Tyagraj Paramasiva Iyer Kailasam (

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

: ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ಪರಮಶಿವ ಐಯ್ಯರ್ ಕೈಲಾಸಂ, 1884–1946), was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

playwright and prominent writer in the

Kannada literature Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script. Attestations in literature span one and a half ...

. Literary criticism in Kannada literature is said to have started for the first time by Kailasam in his works. His contribution to

theatrical comedy earned him the title ''Prahasana Prapitamaha'' (ಪ್ರಹಸನ ಪ್ರಪಿತಾಮಹ; the great-grandfather of humorous plays). He was later often revered "the one and only Kailasam for Kannada" (ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ ಒಬ್ಬನೇ ಕೈಲಾಸಂ).

Life

Kailasam was born in a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Iyer

brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

(now

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

). He belonged to the Mangudi Brahacharanam subsect. His father, T Paramasiva Iyer, was a revenue collector in the Government of Mysore who later became the Chief Justice of

Mysore High Court Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude ...

. His father's brother, Sir T. Sadasiva Iyer, was a Chief Justice of Travancore High Court. Sir C.V. Raman is his father's cousin on the parental side. Kailasam received a good education. He was supported by Maharaja

Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar; 4 June 1884 – 3 August 1940) was the twenty-fourth maharaja of the Kingdom of Mysore, from 1902 until his death in 1940. He is popularly called '' Rajarshi'' ( sa, rājarṣi, li ...

to study geology at the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

, London. His close friends and classmates included

K. V. Iyer Kolar Venkatesh Iyer, known as K. V. Iyer (1897-1980) was a gymnast, bodybuilder, proponent of Indian physical culture, and author of books including the 1930 ''Muscle Cult: A Pro-Em for My System''. He contributed to the development of moder ...

and V. Seetharamaiah. Kailasam repeated several courses to have an excuse to extend his stay in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He spent seven years in school there to complete his fellowship, participating in theatre whenever possible. Soon after his return, he joined the geology service in Mysore government. He became disillusioned with a government job and quit to write plays and live a bohemian life. His father's failed ambitious plan that he would become the Director General of the Department of Geology led him to stop talking to him.

Playwright

Kailasam's life was dedicated to local theatre and his contributions revolutionised it. His humour left an impression on Kannadigas. He opposed the company theatre's obsession with

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

and stories of royalty and shied away from loading his plays with music. Instead, he introduced simple, realistic sets. Kailasam chaired the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1945. A chainsmoker, he spent almost ten years at an apartment in Chamarajapuram which he called "Nook". Reputedly a notoriously filthy place, he loved it and wrote many dramas in there. He dictated his stories to his students at the Nook, usually starting after 10pm. Kailasam was initially criticised for modern use of the

language in his plays at a time when the language was used under strict linguistic syntax and semantics. But soon after, his works became very popular and are considered among the best in Kannada theatre, known for wit and satirical commentary on society.

Plays

Kannada

* ''ToLLu Gatti or MakkaLiskool Manelalwe? ��ೊಳ್ಳು ಗಟ್ಟಿ' * ''Poli Kitti, The Story of a born scout ��ೋಲಿ ಕಿಟ್ಟಿ' * ''Bahishkara ��ಹಿಷ್ಕಾರ' * ''HomeRoolu ��ೋ೦ರೂಲು ' * ''Gandaskatri ��ಂಡಸ್ಕತ್ರಿ' * ''Vaidyana Vyadhi ��ೈದ್ಯನ ವ್ಯಾಧಿ' * ''TaLikattokkooline? ��ಾಳಿಕಟ್ಟೋಕ್ಕೂಲಿನೇ' * ''Huttadalli Hutta (Waels Within Weals) ��ುತ್ತದಲ್ಲಿ ಹುತ್ತ' * ''BandvaLvillada Badayi ��ಂಡ್ವಾಳ್ವಿಲ್ಲದ ಬಡಾಯಿ' * ''Ammavra Ganda ��ಮ್ಮಾವ್ರ ಗಂಡ ' * ''Seekarne Saavitri ��ೀಕರ್ಣೆ ಸಾವಿತ್ರಿ' * ''Sattavana Santhaapa ��ತ್ತವನ ಸಂತಾಪ' * ''AnukoolakkobaNNa ��ನುಕೂಲಕ್ಕೊಬ್ಬಣ್ಣ' * ''Namkampni ��ಮ್ ಕಂಪನಿ' * ''NamkLabbu ��ಮ್ಕ್ಳಬ್ಬು' * ''NammBramhaNkay ��ಮ್ಮ್ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣ್ಕೆ' * ''SooLe (Murder O' Mercy) ��ೂಳೆ'

English

* ''Fulfilment'' * ''Purpose'' * ''The Brahmin's Curse'' * ''

Simply Kailawesome ''Simply Kailawesome'' is a Kannada short film directed by MG Srinivas. The film was made on playwright T. P. Kailasam and revolves around conversations between Kailasam and female protagonists from four of his plays. While MG Srinivas played T ...

'' (film)

References

External links

Kailasam's English Poems and Plays

Song: ''Tipparalli Balu Doora'' on Youtube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kailasam, T. P. 1884 births 1946 deaths Kannada-language writers Kannada dramatists and playwrights Writers from Mysore Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Dramatists and playwrights from Karnataka 20th-century Indian male writers