ಕೊಪ್ಪರಿಗೆ ಮನೆ (ಕಾದಂಬರಿ)

Veteran novelist Dr. Na. Mogasale's new novel 'Kopparige Mane' is significant for several reasons. This is a rare work where a family-based narrative becomes social and national. It narrates the story of two generations of a prominent Havyaka Brahmin landlord family from Kasaragod, an undivided South Canara district, who held the patelike and Muktasarike of a temple, belonging to two generations: the last colonial rule of the nineteenth century and the Gandhian era of the twentieth century. The father Shankar Bhat and son Keshav Bhat responded to modernity through the metaphor of temple renovation and tiling houses; the changing times facilitated women's freedom, documented by showing how the two main female characters were treated with respect; thirdly, the district's response to the freedom struggle is documented here through Keshav Bhat's resignation from the patelike and his response to the national cause, as well as through the depiction of various facets of the struggle. These three themes and aspirations indicate the importance of the novel's subject. Dr. Mogasale's ability to construct a suitable narrative structure to examine the novel's aspirations is a testament to his mastery of narrative art. 'Kopparige Mane' is not only one of Mogasale's best novels but also one of the most important novels in Kannada.

-Dr. B. Janardhan Bhat