India, July 28 -- July marks the passing of two legendary personalities associated with Karnataka and Kannada. Neither spoke Kannada as a mother tongue, but both received the Rajyotsava Award to mark an immense contribution to the language and culture. One of them was the silver-voiced playback singer, Gaana Kogile S Janaki, who died at 88 in Mysuru on July 11. The other was towering folklorist and Gandhian, Kannada Santha (the Kannada saint) Dr SK Karim Khan, who died in Bengaluru on July 29, 2006. The arcs of these two remarkable lives met briefly but memorably.

Recording her first song for a Tamil film at 19, Janaki went on to a dazzling musical career spanning six decades, during which she garnered credits on a staggering 48,000 song...