Raghavendra Patil, who won the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada for his novel, Teru (Chariot), spoke to Sunday Herald after he received the award last week. Excerpts from the interview:

You are a biology teacher. How did you get attracted to the world of literature?

My family has had an edge over writing. Dr Ananda Kanda Betageri Krishna, a renowned writer in Kannada, is my uncle.

My father Balaramappa Balwantrao Patil composed devotional songs. Every evening we were exposed to songs, its meanings and mythological elements were taught to us. When I was in class nine, I adapted Masti V Iyengar’s Nijagallina Raani for AIR drama competition besides writing some short stories.

You have been writing ever since?

No. I felt writing this way doesn’t make any sense. I must prepare for it. I stopped writing till I completed my post-graduation. Later, I read all literature in Kannada besides other Indian writers and world literature.

Do you have plans to write in English?

No. We can master idiom only in one language. Issac Bashevis Singer wrote songs in Yiddish language even though few people know this language in the world.

You have been writing short stories. How come ‘Teru’ developed as a novel?

My form is short story. Teru started as a short story. But later expanded itself into a novel.

Nowadays, there is no clear demarcation between these two forms. The short story is trying to transcend its limits and is taking on the spectrum of a novel.

How was the novel received in Karnataka?

It was published in 2003 and has sold 1000 copies. We are going for a second edition soon. Critics have acclaimed it as good work.

We have seven Jnanpeeth award winners in the state. But the reading habit of Kannada-speaking people is not as good as people in neighbouring Kerala.

Another problem is poor distribution of books in Karnataka. People in Gulburga want to read, but they don’t get books.

That is the reason why I started the publication Ananda Grantha Maale for distributing books.

But Karnataka Sahitya Akademi criticised you for writing ‘Teru’?

Geeta Nagabhushan, president of Karnataka Sahitya Akademi, recently said the writer of Teru belongs to a higher caste and that he has written about low caste people, which has become a fashion. I questioned her as to who gave her the power to allot licences to write.