The Shekars

Mrs. Leela Shekar and Mr. Chandrashekar are like any other middle class ordinary citizens, now residing in the Malleshwaram area of Bangalore. Now in their 70’s, the Shekars are leading a peaceful retired life, away from the hustle and bustle of hectic Bangalore. So what makes them special that they have been featured in these columns?

It is their love, dedication and service to the Kannada language during their prime years that makes this couple special. Having spent the major portion of their lives in Madras (now Chennai) Leela and Chandrashekar involved themselves in everything that was Kannada. Leela Shekar is well known as one of the few female humorous writers in Kannada for over 5 decades now. Leela, who has a flair for writing from her school days, was the editor of a handwritten magazine for her school in the 1940’s. Thus began her journey as a kannada writer whose pen never stopped writing till about 7 years ago. Credited with about 600 articles for various kannada magazines like Sudha, Mayura, Karmaveera, Kuravanji, Aparanji, Taranga and others, around 100 plays and dramas which have been either broadcast or telecast or played on the stage and three Novels, Leela Shekar is considered one of well known writers, whose works were well appreciated. While Leela was busy with her Kannada articles and playwrights, Chandrashekar, better known as Shekar for his friends was involved with creating Kannada advertisement copy and jingle writing. 60% of the Print ads that appeared in all the leading Kannada newspapers and articles in the 1970’s. 1980’s and early 90's were either written or translated from English by Shekar. The catchy slogans and copy written by Shekar caught the attention of many leading Ad agencies and he was in good demand until agencies started opening up in Bangalore and all kannada work was handled locally at Bangalore since 1990.

Shekar and Leela were instrumental in starting two Kannada associations in Chennai during the 60’s and 70's. They were the founder members and also found themselves elected to every Committee in Kannada Balaga for a decade. When they moved residence to Besant Nagar, one of the new localities in Chennai overseeing the beautiful Elliot Beach, they started another Kannada association called the Kannadigara Koota in 1971 with the celebrity brothers R N Jayagopal and R N K Prasad, both sons of R Nagendra Rao, noted Kannada film actor of yesteryears, and many like minded kannadigas of Chennai. Both Kannada Balaga and Kannadigara Koota are big organizations in Chennai today, spreading the culture and language of Karnataka.

In spite of the busy schedule as a writer, housewife and active member of the Kannada associations, Leela also found time to work at a new school as Administrator for over 4 years. All these activities and contributions to Kannada also caught the attention of the Central Government who offered her the position of a honorary member of the Central Board of Film Certification (better known as the Censor Board) to review and approve the Kannada movies produced during the 1980’s. After serving two stints of three years each, Leela had to quit for the same reason Shekar quit his copywriting activities. The Censor Board opened a branch in Bangalore and Kannada movies began to be censored at Bangalore.

Senility and health reasons slowed these activities of the Shekars after retirement and they moved to their own house in Bangalore. Both their children are well settled in life, the son living abroad and the daughter, after living in several countries abroad now lives close to the Shekars.

DiscoverBangalore is pleased to introduce the Shekars to the visitors of our site and to the world as we recognize their good work which should be brought to light. We wish Leela and Shekar the best and a happy and peaceful retired life.

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