still in the state of formation. His greatness as a poet is there, his greatness as a thinker is there... he didn't direct great plays. All the plays written till 1947 are second-grade. The point is he was a mediocre playwright… We should learn to be practical in this matter," Karnad was quoted as saying.
The comment has shunned by the prominent literary personalities saying this comment was rather unnecessary, provocative even though many agree that Mr. Karnad has the right to express his view.
His comment on Naipaul was supported by Bangladeshi feminist writer Taslima Nasreen but this time he seems to have found no support. The Jnanpith award winner remains unapologetic for both the statements.
AW-Jyotishman
