Review: 'Rama Bhima Soma' Fails to Capture Karnataka's Cultural Diversity

In a review published in ArtReview Asia's Spring 2025 issue, critic Deepa Bhasthi critiques Srikar Raghavan's debut book 'Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka' (Context, Rs 899 hardcover). Bhasthi, a native of Karnataka, argues that the book, despite its ambitious scope, is a 'haphazard collection' of issues affecting the state over the last century, lacking nuance and depth. The title derives from a childhood game, which Raghavan unconvincingly links to Karnataka's sociopolitical contradictions. The book covers topics such as the Marga versus Desi debate in Indian aesthetics, the rise and fall of socialism, the dalit-bandaya literary movement of the 1970s, conservation activism in the Western Ghats, trade-union politics, a Marxist library in Mysuru, communal issues in Chikmagalur, the novels of S.L. Bhyrappa, and the Naxal movement. Bhasthi criticizes Raghavan's reliance on interviews and bibliography over original analysis, his dismissal of playwright H.S. Shivaprakash's remarks on Kuvempu, and his use of the colonial term 'South Canara' instead of 'Dakshina Kannada'. She concludes that the book focuses predominantly on male, upper-caste contributions to Kannada literature, failing to provide a holistic understanding of the state.