When Tulu prasangas dominated tenkutittu (southern school) Yakshagana during the 1980s, badagutittu was witnessing a different kind of phenomenon. And this phenomena was centered around one young Bhagavatha - Gundmi Ramachandra Kalinga Navada. His was a meteoric rise in the field. Only in early twenties then, Navada was a star bhagavatha in the late seventies itself. Despite all the criticisms against his style of singing, the popularity that he could attain in such a short span of time and at such a young age was a milestone in the history of yakshagana. A prasanga writer himself, Navada's Nagashree and Kanchanashree were 'box office' hits. These prasangas were performed to packed houses everywhere. Nagashree was staged in Kumble on 26, December, 1979. I was very young to appreciate his bhagavatike then but i remember that Yakshagana fans in that border town, where more people spoke Tulu and Malayalam, had offered this 21-year-old Bhagavatha a garland of currency notes, at a brief function held amidst the show.
After 11 years in the month of May, when I was a student, came the sad news of Navada's demise in a road accident, and he was just 32! Later, in September that year Karnataka lost another of its young achievers - Shankar Nag (36). Deccan Herald in its obituary editorial for Nag wrote: 'Death be not proud.' The same editorial also wondered how a human being with just two hands, one head and 24 hours in a day could do all that Nag had done so early in his life. That's exactly what thousands of Yakshagana fans felt when fate snatched away Navada from them. Reading the graphic details of his funeral, in next day's Udayavani, many of us had tears in our eyes. Being young, we did not know much about Navada's contributions to Yakshagana but the sense that someone who was a household name among Yakshagana lovers was to lose his life at the peak of his career and popularity had moved us. And it did even those who were critical of his experiments.
Let me cut to the 1990s for a moment here. I was nostalgic witnessing a memorial function organised in Ravindrakalakshetra, Bangalore, under the leadership of Mr Pundalika Halambi sometime in 1998 or 1999. Many including Subramanya Dhareshwar, Ramesh Begar and Kadathoka Manjunath Bhagavatha recalled their close association with Navada, in that function. Begar sang three songs in typical Navada style from Amritamati - (1)
Manamudagolisalu gaayana sadana... (2) Haadidenaadare moodida besara neegaadalu bahudoo...... (3) nyoonaanganu haadida savijenina gaaanaamrutha. It was one of the most well-organised functions I have ever witnessed in Ravindra Kalakshetra.
There is more to say about Navada, his times and his contribution but that is later in a separate post. To go back to the history of Badagutittu during the 1980s, Saligrama mela which featured Navada was then known for the 'new wave' Kannada prasangas of Nagashree, Kanchana Shree, Cheluve Chitravati variety. Amriteshwari Mela, Perdur Mela and Idagunji mela were the other commercial tent melas. Idagunji, however, stuck to tradition and mythological prasangas, with an unusual tenacity and commitment - something the mela retains even now in its transformed status. (To be continued)
