Lullaby wins first prize of Rs. 6 lakh in All India Contest

New Delhi: In his 98th episode of his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on All India Radio, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday praised a Kollegal writer who won the first prize in the lullaby writing contest that was organised by the Union Ministry of Culture.

B.M. Manjunath, who works as a LIC agent, received the award for ‘Malagu Kanda’, a lullaby written in Kannada.

“Friends, in the lullaby writing competition, the first prize has been won by B.M. Manjunath ji of Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka. He received this award for his lullaby ‘Malagu Kanda’ written in Kannada. He got the inspiration to write this from the lullabies sung by his mother and grandmother. Listen to it, you will enjoy it too,” PM Modi said.

Manjunath, 59, hails from Balahunase village and he works as a LIC agent. All-India devotional song, lullaby and rangoli contests were organised by the Union Ministry of Culture as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birthday (Ekta Diwas).

Manjunath won Rs. 6 lakh and a citation as part of the award. More than five lakh people participated in the competitions across the country. First stanza of the 35-second sound clip translated to English reads: “Sleep, sleep, baby, Sleep, my smart darling, The day is gone and it is dark, The goddess of sleep will arrive, From the garden of the stars, Will carve out dreams for you! Go to sleep, Go to sleep, Jojo…jo..jo… Jojo…jo..jo..”

Dinesh Gowala, a resident of Kamrup district in Assam, won the second prize in this competition. His lullaby reflects the popular craft of the artisans who make clay and pot vessels locally.

An elated Manjunath said that the award and the mention of PM Modi in his monthly radio address was one of the biggest moments of his life. “Lullabies sung by my mother and grandmother were the inspirations for me to write,” he said. “Initially when I started receiving calls, I did not answer as I feared that they might be fraudulent calls intended to wipe off my bank accounts. Later, my son told me those were calls from the Ministry of Culture,” he said.

Manjunath has published two books till date.