Yashwant Vithoba Chittal

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Yashawant Vithoba Chittal
Born(1928-08-03)3 August 1928
Hanehalli, Uttar Kannada, Karnataka
Died22 March 2014(2014-03-22) (aged 85)[1]
Mumbai
OccupationChemist, fiction writer
LanguageKannada
NationalityIndian
Period1950-2014
GenreFiction
Literary movementNavya
Notable awardsSahitya Akademi Award,
Dr.Masti Award,
Adikavi Pampa Award

Yashwant Vithoba Chittal (Kannada: ಯಶವಂತ ವಿಠೇೂಬಾ ಚಿತ್ತಾಲ) (3 August 1928 – 22 March 2014) was a Kannada fiction writer.[2] G. S. Amur said: "His short stories, many of them were outstanding, and came with his distinct touch.The kind of experimentation he did with language, style and narrative is unparalleled."[3]

Biography[edit]

He was born in Hanehalli, Uttar Kannada District.[4] He completed his primary school education from his village school and his high school from the Gibbs High School, Kumta (1944).Later he did his Bachelors in science and Bachelors in technology both from Bombay University being a top ranker and gold medalist in the year 1955 and master's degree in chemical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, United States, and simultaneously pursued a career in science and technology along with literature.[5] His contributions in the field of Polymer Science and synthetic resins was well recognized and he was selected as Fellow of Plastics and Rubber Institute, London.[citation needed]

Early Life and Chittal's family[edit]

Hanehalli, a small village near Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district, has provided two great talents to the Kannada literature world. One is the great poet Gangadhar Chittal, the other is the great novelist Yashwant Chittal.

Hanehalli and Bankikodla are Twin Villages in the Western Ghats of India. At a stone’s throw away from where the Gangavali River meets the Arabian Sea is Hanehalli-Bankikodla. There are many prides of Hanehalli-Bankikodla;Chittal family is one of them.

Chittal”s father Vithoba Chittal was a Kirtanakar (a man who narrates divine stories using hymns) from Hanehalli and his house was in that alley connecting Bankikodla road to Gangavali road. They had a few lands near Chakrakhandeshwar temple in Hanehalli; their ancestors lived in Hanehalli for many generations.

Chittal left Hanehalli to study in Karnataka College Dharwar after graduating from Gibbs High School Kumta. Though Chittals left Hanehalli many decades ago, Hanehalli is called “Chittal’s Hanehalli” in fictional world almost similar to Malaguddi of R. K. Narayan; It is said that Chittal’s writings are based upon what he saw in Hanehalli-Bankikodla before he was 16 or so.

Chittal had five brothers and a sister Gouri, all passed away.

Shridhar Chittal was the eldest who died very early.
The next was Damodar Chittal an Income Tax practitioner and a lawyer who died when he was in his mid-50s. In 1965, he had organized Kannada Sahitya Sammelan in Karwar.

Gangadhar Chittal was the third who stood first in SSC to the Bombay Presidency (Part of Mysore State, Maharashtra state, Gujarat and part of Madhya Pradesh) from Gibbs High School, Kumta; He had made headline news with this achievement. He was a poet since his college days. Gangadhar worked for Indian Embassies in the US and UK; he was Auditor General in New Delhi and retired as a Director of Audits, at western railways, in Bombay. His poem "Hariva Niridu" on his wife Meera Gaitonde from Karwar charmed many of his fans.

Yashwant Chittal was the fourth who enthralled his readers to call Hanehalli as “Chittal’s Hanehalli”. Someone said William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County was a fictional county in the Mississippi, USA, and Hanehalli in India was a visionary for Chittal to frame his world. He studied a M.S in Polymer Science in the USA and returned to Mumbai. Yashwant Chittal got several prestigious awards for his fictions in Kannada.

Narahari Chittal was the fifth who was a brilliant engineer in Raytheon Engineers, Chicago and one of the architects in the team who built Chicago Sears Tower; his fate was not to be married.

Mohan Chittal was the youngest who was an Executive VP for Marriotts Hotels in Washington, D.C. area and lived in Vienna, VA with his family. He came to USA in the late 50s for an MBA degree from American University. Mohan was an accomplished singer; his idol was Bhimsen Joshi. Mohan organized classical music concerts in the Washington D.C. area; many artists including Bhimsen, Firoz Dastur, and Gangubai Hangal performed in these concerts .

Milind Chittal an Indian classical vocalist is Yashwant’s son living in Mumbai. He trained under Firoz Dastur of the Kirana Gharana. Milind is also a qualified chartered accountant and his elder brother Ravindra is a physician in Bandra, Mumbai. Chittal’s children recall their father as a great story-teller and as someone who was deeply emotional about Hanehalli.

Chittal suffered many family traumas in childhood. He was interested in watercolor painting, went to Mumbai to train for himself, and made a name for himself in the evening class of Kalaniketan.However he was destined to become a great writer. M. N. Roy's work and ideology influenced Chittal. He read the literary work of Darwin, Einstein, Tolstoy, Mopasa, Marcus, Masti, Kuvempu and others.

Chittal spent most of his life in Mumbai, having been a teacher In Baad High School, Karwar for some time.
His work "The girl who became the story", Shikari, Murudarigalu (the Three ways), Cheda (the Denominations), Purushottama (the Masculine), Kendrad Vranthanta (the Central narrative) became victorious. His name was well established in the Kannada novel world. His novel " Muru Darigalu (the Three Ways)" became a cinema directed by Girish Kasaravalli. His story anthologies include the Aata (game), Kumatege Band Kindar Jogi (Hermit), Odi Hoda Mutti Banda (A man who ran away came back) etc.
His novel "Shikari" has been described by senior critic Professor G. S. Amur as "One of the great works in Kannada."

Collection of Stories[edit]

  • Sandarshana/ಸಂದರ್ಶನ (1957)
  • Aabolina/ಆಬೇೂಲಿನ (1960)
  • Aata/ಆಟ (1969)
  • Aayda Kathegalu/ಆಯ್ದ ಕತೆಗಳು (1976)
  • Katheyadalu Hudugi/ಕತೆಯಾದಳು ಹುಡುಗಿ (1980)
  • Benya/ಬೇನ್ಯಾ (1983)
  • Samagra Kathegalu/ಸಮಗ್ರ ಕತೆಗಳು (1983)
  • Siddhartha/ಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥ (1988)
  • Aivattondu Kathegalu/ಐವತ್ತೊಂದು ಕತೆಗಳು (2001)
  • Kumatege Banda Kindarijogi/ಕುಮಟೆಗೆ ಬಂದಾ ಕಿಂದರಿಜೇೂಗಿ
  • Odihoda Mutti Banda/ಓಡಿಹೇೂದಾ ಮುಟ್ಟಿ ಬಂದಾ
  • Puttana Hejje Kaanodilla/ಪುಟ್ಟನ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಕಾಣೇೂದಿಲ್ಲ
  • Aayda Kathegalu/ಆಯ್ದ ಕತೆಗಳು
  • Koli Kooguva Munna/ಕೇೂಳಿ ಕೂಗುವ ಮುನ್ನ
  • Samagra Kathegalu Volume 1 and 2/ಸಮಗ್ರ ಕತೆಗಳು ಸಂಪುಟ ೧ ಮತ್ತು ೨

Novels[edit]

  • Muru Daarigalu/ಮೂರು ದಾರಿಗಳು (1964) [Made into Kannada Movie by Girish Kasaravally]
  • Shikaari/ಶಿಕಾರಿ (1979)
  • Cheda/ಛೇದ (1985)
  • Purushottama/ಪುರುಷೇೂತ್ತಮ (1990) [Also Translated into English by Penguin Books]
  • Kendra Vrittanta/ಕೇಂದ್ರ ವೃತ್ತಾಂತ (1996)
  • Digambara/ದಿಗಂಬರ (Unpublished)

Poetry[edit]

  • Danapeyaacheya Oni/ದಣಪೆಯಾಚೆಯ ಓಣಿ

Criticism[edit]

  • Sahityada Sapta Dhatugalu/ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಸಪ್ತ ಧಾತುಗಳು
  • Sahitya, Srujanasheelathe Mattu Naanu/ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ, ಸೃಜನಶೀಲತೆ ಮತ್ತು ನಾನು
  • Anthakarana/ಅಂತಃಕರಣ

Translations[edit]

  • The Hunt/Shikaari - English Translation by Pratibha Umashankar-Nadiger (2019)
  • Purushottama (1990)
  • The Boy who Talked to Trees/ - English Translation by Ramachandra Sharma & Padma Ramachandra(1994) Collection of short stories.

The US Library of Congress holds 15 of his titles, including works translated into English and other languages.[6]

Movies and Teleserial[edit]

  • Mooru Daarigalu/ಮೂರು ದಾರಿಗಳು Directed by Girish Kasaravalli
  • Mukhamukhi/ಮುಖಾಮುಖಿ (DD Chandana)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Yashwant Chittal dead - The Hindu".
  2. ^ Modernity in Kannada Literature
  3. ^ "The Unknown beckons him".
  4. ^ Chittal's photo
  5. ^ "The South Asian Literary recording project".
  6. ^ "Library of congress New Delhi office".
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