Mounesh Vishwakarma/Rons Bantwal
Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (SP)
Bantwal, Aug 4: At the 19th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana organized at Polali Shankaranarayana Shastri Dais set up in the premises of Goddess Rajarajeshwari Temple in the taluk, 'Kalasarathi' Karnoor Mohan Rai (social service), and Daijiworld's Mumbai bureau chief Rons Bantwal (journalism), both Kannadigas settled in Mumbai backed by stellar achievements, were felicitated. On behalf of Rons, his sister, Dony Bantwal accepted the felicitation. State minister for youth services and sports, K Abhaychandra Jain, and chairman of Alva's Education Foundation, Dr M Mohan Alva, extended these felicitations.
The session for writers of humour organized on the occasion was attended among others, by Suresh Shetty Yeyyady (Mumbai). The session was held in the presence of state forest and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, B Ramanath Rai, health minister, U T Khadar, MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, and well-known litterateur, Erya Laxminarayana Alva, among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Mohan Alva noted that Kannada medium schools in the state are on the verge of closures, and unless preemptive action is taken now to ensure that these schools do not fall prey to the aggressive spread of other languages, and the people wholeheartedly support a popular campaign for the conservation of Kannada culture and language, danger is imminent, he warned. He also called upon the state government to evince interest towards saving Kannada and culture with added will power and vigour.
Speaking after felicitating 21 achievers from different fields on the occasion, Alva expressed anguish at the dwindling number of students appearing for examinations with Kannada as medium with each passing year, and decline in the performance of these schools. 'The government should provide enough teachers and other infrastructure to Kannada schools, and work tirelessly for improving their quality. The people's representatives should show their solidarity and will power for upliftment of the language. Yakshagana as an art form should be identified as the cultural art form of the state. A cultural policy should be adopted in the state, all art forms should be linked to education, and thereby honest efforts should be made for conserving arts,' he said.
At the felicitation function chaired by former president of central Kannada Sahitya Parishat, SDM educational institutions secretary, Dr Yashovarma, Bantwal taluk panchayat president, Yashwant Deraje, entrepreneur, Raghu Somayaji, zilla panchayat former member, A C Bhandary, Dr Sudarshan and Dr Hani Cabral, participated as guests.
The others who were honoured on the occasion are Dr Vasantamadhava K G (history), P Madhava Polali and Seena Poojary (native medicine), Montu Rodrigues Bellur (social service), Kookra Madiwala Ulepady (heritage achiever), Mohan Kumar Ammunje (Yakshagana), Dr Dejappa Dallodi (research), Shahanaz M (literature), Rev Vijay Harvin Puttur (social service), Muliya Shyam Bhat Puttur (social service), Dr Ismail (education), Koosappa Nalike Beltangady (worship of spirits), Girish Bhardwaj Sullia (hanging bridges expert), Moodumane Ramesh Rao Punarur (agriculture), Dr Asha Ballal Mangalore (medical service), Umesh Rao Yekkar Kinnigoli (literature), and Bantwal Lord Tirumala Venkataramana Yakshagana Sangha.
Keyyur Narayana Bhat welcomed. Surekha Yalawar proposed vote of thanks. Manju Vittla presented the programmes.
'Kannada proliferate, successfully facing onslaught of English' – Dr Suneetha
'In spite of tough competition Kannada faces from large scale acceptance of English as a popular language, Kannada can grow by leaps and bounds if we take an initiative to show the same large-hearted acceptance to our mother tongue,' felt veteran Kannada and Tulu littereateur, Dr M Suneetha Shetty.
She made these observations in her concluding address at the valedictory function of the two-day 19th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held at Polali in the taluk on Sunday August 3.
She stressed that Kannada does not face any threat from different types of Marathi literature, and asked the people not to have any undue apprehensions on this front. 'Mumbai is a city that is known for remaining culturally stoic and undisturbed in the face of challenges. It bounces back to its original shape when some adversities occur, within no time. Marathi literature also has this conviction and confidence. If Kannada too has to gain this stature, we should become more proud and show added affinity towards Kannada language,' she opined.
She observed that Kannadigas living elsewhere keep expressing concern over the dwindling popularity of Kannada, and thought that this was but natural. But she felt it shocking that people living in Karnataka too have been coming out and expressing this opinion. 'Retaining schools with mother tongue as medium of instruction is posing a challenge to every government. But Maharashtra government is thinking in terms of retaining mother tongue as medium of instruction even in English medium schools. Our government should follow in these footsteps. If we have to save Kannada medium schools, we need to revise syllabus of these schools. Only then the students may come forward to study Kannada alongside Hindi and English,' she suggested.
Sports, youth services and fisheries minister, Abhaychandra Jain, who honoured Sammelana president, Dr K P Rao at the valedictory function of the Sammelan, said that people of the state should have love and affection towards Karnataka, but cautioned them against allowing this to turn into pride and arrogance that is unreasonable and unacceptable. He noted that in some cases, the show of offensive affection for one's language hurts the sentiments of people living in border areas. Agreeing that the work of conserving Kannada language should be taken up in a creative and careful manner, he revealed that the government has already earmarked a sum of one crore rupees for the growth of Kannada. He praised Dr K P Rao, president of the Sammelan, for his appreciable service to literature, and added that the government will take steps to recognize his contributions.
Karnataka Bank Ltd chief general manager, M S Mahabaleshwar Bhat, released the souvenir brought out on this occasion. At the dais of the Sammelan, Polali Jayaram Bhat was honoured by dignitaries present.
Nadoja Prof K P Rao, who was the president of the Sammelan, Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, B Ramanath Rai, MLCs, Capt Ganesh Karnik and Ivan D'Souza, former MLA, Padmanabha Kottary, district Kannada Saitya Parishat president, Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, and Polali temple managing trustee, A Manjaiah Shetty, were present. Kasargod district Kannada Sahitya Parishat president, S V Bhat, taluk Parishat president, Dr B Yashovarma Beltangady, Dr Varadaraj Chandragiri Puttur, Meenakshi Gowda Sullia, Jayanand Peraje Bantwal, and Vijayalakshmi B Shetty Mangalore were present.
K Mohan Rao welcomed. Venkatesh Navada proposed vote of thanks. Manjula Shetty presented the programme. Balakrishna Master Ammunje hosted the programme.