The renowned Sanskrit poet, Kalidasa, enumerates the benefits of hunting, albeit humorously, in his Abhigyana Shakuntala, thus :
Hunting removes extra fat and makes the body light and active. We become aware of the panic we feel due to fright or anger of animals. The bowmen achieve such mastery that they can even hit the moving targets. Hence it is not true that hunting is only an undesirable passion. Where else can we find a sport more enjoyable than hunting?
I was reminded of these lines when I read my friend Kedambadi Jattappa Rai's book, Beteya Nenapugalu (Reminiscences of a Hunter). Through this work, Shri Rai has made available to Kannada readers his rich and varied experiences. The style of narration and vivid descriptions make us realize that hunting, is an adventure that involves courage, and good taste.
The village in which Jattappa Rai spent his childhood is called Pilimajalu in the Bunts village. The village was named after the warrior clan, the Bunts, i.e. the abode of tigers. With the Kudremukh mountain range in the neighbourhood, the entire area was a hilly region. It was in this environment that Sri Rai inherited the passion for hunting from his grandfather. Wild Animals like boars, tigers, and bison constantly harassed the farmers; day-time hunting and night hunting was done with the aid of lamps, hunters hunted with assorted weapons like guns, long knives, swords, bows and arrows, and catapults; variegated people such as the Meras of Patta, the Mariholeyas of Botta, the Ajalas of Dattige, the Koragas of Kotya, and the Malas of Chera inhabited the region; the Dollas of the Billava caste were short statured with graying hair and bushy moustache; where lived Kunhimonu who killed a tiger with only his cudgel; where Montu could pluck a tiger's whiskers; where stayed the British family at Kudremukh; the forest guard hunted a tiger; and lived John Braganza and Shanta Gowda of Kombaru engrossed in a world of these people and animals-in such an adventurous ambience lived Jattappa Rai. Rai could not complete his studies in school or in college. However, as this authentic narrative establishes, he did reach great heights in the exciting and courageous sport of hunting, in especially hunting tigers, often at the risk of his own life.
This narrative is a rare gift to Kannada literature. Sri Rai has considerable mastery over English, Kannada, and Sanskrit; Tulu is his mother tongue. Hence, his narrative style, moulded by his knowledge of all these languages, is captivating. The vivid description like that of "Chomu accompanying her husband for hunting. Beltha, leaning his bow on the ground and stringing it, and striking it later to give a ringing sound, etc.," bring to our mind the famous lines of an old Kannada epic :
He, the hunter, isn't afraid of even Ferocious tigers if his wife is beside him; As I with a vengeance, he chases animals Throughout the forest, oblivious of hunger and thirst. Such instances of pristine love add tenderness to the incidents of terror, and send us into reptures.
Travelogue is a very popular literary genre, since it runs like a story. Beteya Nenapugalu, though similar to it, belongs to a more interesting genre. For, while the descriptions bring it closer to the novel, there is the element of suspense in the detective fiction. This work, with its intense experiences, authentic descriptions, and racy style, will surely stand the test of time.
Back of the Book
Beteya Nenapugalu (Reminiscences of a Hunter), originally published in Kannada language in 1978, is a narrative of the exciting adventures and acts of courage on the part of the writer. But, more importantly, it authentically portrays a section of Indian society as it existed a hundred years ago: its beliefs and rituals, its food habits and hunting codes, and the relationship that existed between the colonial masters and their native subjects. This is a work that would interest not only lovers of literature but also social historians and anthropologists.
Kedambadi Jattappa Rai (b. 1916) is an agriculturist, hunter and orator. He gives popular discourses on Puranas, Vedas and other Hindu mythologies. This present book brought him suddenly into limelight in the field of literature: he won several awards including the Karnataka Sahitya Academy and Vishwa Kannada Sahitya awards, as also the fellowship of the Manipal Academy of General Education. The Akhil Bharatiya Tulu Sammelan honoured him as the best Tulu language translator and conferred on him the title Shreshta Tuluva in 1996.
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