A septuagenarian poet breathed his last after reading out his poem, at the poets’ meet organised as part of the ninth Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, in the city on Friday. The poet, Shivanna (72), collapsed when he was on his way for lunch at about 3 pm. Soon, he was taken to the Vikram Hospital, where he died within ten minutes.
Shivanna’s name was not in the original list of poets who would be reading out their poems. However, he was given two minutes to read his three-page poem, following his request.
Shivanna had difficulty even while reading his poem. He had undergone a bypass surgery a month ago.   Poet’s daughter Harivatsalashri is currently pursuing her higher studies in the US. Shivanna and his wife Subhadramma too had been in the US, and he had returned to Mysore only three months ago.