A product of Dharwad, Champa had with him the essence of the town
The Hindu
He saw no difference in creative writing and activism: Baragur Ramachandrappa
Chandrashekhar Patil always carried with him the essence of North Karnataka in general and Dharwad in particular. He was part and parcel of Dharwad for almost four decades and it was here that the writer, the poet, the satirist, the playwright, and the fighter in him was nurtured.
Champa, better known as ‘C.B.’ short for his initials, among his friends in his home town that comprised Giraddi Govindraj, Somashekhar Imrapur, Siddhalinga Pattanashetti, P.M. Hegde, M.M. Kalburgi and others, began his poetic journey at the historical Karnatak College in Dharwad, where V.K. Gokak inspired him to pen poems.
After his diploma in English in Hyderabad, Champa did his M.A. from Leads University and returned to Dharwad to serve as English teacher at Karnatak University, which he subsequently headed.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.