Kavery Nambisan

2022-03-16T05:38:50Z

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{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
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{{Infobox writer 
| name = Kavery Nambisan
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| pseudonym = Kavery Bhatt
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| birth_place = Palangala, [[Kodagu district]], India
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| occupation = Surgeon
| language = English, [[Kodava language|Kodava]]
| nationality = Indian
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| citizenship = Indian
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| alma_mater = [[St. John's Medical College]], [[Bangalore]]
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| notableworks = ''The Story that Must Not Be Told''
| spouse = [[Vijay Nambisan]]<ref name=fountainink/>
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'''Kavery Nambisan''' is an Indian surgeon and novelist. Her career in medicine has been a strong influence in her fiction.<ref name=hindu2013>{{cite news|newspaper=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/books/judges-for-the-hindu-prize-2013/article5375517.ece?homepage=true|title=Judges for the Hindu Prize 2013|date=21 November 2013|access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref>

==Life==

Kavery Nambisan was born in Palangala village in south [[Kodagu]], India, in a politician's family.<ref name=decher2006>{{cite news|newspaper=Deccan Herald|date=3 January 2006|title=A surge and a writer|access-date=23 November 2013|url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/jan32006/spectrum161735200612.asp}}</ref> Her father, [[C.M. Poonacha]], was at one time a Union Railway Minister.<ref name=readinghour>{{cite journal|journal=Reading Hour|url=http://readinghour.in/content.php?ctype_id=MjI%3D|date=May–June 2011|volume=1|issue=3|author=Vijay Nair|title=Chatting with Kavery Nambisan}}</ref> She spent her early years in [[Madikeri]].<ref name=decher2006/> She studied medicine in [[St. John's Medical College]], [[Bangalore]] from 1965<ref name=stjohn>{{cite web|url=http://johnite.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143:well-kown-author-and-rural-surgeonkavery-nambisan&catid=40:profiles&Itemid=70|title=Well Known Author and Rural Surgeon: Kavery Nambisan|date=17 August 2005|author=Carol D'Souza|publisher=Johnite|access-date=23 November 2013}}</ref> and then studied surgery at the [[University of Liverpool]], England,<ref name=fountainink>{{cite web|publisher=Fountain Ink|date=4 November 2013|author=Nandini Krishnan|access-date=22 November 2013|title=The doctor is in the house|url=http://fountainink.in/?p=4361}}</ref> where she obtained the [[Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons|FRCS]] qualification.<ref name=decher2006/> She worked as a surgeon in various parts of rural India<ref name=fountainink/> before moving to [[Lonavala]] to start a free medical centre for migrant labourers.<ref name="hindu2008">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/11/09/stories/2008110950060200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203021122/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/11/09/stories/2008110950060200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 December 2013|title=Quiet Activism|date=9 November 2008|author=Sonya Dutta Choudhury|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=23 November 2013}}</ref>

Nambisan works as surgeon and medical advisor at the Tata Coffee Hospital in [[Kodagu district|Kodagu]], Karnataka,<ref name=hindu2013/> and is the Chief Medical Officer for [[Tata Coffee]].<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Economic Times|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-06-24/news/40166735_1_cyrus-mistry-ratan-tata-tata-global-beverages-ltd|date=24 June 2013|title=Cyrus Mistry wants more women at leadership roles in Tata group|access-date=23 November 2013}}</ref> She has created several programmes for child immunisation and family planning for the rural communities. She is vocal in her critiques of urban centred health planning.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/02/20/stories/2005022000270100.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050504155304/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/02/20/stories/2005022000270100.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 May 2005|author=Kavery Nambisan|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|title=Magazine : Saving lives ... at what cost?|date=20 February 2005}}</ref>

Nambisan was married to [[Vijay Nambisan]], a journalist and poet.<ref name=fountainink/> She has a daughter, Chetana, from an earlier marriage to Dr K.R. Bhatt, which lasted eighteen years.<ref name=stjohn/>

==Literary career==
Kavery Nambisan began by writing under her first married name Kavery Bhatt for children's magazines. She wrote stories for the now defunct children's magazine ''[[Target (magazine)|Target]]''. She also contributed to ''[[Femina (India)|Femina]]'' and ''Eve's Weekly''.<ref name=fountainink/>

Nambisan has authored several novels for adults, each with widely differing themes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Nambisan, Kavery (1949-), Routledge Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, Second Edition|last=Narayan|first=Shyamala A.|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|location=London}}</ref> Her first book, published under the name Kavery Bhatt, ''The Truth (almost) About Bharat,'' is the story of a rebellious young medical student who runs away from medical college, and begins a cross-country road trip on his motorcycle. The book went out of print and was recently re-released.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} Her second novel, ''The Scent of Pepper'' (1996) was set in her birthplace, [[Kodagu district|Kodagu]] and is a portrait of the life and culture of its people, through the eyes of a family from colonial rule to independence.<ref name=":0" /> ''Mango-coloured Fish'' (1998) concerns a woman whose marriage has been arranged to a man she does not love.<ref name=":0" /> ''On Wings of Butterflies'' (2002) is set in the women's movement in independent India and narrates the story of a group of women entering politics.<ref name=":0" /> ''The Hills of Angheri'' (2005) draws from Nambisan's own experiences as a doctor, tracing a young woman's medical career.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pai|first=Sanjay A.|date=2006-01-01|title=Review of The Hills Of Angheri|jstor=25456186|journal=BMJ: British Medical Journal|volume=332|issue=7538|pages=429–429}}</ref> Her sixth novel, ''The Story that Must Not Be Told'' was shortlisted for the [[DSC Prize for South Asian Literature]] in 2012,<ref name="toi2012">{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-03/bangalore/30354593_1_shortlist-english-translation-dsc-prize|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203025151/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-03/bangalore/30354593_1_shortlist-english-translation-dsc-prize|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 December 2013|title=Home-turf stories bring laurels to B'lore writers|date=3 November 2011|author=Shrabonti Bagchi|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref> as well as the [[Man Asian Literary Prize]] in 2008.<ref name="hindu2008" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/kavery-nambisan|title=Kavery Nambisan|publisher=Penguin India|access-date=22 November 2013}}</ref> Her seventh and most recent novel, ''A Town Like Ours'' (2014) is an account of the lives of several people, narrated by a sex worker living in a small town, and engages with themes of identity and industrialisation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/a-town-like-ours-story-of-a-small-town-as-seen-by-a-sex-worker/story-GuTCUx8nq1xhduY5Kh9XYI.html|title=A Town Like Ours: Story of a small town as seen by a sex worker|date=2015-01-03|work=hindustantimes.com/|access-date=2017-03-25|language=en}}</ref>

Nambisan's story ''Dr Sad and the Power Lunch'' was joint runner-up in the third Outlook-Picador non-fiction contest in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?223126|title=Outlook-Picador Non-Fiction Contest 2003: Dr Sad and the Power Lunch|date=3 March 2004|access-date=23 November 2013}}</ref> She has also contributed fiction to ''[[Indian Literature (journal)|Indian Literature]]'', the journal published by the [[Sahitya Akademi]] (India's National Academy of Letters).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nambisan|first=Kavery|date=2005-01-01|title=The Ordinary Life of Srinivasalu|jstor=23340859|journal=Indian Literature|volume=49|issue=4 (228)|pages=183–189}}</ref>

She has also contributed some works of criticism, including a piece on 'New Issues in Fiction'<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nambisan|first=Kavery|date=2005-01-01|title=New Issues in Fiction|jstor=23340770|journal=Indian Literature|volume=49|issue=4 (228)|pages=41–44}}</ref> to the journal ''[[Indian Literature (journal)|Indian Literature]].''

==Awards and recognition==

=== Literary Awards and Recognition ===
Kavery Nambisan was a ''[[Coorg Person of the Year]]'' in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Hindu|author=Jeevan Chinnappa|title=P.M. Belliappa is 'Coorg Person of the Year 2011'|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/pm-belliappa-is-coorg-person-of-the-year-2011/article2779554.ece|access-date=23 November 2013|date=6 January 2012}}</ref>

=== Medical and Professional Awards and Recognition ===

==List of Publications ==
*''Once Upon a Forest'', [[Children's Book Trust]], India, 1986. (As Kavery Bhatt.)
*''Kitty Kite'', Children's Book Trust, India, 1987. (As Kavery Bhatt.)
*''The Truth (almost) About Bharat'', Penguin India, 1991. (As Kavery Bhatt.)
*''The Scent of Pepper'', Penguin India, 1996.
*''Mango-coloured fish'', Penguin India, 1998.
*''On Wings of Butterflies'', Penguin India, 2002.
*''The Hills of Angheri'', Penguin, 2005.
*''The Story that Must Not Be Told'', Penguin, 2010.
*''A Town Like Ours'', Aleph Book Company, 2014.
*''A Luxury Called Health'', Speaking Tiger, 2021.

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nambisan, Kavery}}
[[Category:Novelists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Indian women children's writers]]
[[Category:Indian children's writers]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Kodava people]]
[[Category:People from Kodagu district]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:International Writing Program alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:Women writers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Indian women novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]

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Kavery Nambisan