Sridhara Banavasi, who writes under the pen name ‘Fakira’, completed his schooling in Banavasi, Ujire and Davangere and studied Mechanical Engineering, Journalism and Mass Communication. 

 He was interested in short stories, poetry and column writing since his college days and has been recognized as an important storyteller in the Kannada story field through the books ‘Ammana Autograph’, ‘Devara Jolige’, ‘British Bungalow’ and ‘Beru’. Also worked in media and entertainment field for many years. And has directed many TV shows, commercials and documentaries. Currently, he is a director in Vestacroft. 

 His poetry collections are ‘Tigariya Hugalu’ and ‘Bitthida Benki’. His novel ‘Beru’, published in 2017, was recognized as one of the best novels of that year and won the Kendra Sahitya Academy ‘Yuva Puraskara’, Karnataka Sahitya Academy’s ‘Chaduranga’ grant, ‘Kuvempu’ award, ‘Chadaga Novel Award’, ‘Sha Balurao’ and the ‘Basavaraja Kattimani’ award. Fakira has set a record by winning over 9 prestigious awards including the ‘Young Writer’ award. The Tamil newspaper ‘Iniya Nandanavanam’ has honoured him with the Karunada Sahitya Chintamani Award.