Kulkarni became a Rotary International fellow and came to the United States. A member of the U.S. Cabinet asked Kulkarni to apply for U.S. citizenship.[2]
His first novel, Naked in Deccan (1983), won the 1984 American Book Award of the Before Columbus Foundation and was listed among the top ten novels of the decade by the Chicago Tribune.[3] In the book, Kulkarni describes Deccan, a region of India, as a “landscape lined with stretchmarks of fate masquerading as cart-driven paths deeply embedded in the dark earth”. The story is set in the feudal caste system and has no heroes or villains. Human beings demonstrate weaknesses and passions; some demonstrate moral strength and some do not.
In 1997, he had a late diagnosis of leukemia and despite prolonged treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, died on May 3, 1998. He was survived by his wife, Margaret, and four children:[3] eldest son Sri, next-eldest son Silas, daughter Margo, and youngest son Kris.[2]
He left two unfinished books, Allah Baksh - The Man Eaten By God, and The Modern American Apollo.
A Teaching Prize has been named for him by Rice University.[3]
^ abcFeldman, Margaret. "Life and death - Graduation was important to Silas Kulkarni but not as important as his dad." Houston Chronicle. June 7, 1998. Lifestyle p. 1. Newsbank Record Number: 3060644. Available from the Houston Public Library.