Sirigannadam Gelge !

Days pass so quickly .... most of the time without bothering if its monday or thursday or 13thth or 24th v carry on with our usual routines so blindly and on any need v recollect the date asking some1 or going for the calendar in our mobiles then realising...."yes it is this day so this is going on"! 1 such thing happened to me yesterday as I took my vehicle and had jus come to the road end....a stage was set up with all shamiyana ,lights for half of the street, nearly 70 chairs arranged....huge speakers and mikes....yes ! did u get ?! it was rajyotsava celebrations!!!! friends November ending!! every year in the last week of November "auto drivers' union" arrange this function.... orchestra ....celebrations whatever! I really don’t understand what is the point in such superficial activities....is it only in November that people here realize that they r kannadigas. Its as if a duty to arrange some public functions like this in November, do some competitions for kids on this occasion give soap boxes as prizes …sing/shout all nonsense songs(is it to show that even in kannada v can compose horribly bad songs with pathetic music support!), dance for it … I tell u friends its nothing other than noise pollution going on....all day there will b records played of all movies whether the lyrics make sense or not and evening live orchestra! shut all doors and windows ,fill ur ears with a roll of cotton still u cant miss the sound/noise.... real headache....this is something sad....but friends what really hurts is when v realise what a poor knowledge v have of our mother tongue, how reluctant v become to say something in kannada! Hesitate to go to a kannada movie!! city is growing so fast....go for a round and I tell u'll get the best humors of ur lifetime… but actually the unfortunate things....! a kindergarten in b'lore....to get ur child admitted there so that it'll b there from 10-1 u'll have to pay a heavy donation! Leave that....half yearly parents-teachers meeting ! the teachers words "ur son is weak in English. He doesn’t have communication skills....u do 1 thing speak with him in English at home he'll b able to pick up soon!" guess what my sisters' reply was " u first learn kannada and teach students alphabets first "!saryag matadakke baralla innu agle communication skills ante!! that teacher was from north India....shes making her living coming to karnataka and because she is not able to interact with those small kids and teach them, what a brilliant idea she gives! To speak in English is a rule in many schools where a primary school kid will be fined if he speaks in kannada! Come to a college esp an engineering college....here u r considered a fool if u r speaking in kannada....wondering if every1 here have come from England??????!! but they definitely act like that! jus check the accents of some girls when they speak in kannada....as is they r speaking for the sake of some1! one bet....get all ur friends to a kannada movie....its not at all an easy task....first of all inherent hesitation…. idea of a kannada movie doesnt come up easily....if any1 with some courage(!!?) announces the idea ,there comes an unanimous "no" reply! if by chance some agree on the matter....u can hear some voices from behind 'u people carry on'! they r the London pieces! how can I skip this real incident....1 day in my college canteen same discussion was going on between a group of friends ....which movie to catch on??! Finally 1 came up.... hey shall v go to "maaata maaata"! (read with tune!)It was the movie "mata"!!v still recognize that girl as "maaata maaata"! u know there r so many people with gr8 resolutions and ethics....."I don watch kannada movies....I never turn on any kannada channel....offf with great difficulty I cleared my kannada papers....they say it as their achievement but really isn’t it their ignorance and illiteracy of the mother tongue! so much of inferiority complexes....misconceptions :( u should listen to the language of some “foreigners” here ....they speak pathetic English… from students to lecturers!” refer The Raghuramakrishna... y r u late today say yes or no!...I doesn’t have ur book da…”! god should save them!

Every other day there will b news on govt. imposing compulsory kannada education in schools…strikes and rallies here and there some favoring it others debating over the matter to advertise their knowledge,speaking writing skills !politicians have got yet another issue to fight on! The joke of the day is vtu including kannada in the curriculum! the intention may b good but do u think there is a probability of any animal bothering to attend a kannada class buying a text book for that and make a poin t to check what is in that book! No way! The saddest part was vtu not allowing skits in kannada in the annual vtu cultural fest! I’m proud to say that our college(NIE) group ‘punar-vidhi’ brought this to light on the stage and the rule was changed the next moment!

Do u think making kannada a compulsory subject in schools, imposing some1 to speak in kannada or playing film hits a full week in streets will create an awareness among people! Will it help to save our language! Definitely not…unless and until the misconceptions v have, prejudices v have developed, egos v face, complexes v develop go away from us and a willingness to atleast not 4get our language roots in our minds and hearts there is always a threat to the language. I’m not blaming the youth for not studying kannada major(I am aware of the current trend and technology which is of course good!), I’ll not ask u to watch a kannada movie per week( I agree no such good movies r coming)I will not ask to go for making an awareness programme abt this….i jus want to say…don’t hesitate to say “I’m a kannadiga”…don’t look back to speak abt the land in which u have grown , learnt to think , remember what all u express either in actions or in words(in English or French or Latin )u’ll have definitely thought abt that in kannada….agree??

Yes of course in this competitive world with the fast moving society v need to be much updated in every aspect of life and need to communicate well with others in whatever language the situation demands. But at least when v r off these circumstances, when v r with friends, family members lets enjoy expressing our feelings in kannada heartily rather than exhibiting our incomplete foreign vocabulary!

When I was about to switch on the tv, heard the lines “huttidare kannadanadal huttabeku….”!all these thoughts passed over my mind and I thought …to put them into words is better than scrolling 70 channels…wherever v go…to US or UK or MOON!let these words be in our minds and hearts “sirigannadam gelge! sirigannadam balge!” this is what
all I think, all I feel !