Asha Rai
Bangalore, Mar 9: Infosys Technologies chairman N R Narayana Murthy who will inaugurate the World Kannada Meet in Belgaum on Friday says it is absurd to label him anti-Kannada. Murthy, who did his early schooling in a government Kannada medium school, says, "Kannada is the language of my emotions." The language in which he expresses his innermost feelings.
Murthy who will talk for about 10 minutes in Kannada at the inaugural event said he was the first to tell the chief minister when he was extended the invitation that a litterateur would be better option for a Kannada meet. CM B S Yeddyurappa then told him that the meet was not confined to Kannada but would showcase what Karnataka and Kannadigas have achieved in the last 25 years. Murthy accepted also because, "when a chief minister of a state requests and explains, it is not proper to reject it."
A Kannada litterateur took exception to Murthy inaugurating the event charging that the latter was pushing for English as a medium of instruction. Murthy in an exclusive chat with TOI said, "That I am anti-Kannada is completely wrong because what happens is that every year I have 200 to 250 peons, drivers, cleaning women asking for help to get admission in English medium schools for their children. I tell them, 'look, I can get you a couple but not for all.' Then they say, 'Why don't you take it up with the government that even the poor people in Karnataka should have the same opportunities as the rich and the powerful.'
Therefore in the early 2000s, I requested Mr S M Krishna (the then CM) to look into this issue. He called a meeting and I told him, 'My children went to English medium schools.
They are both outside India. So I have no personal interest here. And then I asked people present -all their children had been to English medium schools - isn't it fair that the opportunities we provide to the rich and the powerful in Karnataka also be available to the poor? The poor also want their children to become MBAs, software engineers, lawyers, journalists'.
Then I said, 'Why don't we leave choice of what medium children should study in to the parents?' There was some opposition. Then I said fair enough, 'Why don't we have information on TV and press about the advantages of English and Kannada medium by qualified people?'