Kannada and Culture
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The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (check out their website if you can read Kannada) is this organisation in Bangalore that, going by their name, protects Karnataka. From what, I am still trying to figure. In my five years in Bangalore, I have seen this group plastering signboards with charcoal because they were in English and not Kannada. Non-Kannada movies have been banned on occasions - or been forced to release late. Tamil channels have been off-air. Non-Karnataka shopkeepers and businessmen have been troubled recently. Trains have been stopped in their tracks. They have even disrupted traffic so many times, most recently, in the most bizarre manner - an autorickshaw rally!
What are they trying to achieve? Their motto (translated), "Kannada is the community (caste?), Kannada is the religion, Kannada is God," is contrary to their work - that not only puts Karnataka in the same bracket as the most parochial states of the country, but also takes away one of Karnataka's biggest historical assets - its ability to accept outsiders as its own.
"We are the same people, who recognised Bendre as our thought poet, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar as top notch short story writer, also recognised Girish Karnad. These were non-Kannada speaking people. It could happen only in Karnataka. You name any other language, it might at best allow a person who’s good in that language, they might accept him, but they will not crown him as the king of that language. Karnataka did it."
- Pandit Rajeev Taranath, Sarod player in the Deccan Herald
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike thinks that the Westernisation and Hindi-isation of Karnataka is leading people to consider Kannada as inferior. The solution does not, and should not lie in opposing Western influences, but in promoting Kannada. Getting a person stuck in a traffic jam, and making him wade through a thousand autos is only going to antagonise him even more.
Taking myself as an example - I have lived in Karnataka all my life, and have studied Kannada in school till the tenth. I must say, that I enjoyed my Kannada textbook a lot more than my Hindi or English one. It has even inspired me to go looking for Kumaravyaasa's Bharata - the whole Mahabharata in shatpadis (verses of six lines each). It is another matter that I'm yet to find it! The KVR could make this classic available and accessible. Instead, the KVR reminds me every morning when I open the newspaper that I'm not Kannadiga by birth. I speak the language more fluently than I speak any other language, save English. I can abuse better in Kannada any day. It is the only Indian language in which I would be capable of reading any serious literature without the help of annotations and translations. What do I get for all this? Fiery speeches telling me that I'm from the land that took their Cauvery away?
If only the KVR would use their resources constructively, and not destructively, it might achieve something. Seriously.
This is where the objectives of KRV become meaningless. Their ideology is that "...Kannada language needs to take centre-stage in all walks of life in Karnataka - be it administration, commerce, education, industry, science & technology, whatever". This, they believe, will lead to the overall development of Karnataka. At a conceptual level, as society has developed, it has come in contact with other societies, and assimilated and absorbed from them. This is but natural to the idea of progress. Even a "culture" progresses only when it comes in contact with other cultures. To think otherwise, is to subscribe to the extreme view that cultures are stagnant entities. But let us leave these philosophical debates aside - what is progress for one, might not necessarily mean the same for the other.
The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike thinks that the Westernisation and Hindi-isation of Karnataka is leading people to consider Kannada as inferior. The solution does not, and should not lie in opposing Western influences, but in promoting Kannada. Getting a person stuck in a traffic jam, and making him wade through a thousand autos is only going to antagonise him even more.
Taking myself as an example - I have lived in Karnataka all my life, and have studied Kannada in school till the tenth. I must say, that I enjoyed my Kannada textbook a lot more than my Hindi or English one. It has even inspired me to go looking for Kumaravyaasa's Bharata - the whole Mahabharata in shatpadis (verses of six lines each). It is another matter that I'm yet to find it! The KVR could make this classic available and accessible. Instead, the KVR reminds me every morning when I open the newspaper that I'm not Kannadiga by birth. I speak the language more fluently than I speak any other language, save English. I can abuse better in Kannada any day. It is the only Indian language in which I would be capable of reading any serious literature without the help of annotations and translations. What do I get for all this? Fiery speeches telling me that I'm from the land that took their Cauvery away?
If only the KVR would use their resources constructively, and not destructively, it might achieve something. Seriously.
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11 replies:
Cant agree more.I am all for promotion of Kannada,but using sardonic means to achieve it, is nothing but hypocrisy..It is sad that ,the same people(KRV) couldn't take care of veteran Kannada culture stalwarts like Gangubai hangal etc.( when they were in dire straits) ,mock other cultures..
I think , promoting Literature and Culture should be done amiably to make it popular..We put additional taxes on other language movies ,but I wonder how much of the tax is used in improving infrastructure of Kannada film industry ?
Using violence to promote an Ideology can lead to extremism ,which I think is counter productive..
they've got their idea of "promotion" or "protection" wrong.. neither word means "putting your competition down"..
that is exactly what they do when they impose taxes on other movies.. put them down and down "promote" kannada..
@kondayya
As you said yourself, couldn't agree more!
@ajay ns
that's exactly what i'm saying!
Haha..Nice comments but totally baseless.
As you all say, KRV is not an organization who just paint tar for non-kannada boards or stop the trains.
They have a good background behind everythin that they do.
They have not stopped the trains just because they don't have any other job.
Trains have been stopped for few reasons like the below ones:
Central Railway department gave out an order saying that all the regional language boards put on the trains should be removed and only the Hindi(which is falsely slated as our National Language) and English be retained but the funniest part of this verdict is that this rule isn't applicable in Tamilnadu. This is when KRV started protests.If tamilnadu trains can have tamil boards, why not we have kannada boards?
Hope you all got the answer.....
Kondayya: You seem to have lost track completely..We sincerely respect Gangubai Hanagal.What do you expect KRV to do to this singing maestro?Do you expect them to arrange a concert and raise funds?haha
Let me make a point clear?kannada/karnataka is not only about the culture or the literature.When you dig deep, all these just become fantasies.kannada is not a language equivalent to juttige mallige hoova..It should be a language as hoTTeya hiTTu
You all don't know anything about KRV and thats the reason you are saying this?
--When 200 employees(All kannadigas) in BengaLooru internation Airport lost their jobs for some biharis, it wasn't me or you who went there to get their jobs back..It was KRV who fought for several days and made sure that kannadiga employees are taken back again
--When the cauvery verdict was announced, it wasn't me or you who protested..It was KRV who stretched themselves to the core and had many protests which inturn has kept the cauvery issue alive till date
--Kannadiga businessman have been torturted to the core in bengaLooru...All the gujarati's/marwaris have dominated the bengaLooru business market?
Do you think KRV has to sit idle like you and me?Never will they do that..They are not paper tigers to just write some junk in the internet and talk like vishwamaanavas
Have you ever gone through their website in detail?What wrong have you found in them?Have you tried to rectify them if they go wrong somewhere?
I am sure, you would have never tried that?
Do you atleast feel the need of a sanghaTane in the present day Scenario?Is there any other sanghaTane which is striving for the benifit of the state and kannadigas?
Its always easy to comment on someone working genuinely.
You can have a detailed look at their website and write to them if you find something unfair.
www.karnatakarakshanavedike.org
http://karave.blogspot.com
Never ever try to speak if you do not know the facts properly..
There has been a serious mix up of thoughts in the article. As the blogger has mentioned KRV's motto is to ensure Kannada takes the centre stage in all quarter of life in Karnataka. This is the perfect vision for Karnataka. We the people of Karnataka can not imagine or accept any other languages taking the center stage. To come in contact with other cultures/languages does not mean that I surrender my language to thou.
There are different organizations and different groups with different vision. We have sahitya pariyat and pustaka pradhikara to get the Kumaravyasa bharata to all readers but to ensure Kannadigas get the will and the power is KRV's vision. Even today Kannaidgas accept all the outsiders to the state only if the outsiders become Kannadigas (As the blogger has become a Kannadiga now). Otherwise the outsider is nothing but a outsider.
To add the facts that "naanu" has written
1. When AP was putting hurdles for the chitravati dam it was KRV which provided the necessary will power so that the AP govt came down on its stand
2. When the MES is challenging/threatening Kannadigas it was KRV which showed the power and wish of Kannadigas.
3. It is KRV which is fighting against the petty politics of central government on the status of cultural language.
The list can just go on....
Do understand that no where Kannadigas are saying no to the immigrants, but kannadigas are saying if you immigrate then be a kannadiga.
Hello blogger,
What are you trying to say in this article? I seriously think you are confused and think someone needs to give direction to your analysing skills. Because it was KRV which did fantastic job of uniting kannadigas across the karnataka and all over the globe. But you were just talking about such an org. as the one which only paints boards etc. It was KRV which fought against MES hooligans in belagaavi who were unchallenged till KRV spoke about it. It was KRV which changed Radio Mirchi for broadcasting 100% kannada songs from 0% when they started. It was KRV which made multiplexes like Innox and PVR to provide theatres to kannada movies or else kannada movies would be restricted only KG road. It was KRV which fought against Railways, Central Govt whenever there was injustice done to Kannada, kannadiga and karnataka. KRV is the only hope in karnataka as our political parties are hardly doing anything for kannada, kannadiga or karnataka. It is only the pressure by KRV which makes these parties work for karnataka. Get your fundamental right.
Blogger,
I pity your perplexed thinking. You might be in Bangalore for 5 years, You might have studied kannada as a subject till tenth, you might be knowing few good literary works in kannada. We the people of Kannada and KRV Respect you for all these. BUT having all said, have you ever tried to be a part of karnataka". NO... I am sure that you have never tried that. We can easily make out that you are a Tamilian and your words in the blog reflect so. KRV is here to mend your analytical thinking. Friend,You try to be a part of Karnataka first and then comment on others... Just reading and writing is not all about. "THINKING does matter". Think again again and again.
@naanu
Although the Central Railway's order that you mention seems wrong to me on the face of it, I don't think the objection should be on the grounds that this is not applicable to Tamilnadu. The objection should be that the average person cannot perhaps read Hindi, and Kannada might be a more practical solution. Tamilnadu has the distinction of being one of the most intolerant states in the country, and I don't think Karnataka should strive towards that goal.
Similarly, when you talk of Kannadigas losing their jobs, you seem to be more perplexed by the fact that they are losing their job to Biharis. I doubt whether the KRV would even bother if 200 Kannadigas lost their jobs to 200 other Kannadigas.
Often, I have felt that we have objected to the Cauvery verdict for the sake of protesting. We need to understand that this verdict has been given an independent body of experts according to processes put in place by our legal system. While we are all free disagree with the verdict, there are proper channels to do the same. In this case, it would be the judiciary - not rioting.
Gujaratis and Marwadis are the dominant businessmen all over the country, not only in BengaLooru. The Constitution gives the right to every citizen to settle and carry out business in any part of the country, and discriminating against these people would only be going against the Constitution.
Do I feel the need for a sanghaTane? Of course I do - but not of the KRV variety.
@darshi
"Do understand that no where Kannadigas are saying no to the immigrants, but kannadigas are saying if you immigrate then be a kannadiga."
My question is - why? If you or I moved to Delhi, would we think it right if people asked us to become Delhliites? Coax people into accepting Kannada, don't force them.
@Ravikanth
I am all for doing good to Kannada, Karnataka and Kannadigas - but not in the way that the KRV seems to be doing it. As I said earlier in this comment, and in my post, don't put the others down to promote Kannada, because this will ensure that they will only be antagonised by it.
@Anonymous
I always thought of myself as a Kannadiga until I was told by people around me that I'm not. When the Cauvery verdict came out, I was scared to leave home. If Kannadigas cannot accept me as one of their own, it is hard for me to feel like I'm one of them. The sad part is, it was not like this earlier. As I said in my post, Karnataka accepts Masti, Bendre and Karnad as its own. It will be sad if this does not continue to happen.
I don't understand one thing though. How does a state or a city grow or evolve if they're forced into adoption of something. Someone in this line of comments just said that if you immigrate become Kannadiga. Thats ridiculous - nowhere else in the world are you asked to do that. Immigrants come with their own culture which they add to the culture of the place which already exists. And this is aside from the merits or demerits of the KRV which I must admit, I don't know about.
Sure people should try to learn the language of the place they are in, but the answer is not to force them to learn, because thats intellectual fascism - thats what hitler used to do.
also, its important to point out that bangalore, at least, hasnt been fully kannadiga since 1792. We might like to pretend it is, and that parts of our city just dont exist because they dont speak kannada. If we wish to turn a blind eye towards tamilians who moved to bangalore in 1792 or retired army colonels who moved here in the 60s and 70s or people who moved here to work for public sector (HAL/NAL) in the 70s and the 80s, we can, but we'd be left with a very small city to be proud of..Cities grow because of people coming in.. While behavioural norms are fine, saying that everyone here must become kannadiga is ludicrous.. By all means make Kannada compulsory in schools, expose children to the works of Kuvempu and Masti. Turst me, the works of these masters do not need forcing on people.
@disktop
that's what the shiv sena also tried, and what the KRV is looking to emulate
@francis buchanan
well said - highly informative, as always!
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