Mysore/Mysuru: Marking the birth anniversary of Poet Laureate Kuvempu, Vishwamanava Day was celebrated by various organisations at different venues across the city this morning.
Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham inaugurated the official celebration at a programme jointly organised by the District Administration in association with Kannada & Culture Department and Kuvempu Jayantyotsava Samiti at Kalamandira on Hunsur Road. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Gautham said that the credit for taking Kannada to national and international levels should go to Kuvempu.
Pointing out that Kuvempu is inarguably one of the greatest Kannada poets, he said that it is a matter of pride that Rashtrakavi Kuvempu belonged to Mysuru.
Noting that Kuvempu was conferred the title ‘Rashtrakavi’ for his literary works that have been globally acknowledged, the DC stressed on the need for the current generation to read books on great personalities and literary greats, he said that most of Kuvempu’s works focused on the true meaning of life and human values.
Bemoaning the tendency among the current crop of students to hook on to WhatsApp and Internet, Dr. Gautham said that it is a matter of concern that reading habit among the younger generation is witnessing a steady decline.
He asked the students to develop a practice of reading books and spending precious time in libraries so that they can not only enhance their knowledge but also learn about different facets of life.
University of Mysore’s Oriental Research Institute (ORI) former Director Prof. S. Shivarajappa delivered the keynote address.
Additional DC Dr. B.S. Manjunathaswamy, Mysuru District Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Maddikere Gopal, former President M. Chandrashekar, MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajeev, ZAK Chairman L.R. Mahadevaswamy, Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd. (MPVL) Chairman N.V. Phaneesh, Kannada & Culture Assistant Director H. Channappa, Kannada activists Thayur Vittalamurthy & Shivashankar and others were present.
Though it was an official celebration, many elected-representatives, including the MP and MLAs of the city, were conspicuous by their absence.
University of Mysore Research Students Association and Dalit Students Federation celebrated Kuvempu birth anniversary by organising a programme with the theme ‘Sarvajanangada Shantiya Totadedege Namma Nadige’ (Our March Towards Peace), near Kuvempu’s statue in Manasagangothri campus.
Former MP A.H. Vishwanath, who was the chief guest, took the Government to task for introducing Anti-Conversion Bill. Opposing the Bill, Vishwanath wanted all Seers and religious heads to speak up against the Bill, which was not at all necessary.
He lauded Kuvempu for spreading the message of ‘Vishwamanava’ in the true sense.
University of Mysore Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar presided. Hosamutt Seer Sri Chidananda Swamiji, Adichunchanagiri Mysuru Shakha Mutt Seer Sri Somanatheshwara Swamiji, Urilinga Peddi Mutt Seer Sri Jnanaprakasha Swamiji, Bishop of Mysuru Rev. Dr. K.A. William, Buddhist Dharmaguru Bhante Tissa, Sufi Saint Ruhalla Shakhadri, Special Officer Dr. H.K. Chetan, writer Krishnamurthy Chamaram and others were present.
Mayor Sunanda Palanetra and a host of other dignitaries offered floral tributes to the statue of Kuvempu at Vishwamanava Park near Gun House Circle to mark the celebration that was organised by MCC in association with District Kannada Sahitya Parishat. MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy, Prof. S. Shivarajappa (Retd.), District Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Maddikere Gopal, former President Dr. Y.D. Rajanna, Corporator B.V. Manjunath and others were present.
“Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Gautham said that the credit for taking Kannada to national and international levels should go to Kuvempu”
This DC’s prattle is stuff and Nonsense.
Let alone the national level, even in the capital city of Karnataka, there are areas where Kannada is not spoken at all. This being so, the claim of international level is a pure delusion. Wait until the Kerala link to Mysuru by rail and road is established which will ensure massive migration of Malayalees. Kannada ill be the minority language then!
While Kuvempu preached use of Kannada at all levels, including abolishing English medium classes in high schools, and wanted its use beyond, his son studied engineering in English, and lives in English-speaking country Australia, by marrying an Australian , who I guess is not versed in speaking in Kannada!
Well, there you go.
PM Modi, the only 2 languages which are qualified at the national level are English and Hindi!
@Never Presto Questo
Even during thse years when these poets were pontificating about Kannada usage at every level, Bengaluru had extensions, where hardly any Kannada was spoken at all.
Well said. The sons of these Kannada poets who preached to study in Kannada medium classes and wanted Kannada to be the main language of instruction at the university level, sent their sons to university degree courses, which were taught in English. These sons then emigrated to Western countries. These poets thought that they did not need to follow their own pontification.
The only exception was DVG, hence, , my great regard for him.
Now, more than ever, English medium teaching is very popular, in Mysuru.
At the national level, for example, in the capital city of India, New Delhi, one would be hard pressed to listen to Kannada spoken. Yes, in Western countries there are Kannada organisations, called ‘Kannada Koota’-we call them :’Kallara Koota’.which is full of backstabbing and petty politicking so called Kannadigas. There also other organisations too for Tamils, and Malayalees for example.
I agree, in a few years, due to mass immigration from Tamil Nadu and Kerala as happened decades ago in Bengaluru, there will be swathes of extensions in Mysuru, where Kannada will be the minority language. You will then get Tamil-speaking MLAs and MPs and similarly for Malayalees.
I was expecting some deeply casteist brahmans (to be clear, half of them dont give a shit about caste, like every other caste) to be here in the comment section bad mouthing Kuvempu and boy, so right I was.
The defaming always follows the same pattern- (1) Attribute misleading claims to him/her by taking something he/she has said totally out of context and ignoring everything else they have said. (2) Use the person’s take on complex topics to achieve (1), as there are always lines that in isolation can be interpreted in any way one wishes. (3) Strawman attack (like attacking the person for something entirely else)….
I pity your narrow minds and petty thoughts @Never Presto Questo, @Gusto. I hope no one demeans him/herself and argues with these puerile dimwits here. Because it’s like Basavanna had said about fighting with pigs, either the pigs wins or the other person will be stinking like a pig at the end.
Fun fact: Same person is masquerading as these two or more people for, I dont know, get approval and a pat from himself. There is long history behind this fork. The fork in his/her consciousness occurred a few years back when this person got burned by my arguments and a few others’ arguments against some casteist shit. The pain was so unbearable that he/she split into 3-4 accounts to alleviate that pain. Ever since, you can see these accounts get violently aggressive whenever the article includes anything that either challenge (or the person who has challenged) caste/varna/mythology/puranas/hatred-for-meat/….
@Questo
Oh, the righteous noble soul has spoken!
Tell us, what is untrue with the above posts. What is said is fact.
Instead of pointing out what was wrong in those 2 posts in regards to Kuvempu, you indulge in your wistful rant again showing the nasty ‘holier than thou smug ‘attitude.
The posts did not bring caste into this discussion, but you have done. That shows your sick castte-focused mind.
I understand that , DVG was mentioned, and you did not like it. In your own filthy way, you interpreted it as promoting a Brahman poet, not looking at DVG’s versatility in many languages besides Kannada. He did not pontificate about using English,, and acted differently when it concerned his son. So were Anakru and Tarasu. Ouch, they were brahmans too!
” The fork in his/her consciousness occurred a few years back when this person got burned by my arguments and a few others’ arguments against some casteist shit”
Stop smoking that stuff.
I suggest that you get back under that stone where you crawled out from.
oh, btw, go easy on that tread mill. However, tech savvy it can be, it can still give you cardiac arrest. Hope you have good medical insurance.
Eggs for breakfast still can cause problems.
Hello @Questo
How are you? it appears that you have some cerebral issues.
As some one said above, smoking that stuff can create hallucinations. Careful, though!
I am disappointed that you did not include me in your comment of multiple monikers by the same person!
In fact, I wanted to add a few more particulars about these Kannada poets, who did not practice what they preached.
If I said literary figures such as Kailasam, Rajaratnam, Masti BMsri, Gorur , Adigaetc. had no issues with English, you would have prattled about those as a bunch of Brahmins, by bringing the caste into this discussion. To be fair, the two posters which you mention, as the same person, did not bring the caste dimension at all. They simply pointed out the hypocrisy ingrained in the poet in question..
I am not happy that you did not honour me in that “‘fork’ observation of yours! Was that discussion you allude to about the posters not recognising your analytical genius in respect of Kannada literature? I tried to delve into the archives, but was not successful.
I am wondering whether that observation about: ‘Kallara Koota’ upset you much. In that case, get a good Shrink by talking your insurance provider, as you hinted more than once that you reside in that Land of opportunity Private Shrinks can be expensive, but they can unravel your hidden prejudices in respect of a particular caste.
Just pointing out to this DC, that the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution list Kannada as one of the scheduled languages of the nation, along with such languages of states as: Konkani ( Goa), Tamil ( Tamil Nadu) , Malayalam ( Kerala) for example, , as languages spoken in those respective states. No individual effort hence was not needed as Mysore then -Karnataka now, was a recognised state.
\i have been under the impression that IAS officers need knowledge such as the above.
I should add:
M K Stalin, the current CM of Tamil Nadu, would rightly boast that Tamil Is one of the 4 official languages of Singapore, for example ( Leaving out SriLanka at the moment) along with Malay, Mandarin and English, and till recently the BBC World Service broadcast Tamil language programmes 3times a week for more than 70 years. He would also add in a tounge in cheek way that Tamil not Kannada is the language spoken in large swathes of extensions in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka!