"Contented Literary Sage"

A Tribute to Krishnanand Kamat
by Dr. Ramakanth Joshi

Dr. Joshi runs the prestigious Kannada publication company "Manohara Grintha Mala". Excerpted from Kannada original published in KannadaPrabha weekly supplement March 24, 2002.

Our association with Krishnanand Kamat goes back thirty-five years, and we are proud to have brought out some of his best works. During my interactions with him, I found him absolutely meticulous, honest, and humble to a fault. I feel that he personified the ideals Gandhi had advocated. He would walk to work, and lived a life of bare essentials.

Kamat was a man who never complained. Our nation did not recognize his talents-- he couldn't even find a suitable employment upon his return from a doctorate in the U.S.A. in 1965 -- but he never complained. He found true joy and contentment in whatever he had. He established Scientific Photo Lab, a special service he provided to the scientific community in Bangalore. 

He enriched our lives through such unique books as Nanoo Americage Hogidde, Preyasige Patragalu, and Prani Parisara. His website Kamat's Potpourri is also a fine contribution.

There are many who feel Kamat did not get recognition, but Kamat didn't care, he didn't need any. He died a contented man, but the loss is all ours, of people of Karnataka, and of those who explore the human intellect.

Kamat was just but a flower, who left many literary and cultural seeds behind.