G Venkatasubbaiah has been chosen for Padma Shri for Literature and Education
He was born before the First World War started - and spent many of his 103 years working on a definitive Kannada dictionary. Professor G Venkatasubbaiah has been chosen for the Padma Shri this year for Literature and Education.
Many of the admirers of Professor G Venkatasubbaiah have been making a beeline to his house in south Bengaluru to congratulate the centurion on his latest recognition - the Padma Shri.
Professor Venkatasubbaiah told NDTV, "Without expectation I have received this award."
In his long and scholarly career, the lexicographer is most proud of his mammoth work - a deeply researched Kannada dictionary.
He said, "I first began work on it 50 years ago. About 80 to 90 people started collecting words and we organised in alphabetical order. It took 10 years to put the Kannada words in alphabetical order. I worked for 25 to 30 years on this dictionary... eight volumes. 10 000 pages. No other language in India has a dictionary like this."
Manu Baligar, President of the Kannada Sahithya Parishat, had also come to congratulate the man who has held the same post years earlier. He told NDTV, "Though late, it has come to a proper person in Kannada literature. Professor G Venkatasubbaiah's work in the field of lexicography will remain forever in Kannada literature."
And over a century has not been enough for this avid reader.
"I am not as active as I used to be," the professor said. "I spend most of my time reading books I wanted to read in my lifetime and had not time to read. Writing - I can't do physically. So I dictate. That is how my work is continuing."