Belgaum: Murthy Lights Lamp, Kannada Meet Begins
Belgaum, March 11, DHNS: Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy and others lit the festive lamp and formally inaugurated the second World Kannada Convention, which has drawn an astounding participation of 2,50,000 delegates, according to initial estimates.
The police had to lathi charge the surging crowd to get the situation under control. All gates at the Belagavi stadium, where the meet is being held, are now closed, blocking out several dignitaries.
A galaxy of dignitaries - BSY, Anil Kumble, Aishwarya Rai, GSS, Janardhan Reddy, Ambrish, Sriramulu, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, U R Ananthamurthy, Prabhakar Kore, Siddaramaiah - to name a few have graced the occassion.
Earlier, the Karnataka chief minister BSY, his cabinet ministers and Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy arrived, decked up in the North Karnataka headgear, Pataga.
A colourful inagural procession began in the morning to roll out the Convention. The procession which started from Veerasowdha ended at the Belagavi stadium, covering over a distance of six kilometres.
This will be the second mega event to be hosted in the city- the previous being the 1924 session of the Indian National Congress which was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi. Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy will inaugurate the three-day event in the presence of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, Rashtrakavi G S Shivarudrappa and Jnanapith awardee U R Ananthamurthy. Former Chief Justice of India M N Venkatachalaiah and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will also participate.
The inaugural session is scheduled at the district stadium where the stage has been named ‘Kittur Chennamma Vedike.’ The WKC-related programmes will also be held at 15 other venues. They will come alive with various programmes once the inaugural session is over.
WKC begins with a grand procession from the Veer Soudha. It will be led by Balarama, the howdah elephant of Mysore Dasara, and two other jumbos, Krishna and Sudha. Expecting over two lakh visitors, the government has allocated Rs 30 crore for the event. An amount of over Rs three crore has been set aside for the 15 stages.
The Lele Grounds is hosting programmes related to folk arts and legendary singer Kumar Gandharva. The RPD Grounds will host an exhibition, while the Lingaraj College grounds is the venue for the book exhibition. Cultural programmes will be held at the main venue and 15 other venues.
Children's programmes are being held at the Gandhi Bhavan, while Gogte Ranga Mandir will host the theatre fest. Chandrakanth Chavan, a florist said, “I am thrilled about the mega event and the interest it has generated among the people.”
Mohan Hiremath, a resident, is happy that such a mega event is happening here. “It is exciting that literary luminaries are coming to the city in large numbers. We will make this a big success," he said.
Shivanand Chikmath, another resident, said, "This is a festival of our city." Youngsters like Ashok Patil are thrilled that celebrities like Aishwarya Rai and Narayana Murthy are coming to their small town.
Speaking about the security measures, Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil said, three additional superintendents of police, 16 deputy superintendents of police, 70 police inspectors, 207 sub-inspectors, 258 assistant sub-inspectors, 575 head constables, 2,232 police constables, 266 women police personnel, 17 companies of District Armed Reserve Police and 11 companies of Karnataka State Reserve Police had been deployed. Mounted police unit of the Mysore police would be deployed during the procession, he said.
Inauguration and valedictory programmes would be conducted at the district stadium, the main venue, on March 11 and March 13 respectively. At gate-1 of the stadium, entry is only for guests on the stage, while pass holders can enter from gate-2. The general public can enter through gate-3 and gate-4. Entry for artists participating in cultural programmes only, at gate-5, he said.
Local leaders of all parties, including the ruling BJP, have expressed unhappiness at the preparations for the WKC, saying they had been ignored. The BJP leaders expressed unhappiness by remaining away from the meetings.
Narayana Murthy's 'I had a dream' speech
Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy struggled a bit to deliver a brief speech in Kannada, which was interrupted once by a noisy crowd. But in the end he managed to get his message across.
Here is a gist of what he said:
*Karnataka has a history of 2,500 years, ruled by several eminent rulers
*The state is now known not just for gold mines and sandalwood. The software companies of Bengaluru have drawn the attention of the world.
*Bengaluru now ranks among the famous cities of the world and may soon enter dictionaries ( He did not elaborate, what he meant by this…was he referring to the ‘getting bangalored’ phrase ?)
*I (Murthy) am a son of South Karnataka, but a son-in-law of North Karnataka (crowd applauds for the first time)
*I have spent many happy, memorable moments here. Belgaum is a land of many valiant personalities, Sangoli Rayanna and Kittor Chennama ( now, the Belgaum crowd loves it.)
*I have traveled around the world, but in my heart always a Kannadiga. I speak Kannada at home and prefer to express my emotions in Kannada always.
*I may travel to distant places, but I feel content only when I return to Bangalore and have coffee at home.
*40 years ago when I got my BE degree, I had to work either in Bangalore’s public sector companies or go to other cities, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi etc.
*I had a dream. Of seeing other people migrating to Karnataka to find jobs. In Infosys camopus when I see many young men and women speaking in different languages, I feel my dream has come true.
*We Kannadigas are softspoken, gentle…in north India when they say engineers, they refer to ‘Mysore Engineers’
*While we progress, I think of our people living in abject poverty. There are villages without toilets, electricity, water, schools, public health centers
*Progress is not just software development, not just the growth of big cities
Now Murthy begins to address the youth, specifically
*I am a setting sun. You are the rising sun. Work with commitment, selflessly, become entrepreneurs, create jobs.
*Don’t run behind money, money will run away from you
Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka