Mangesh V Nadkarni was born in the twin village Hanehalli-Bankikodla in North Kanara, Karnatak, South India. Together, these villages form a community of people coming from different castes and religions. Literature, folk art, spiritual lore, music and sports keep thriving here. Just to the north of this village, the Gangavali River joins the Arabian Sea. The town of Gokarna, just to the south, is known as Kashi of the South and is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus. The surrounding Sahyadri Mountains hug the Arabian sea; the open fields provide lot of recreational opportunities to the locals. It has creeks, and shallow ponds, and bridges vulnerable to rainy season. For religious or spiritual people, there are lots of temples, Churches and Masjids to worship in.

It is a place rich in culture and education. During the British rule in India, the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins built the Anandrashram High School (1943) for their children, but a majority of them eventually moved out to Mumbai. The younger population is now moving out of village, they preparing for the careers of their choices. As the younger generations are moving out, the older generations, especially the retired communities, have started coming back to the village.

Anandashram High School (The name of the 8th Guru of Chitrapur Saraswats) is one of the oldest schools in Karwar, The JaiHind (Edwards) High School Ankola and the Gibbs High School, Kumta, are other two schools. It has continued to do great work among weaker sections of the society. To keep the lamp of knowledge burning, the then leaders of Chitrapur Saraswats established the Rural Education Society (RES) and took the task of spreading education to the deserved here and in the surrounding villages. From then on, the School has been making steady progress in its curricular and co-curricular activities; in fact, it has given to society innumerable scholars.

Below is a photograph of the School where Mangesh V Nadkarni had his early education. He passed the School Leaving Examination from here in 1949. Later, he earned  PhD in English Literature from the UCLA, California, US (1970). After that he was a professor of Linguistics at the Central Institute of Foreign Languages in Hyderabad (1969–83). From Hyderabad he went to the National University of Singapore where he taught for nine years (1984-93). On retirement he more or less settled in Pondicherry. During this period he travelled extensively, in India and around the world, giving discourses on Sri Aurobindo’s epic Savitri.

 
For further details please visit Anandashram High School

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