Writer Na D’Souza passes away at 87

Bengaluru: Acclaimed Kannada novelist and writer Na D'Souza passed away on Sunday.
The 87-year-old writer was admitted to Mangaluru's Father Muller hospital on Jan 3 night following kidney, heart, blood pressure and prostrate complications. He died at 7.49pm due to kidney failure.
Norbert D'Souza was popularly known across Karnataka as Na D'Souza and authored more than 200 works in different creative genres ranging from children's literature to plays and novels.
A few of his stories have been made into films, including the eponymous national awards winning best film ‘Dweepa', which was directed by Girish Kasaravalli.
Born in 1937 at Sagara in Shivamogga district, D'Souza completed education at Sahyadri college in Shivamogga and later joined the public works department as typist. However, all through his career, D'Souza made name with his prolific stories that narrated the tales of displacement and despair in Malnad districts owing to multiple developmental projects, including the famous Sharavathi hydroelectric project.
D'Souza was one of the early Kannada writers who chose to create awareness on environment and climate change. All his works, especially short stories, argued that destruction of the environment will doom humanity.
Acknowledging his contributions to the world of literature and social causes of Karnataka, D'Souza was chosen as the president of 80th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana that was held in Madikeri, Kodagu, in 2014. Several of his works have been translated to English, Konkani, Hindi, Telugu, Sanskrit and Malayalam. He was honoured with the Pampa award, Kannada Rajyotsava Prashasti, Kendriya Sahitya Akademi award and many others.
He is survived by wife and three children. His mortal remains will be taken to Sagara district on Monday, according to sources.