The play is structured neatly, like all of ShanbhagвЂ™s works, introducing new characters and their eccentricities with each new scene. The play ends when he meets Betala, an old friend, who talks him out of his unrealistic nostalgia and convinces him to let things be. In the denouement, Vikram meets his scammer, a smooth talker called Srinivasa, and also a linguistic babble of families living in the apartments that he wants razed to make way for his childhood house and swing again.

In this journey, he encounters a bunch of curious characters, including fixer Cutlet Naga with an MA (in what subject we arenвЂ™t told), an all-powerful donВ no one has ever seen, and a friendвЂ™s wife called Madhuri who is unduly curious about his one-time neighbour and childhood sweetheart, also called Madhuri. The caretaker has scammed the family, and so Vikram sets out to track him down with the help of his friends and acquaintances.

He tries to make sense of the loss, and retrace the story of his father who spent his last lonely days there. It follows the story of Vikram, a nostalgic NRI returning from the US with a house key, only to find that a tall building with 12 apartments has come up where his house and its swing once stood. Like вЂGhachar GhocharвЂ™, вЂIlliruvudu SummaneвЂ™ is set in contemporary Bengaluru. Vivek answered questions from the Sunday afternoon audience. The play comes six years after an English translation of the novella вЂGhachar GhocharвЂ™ (by Srinath Perur) took Vivek to readers in Europe and the US, earning him wide acclaim.В Critics were especially delighted with the understated humour in the story of a modest lower-middle class family growing into affluence, and changing insidiously, as Bengaluru explodes into a monster city.ДЄ crowd of about 50 heard writer Jogi and theatre director Surendranath discuss the Kannada play at the Ranga Shankara lounge.

Vivek ShanbhagвЂ™s third and latest play, вЂIlliruvudu SummaneвЂ™ (вЂHere Just Like ThatвЂ™), received a warm welcome at a book club discussion at Ranga Shankara.

Vivek shanbhag kannada books