Girish Karnad

Girish Karnad was born to a Brahmin family and from an early age took an interest in travelling theatre troupes. He majored in mathematics and statistics at Karnatak Arts College, graduating in 1958. After graduating he travelled to England and studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, where he wrote his first play, Yayati. After working for the Oxford University Press for seven years, he began to write full time for both theatre and film. For four decades he has continued to write plays, often using history and mythology to address contemporary themes. For his contributions to theatre, he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s top civilian honors, in 1974. In 1992 the Indian government awarded him the Padma Bhushan, another of its highest honors, for his contributions to the arts. He also received the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor, in 1999.