Media Release
USA, Feb 24: The people of Tulunaad origin, residing in the United States and Canada came together to celebrate the inauguration of AATA’s (Akhila Americoda Tuluvere Angana) unique initiative ‘BALE TULU LIPI KALPUGA’ online Tulu lipi learning classes. The virtual event was held on February 13, 2022 over zoom and watched by Tuluvas from India and all over the world.
The event started with offering our prayers and Pooja by priest Shree Shankar Narayan Bhat of Shri Krishna Vrindavana Temple San Jose, California. The chairperson of Board of Directors of All America Tulu Association (AATA) Dr Shridhar Alva welcomed chief guest, invited guests, teacher and all the audiences to the event. AATA’s vice president Shirish Shetty introduced chief guest, retired principal from India, Dr Padekallu Vishnu Bhat, who is a renowned scholar in Tulu, Kannada and Sanskrit languages.
Dr Vishnu Bhat beautifully explained the history of Tulu language and its script which is among the earliest Dravidian languages with a history of more than 2000 years. He shared his early experiences with the script and its importance in the religious artifacts, artworks and literature. His speech was enlightening, entertaining and thought provoking. It surely was inspiring and encouraging to learn more about the script.
AATA’s director Shrivathsa Ballal, the guest for the event explained about the usage of Tulu lipi and the scriptures written in Tulu and the history behind it. He touched upon the transformation the language went through and how some of the Tulu scripts have been converted into digital media for the future generation. Listening to his talk gave a proud feeling among all Tuluvas. Santhosh Shetty, AATA’s Ambassador California, another guest for the event shared his personal experience and the attachment that we Tuluvas have for our language wherever we go and encouraged the current and the next generation to carry forward the heritage and nurture our Tulu culture. We could relate to his talk and it definitely resonated strongly with all of us. Bhaskar Sherigar, president of AATA reiterated the purpose of the initiative ‘BALE TULU LIPI KALPUGA’ and the vision he has for the AATA community to preserve Tulu Culture and Language. He is an inspiring and a genuine example of perseverance, passion, and hard work that has brought us together under one big family of AATA.
Inventor of Tulu keyboard Dr Guru Prasad gave a brief demo on the Tulu keyboard to be used during the online classes. The pocket computers with keyboards are already installed in many schools in India. He encouraged all the youths to participate in the digitization of the Tulu manuscripts. He has many ideas and projects to be executed and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for all of us. The teacher of the lipi class Sri Sathish Agpala, explained about the memory techniques, the course content structure, details on how to use the keyboard and how to practice writing the language. The online classes for first batch will be going on for two months.
There was a lot of excitement in the audiences which reflected in numerous queries during Q&A session ‘Pattanga’ on Tulu lipi and the learning content of the online classes. It was very heartening to see the overwhelming response through interactive session. Dr. Vishnu Bhat and teacher Sathish Agapala convincingly explained every question in detail. AATA’s other executive committee members general secretary Prakash Udupa, treasurer Subhaschandra Shetty, joint treasurer Fredrick Fernandes, all the directors, ambassadors and advisors from various regions of United States and Canada were present and provided valuable suggestions. Leaders of various world Tulu organizations, Dr Saigeetha Hegde from Nitte University, Shantaram Shetty iLesa, Surendra Kumar Marnad iLesa, Dr K N Adiga Bengaluru, K Narayan Shetty from Italy and many others from middle east and across the globe joined the event.
AATA’s joint secretary Puja Shetty proposed vote of thanks by thanking the chief guest, guests and all involved in organizing this event and making it a grand success. It surely was a successful event and all are eagerly looking forward to learn Tulu Lipi, a unique learning platform offered by AATA.