My Writings

This novel is a 'universal' love story. It has reminders of the romances crafted by the author's academic specialty, the English writer Thomas Hardy. And like many romances, it encompasses suspense, drama, confusion, misunderstanding, loss and reconciliation. It's a great reading.

                                     Malcolm McKinnon

The novel has some splendid history as well as mystery. As for its history, first I wrote a realistic novel on Dr Rajkumar’s kidnap in Kannada. Of course, I had taken a lot of pain in the expedition of the work. Many writers and intellectuals had appreciated me in the venture. But I could not get it published, for it was about Dr Rajkumar’s kidnap.  As well as people cautioned me about its harsh repercussions. The former police officer Dinakar’s Veerappan’s Prize-Catch Dr Rajkumar proved the same amply. Not to speak of he had to face many problems. It is fictionalization of it. As for the characterization, much of Dr Rajkumar’s kidnap event is made use of here. Of course, Nagappa, the former politician’s tragedy is made use of. Those who have heard about the two events can recognize several characters.

Under the Mango Tree is a pastoral classic. Though the title of the novel is a little transparent, it drives home the point. The novel is centered in and around the fictitious village of Chakrapur in Belgaum district of Karnataka. The novel depicts farmer Kallappa’s village life, rural people’s customs, fairs and festivals, people’s faiths and failings. The author writes about peoples’ work-ethics, ways of life, personal rapport, dress-code, patterns of jobs and cultural ethos. The Chakrapur villagers attend their village fairs, particularly of Goddess Yallamma and do pilgrimages to places like Mallikarjun Temple in Shrishail in Andra Pradesh. There one finds communal harmony as well, though casteism is an anathema. The novelist presents socio-political perspectives vividly. His understanding of the countryside is honest and comprehensive. This is rather a portrayal of pan-Indian pastoral life.

The present mythic play Mandodari Kalyanam is Prof Mallikarjun Patil’s adventure into mythological plot, relating to Ravana’s doing penance for Siva’s Atmalinga, which he gets but fails to observe the sanctity when he had to carry it to Lanka without touching it to the ground. So it remains in Gokarna because of Ganapati’s mischief. This is Ravana’s failure. In Act Two Ravana again does penance for the said Atmalinga in the mighty Himalayas. Siva and Parvati appear to bless him with a boon. This time, like a modern politician, he is attracted by Parvati’s great beauty and he asks for Parvati, instead of Atmalinga one more. He gets Parvati, but the gods with Narada, conspire against him and he has to become content with Mandodari in the end. So Ravana marries Mandadari who embodies the concept of both purity and beauty. Thus Mandodari Kalyanam becomes complete.

These well written seventeen tales remind every perceptive reader of what India is and how the lives of people gradually transform to a different hue when external factors impinge upon them. These stories enlighten beautifully humanities
and realities of earthly life and in the process reveal harsh truths of life in collusion with man’s inner beliefs. The characters undoubtedly delineate graphically the author’s experiences, exhibit transparently that nothing escapes his eyes which continue roving around, observing, listening and assimilating voices, words and faces.

This volume Scenes from Indian Life contains my 27 short stories written in various moods, places and times. It is like Hardy’s poetry collections. The stories are like stories of the past and present; they contain my moments of vision; and they are, sometimes, my fantasies and trifles. Some of these stories have appeared in Kathe Kshetre (Bangalore), Rock Pebbles (Jajpur, Orissa), Literary Endeavour (Osmanabad, MS) and elsewhere and I am thankful to them.

The present work is a collection of short stories by Mallikarjun Patil who has already many works in English and Kannada to his credit. While it is true that there is no universally acceptable definition of the short story, a successful short story is expected to possess a sense of completeness, of providing a self-sufficient perspective on an experience, however small or insignificant it may be. But writers have experimented with the short story in myriad ways and even this may not be intended to be fulfilled by the author.
--Prof Rajendra Chenni

This book is about ‘Touring England – Short but far from Simple’ Ah, jolly old England! Architectural detail is a favorite thing in any of the older cities. This book has been written against the background of a literary England – of Chaucer, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Donne, Dickens, Wordsworth, Hardy and the 20th century literary giants. Of Edwardian Oxford there is poetry and fiction. The travelogue touches upon an Oxford education and King Henry VIII’s glory. It embraces the time/space of Shakespeare’s Stratford, Oxford, London and the natural beauty of Lake and Wessex, historical markets, seaside fun and sweeping beaches. Finally, London is “The Eye of the Earth.” “In Shakespeare’s England…” enables literary visitors to see Britain in a special way.
Smt. Padma Krishna Rao, MSc & MBA (Cardiff, University of Wales, UK)

Mallikarjun Patil’s The Travels in the Himalayas is a fine travel account. As a Research Associate of IIAS, Shimla, Mr. Patil has traveled in the Himalayas many times and has written this account vividly. Part I consists many chapters on his stay and visit to places like Shimla, Manali-Rohtang-Pass, Manikaran, Dharamshala, McLeodganj, Recong-Peo, Kalpa and Sangla, the last a village on Indo-China border. Of course, other experiences like his participation in an international seminar on Asia-Pacific Writings are there. Once he stayed with a tribal family and the same is depicted in the chapter, “Far from the madding crowd.” The chapter title is taken from Hardy’s novel of that name and interestingly Patil has visited Hardy’s Wessex in 2001. The last chapter is on Rudyard Kipling. Part II is about his trips to various places in the states of New Delhi, Hariyana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

The present book, though small in scale, attempts at introducing the eastern Himalayas to the lay-readers. It is the result of my seven days trip to the north-eastern Indian states. I could cover as many as five states—Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalay and Tripur. This was possible because of much of air and car journey. My official visit to the Central University, Kohima in Nagaland facilitated all this. My experience as well as scholarship was helpful in the shaping of this travel account. This book aims at introducing the north-eastern eight sister states to the people of the plains who have little knowledge about it. This is an honest effort in this noble endevour. I believe that the readers will like to read my account, holding their own views at the same time. I thank them for their reception of my text.

A Passage to America (2020) is an adventurous travelogue.  This is the author’s account of stay and travels in America with his family for about a month in May-June 2019. His daughter and son stay there. This is like a dream come true to the Patils, fed up of the harsh Indian realities. The book is in as many as ten chapters about Seattle, Loss Angeles, Chicago, Niagara, Boston, New York, New Jersey, Washington DC—the entire middle passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean (the New England region). That is the entire America and the account begins with a chapter on America’s history which just reads like a narrative. Every Indian must read this book just to see why India is backward though its history stretches back to the Indus Valley Civilization, 2000 BC.

The present book is a collection of radio talks that I gave at the All India Radio Stations (Prasarabharati)  at Dharwad, Gulbarga and Hyderabad. I gave some of these talks when I was young, doing my graduate and post-graduate studies. I gave many of them when I was a lecturer at English Department at Gulbarga University from 1994 to 2004. Then Akashavani officers, like the late Mr. Betgeri at AIR, Gulbarga, gave me enough cooperation. I also organized radio discussions and did translation of AIR plays for competitions. Mr. Rabbani Kolar got some of his plays done into English by me.