Karnataka - Bangalore   

Expanding notions of Kannada, ‘Kannadaness’

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

First copy: Film director Yogaraj Bhatt and playwright Girish Karnad at the release of Jayant Kaikini’s book in Bangalore on Sunday.

Bangalore: “Jilebi is culturally charged word. As once it establishes a North Indian connection and probably goes back to the Middle East,” said renowned playwright Girish Karnad, releasing Jayant Kaikini’s poetry collection “Ondu Jilebi” on Sunday.

Hitting the nail right on the head, in a typical fashion, Mr. Karnad emphatically said it was time we expanded our notions of Kannada and “Kannadaness”.

“They’re hacking trees indiscriminately, and for whom are they widening these roads? Don’t these trees form a part of our Kannada world? Why isn’t anyone talking about it?” he said.

“It is time we stopped thinking that Infosys and Wipro is Bangalore,” added Mr. Karnad.

Taking it further from here, writer-poet Mr. Kaikini said how we now waste time debating if Tipu Sultan was a true Kannadiga or not, ignoring issues that were burning and contemporary. If the youth of today had been brought back into the Kannada fold, films like “Mungaaru Maley” and “Milana” were responsible. It was a cultural phenomenon in the true sense, he said.

“This phenomenon has been a course of confidence and has brought a perceivable change in the body language of all our Kannada boys who work at the malls,” Mr. Kaikini said.

“I dedicate my book to poets Gangadhar Chittal, A.K. Ramanujan and K.V. Tirumalesh, who put me on this journey of poetry,” he added.

“Poetry is not a cluster of words which throws up a specific meaning. It is an experience. It was Keerthinath Kurthukoti who taught me this,” remembered Mr. Kaikini. Yogaraj Bhatt, director of “Mungaaru Maley”, and writer Guruprasad Kaginele had interesting things to say.

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