Kaveri Nambisan

Life

Kavery Nambisan was born in Palangala village in south Kodagu, India, in a politician's family. Her father, C.M. Poonacha, was at one time a Union Railway Minister. She spent her early years in Madikeri. and then studied surgery at the University of Liverpool, England, where she obtained the FRCS qualification.

Nambisan works as a surgeon and medical advisor at the Tata Coffee Hospital in Kodagu, Karnataka, She has created several programmes for child immunisation and family planning for the rural communities. She is vocal in her critiques of urban centred health planning.

Nambisan was married to Vijay Nambisan, a journalist and poet. Her first book, published under the name Kavery Bhatt, The Truth (almost) About Bharat, is the story of a rebellious young medical student who runs away from medical college, and begins a cross-country road trip on his motorcycle. The book went out of print and was recently re-released. Her second novel, The Scent of Pepper (1996) was set in her birthplace, Kodagu and is a portrait of the life and culture of its people, through the eyes of a family from colonial rule to independence. Her sixth novel, The Story that Must Not Be Told was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature in 2012, as well as the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008. Her seventh and most recent novel, A Town Like Ours (2014) is an account of the lives of several people, narrated by a sex worker living in a small town, and engages with themes of identity and industrialisation.

Nambisan's story Dr Sad and the Power Lunch was joint runner-up in the third Outlook-Picador non-fiction contest in 2003. She has also contributed fiction to Indian Literature, the journal published by the Sahitya Akademi (India's National Academy of Letters).

A Luxury Called Health: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Art, the Science and the Trickery of Medicine, her first non-fiction book is based on her experiences as a doctor and honestly discusses the ills of the profession.

She has also contributed some works of criticism, including a piece on 'New Issues in Fiction' to the journal Indian Literature.

Awards and recognition

Literary Awards and Recognition:

Kavery Nambisan was a Coorg Person of the Year in 2005.

Publications Once Upon a Forest, Children's Book Trust, India, 1986. (As Kavery Bhatt.) Kitty Kite, Children's Book Trust, India, 1987. (As Kavery Bhatt.) The Truth (almost) About Bharat, Penguin India, 1991. (As Kavery Bhatt.) The Scent of Pepper, Penguin India, 1996. Mango-coloured fish, Penguin India, 1998. On Wings of Butterflies, Penguin India, 2002. The Hills of Angheri, Penguin, 2005. The Story that Must Not Be Told, Penguin, 2010. A Town Like Ours, Aleph Book Company, 2014. A Luxury Called Health, Speaking Tiger, 2021.