Latrina, the harsh realities of societal norms

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: She used to fill latrine waste in her basket and travel miles to dump it far from the village. Despite her efforts, society still scolded her because the stench spread through the village, said author Veerabhadrappa Kumbar, popularly known by the pen name KumVee, during the launch of his book 'Latrina' at the Gandhi Bhavan here on Saturday.

“I was the one who got angry at society for making her clean their waste,” he said. Speaking with News Trail, KumVee said that the purpose of writing this book was to highlight the societal norms where people from poor backgrounds are forced to remove latrine waste from public toilets and carry it in baskets on their heads.

“The waste would flow over their bodies, sometimes even reaching their lips, yet these women carried it without hesitation. In a poetic way, I have used the present political situation as an example, depicting a pig and a cow falling in love with each other.

"Everything I have observed from childhood until now is mentioned in this book,” he revealed. Furthermore, he added that this book has a serious tone, with no scope for entertainment.

“In it, I address the challenges and discrimination based on caste, religion and work. I took the example of Matha, a religious place, so that readers can directly understand who I am referring to.”

While addressing the attendees, KumVee expressed concern over the lack of support for local authors, noting that the gover nment has not purchased books from Karnataka writers in the past four years, leading to financial strain for many. 

KumVee also spoke about the impact of digitalisation, noting that younger generations are spending more time online and less time reading.

The book was unveiled by Purushottama Bilimale, chairman of the Kannada Development Authority, with other notable guests including LN Mukundaraj, president of the Karnataka Sahitya Academy.