In Mysore today, Kannada writers and activists led by D. Jawaregowda are holding a symbolic one day hunger strike. Their demand: status of classical language for Kannada on par with Sanksrit and Tamil. Now this has to be done by the Government of India. From January 15th, Jawaregowda plans to launch an indefinite hunger strike if their demands aren’t met.
Eighty six year old Jawaregowda has been a great institution builder and a widely respected writer. He is primarily responsible for raising the stature of Kannada studies in the universities of Karnataka and turned Kannada Research Institute at Mysore University into a massive research, archiving and publishing entity. A fine prose writer, he wrote many biographies and translated all of Tolstoy, no mean feat, mind you. He was also a teacher and an early mentor to my father.
But for the life of me, I do not understand how gaining classical language status would help Kannada, even symbolically. Such state recognition does not even ensure more funding to finance let us say the proposed Rashtrakavi Kuvempu International Centre for Kannada Software and Technology in Mysore University. Speaking to reporters earlier today, he said: “Kannada language must be given classical status similar to Sanskrit and Tamil. All Kannadigas must struggle for the cause in order to safeguard our language, art, culture, customs, traditions of the land.” Sir, could you be more specific and outline the contours of such a struggle? As the world turns, the new demands of our times demand different paradigms of institution building and sadly, our elders such as Jawaregowda are not being much help.
In related news, Steven Pearlstein writes in WAPO today about a new thesis by Nicholas Carr: the death of corporate IT departments. Carr believes that corporate IT needs will be met by large scale, centralized computing suppliers, like electricity is supplied today. The question for Pearlstein is whether the Samuel Insull/Thomas Edison of the new era will be a Sam or Sanjay.
Now this must be something Jawaregowda and his friends, including myself, ought to be concerned about. Because both Sam and Sanjay will set up shop in Mysore not in Chicago, as Insull did with Commonwealth Edison. What are the implications of that to Kannada, to the community and civic ethos of the city of Mysore? Do we have the cultural and institutional capabilities to deal with such intrusions into our lives and communities? If there is a symposium on these issues, I will show up for that. We could even fast, for the intellectual exchange itself will be filling and yeah, the terror of the unknown will cause all hunger to disappear, in any case.
One Comment
Reading the above blog by author .I feel the author is justified in raising question “What would Kannada gain out of being raised to a Classical language?’ . Well as i understand the fight/dharna is towards the neglect of our language in comparision to Tamil systematically by the Government both at Central and State. Also neglected by our own people ( I shall not get into those details) .In a way Dhejagou and friends would want a similar status for our language ,but the way to achieve it what pains me.we dont have to starve and beg to get it. We all know what a great language is kannada and its merits .
Speaking to many friends who represent different parts of India ,only one person was able to acknowledge that kannada is a classical and the oldest language. Many believe that TAMIL is the oldest and deserve to be in a classical language status.To my dismay many feel that kannada is only spoken by a handful of people like manipuri or bhojpuri . In true sense that is certainly true , Afterall what have all those people who have studied kannada as a language and dwelved into the depths of it have given back to the ordinary man in present day context . Sales of Kannada magazines have plummetted and even the quality of writers in our kannada newspapers have gone down over the years. The mainstream cinema has polluted the language to a great extent and GOD save the lyricst and script writers .Instead of fighting on streets for a classical language effort has to be made so that people’s intrest in the language is rekindled and sustained so that lot of contribution can come in the world of literature.
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