BENGALURU: The Bhoomi Habba festival held on World Earth Day is a part of the Ragi Kana Santhe to be held from May 12 to 15. One of the major highlights of the fest is a concert by A M Shivaswamy, a writer and Kannada lecturer at Nangingud University.
Hailing from Aagadu, Mysuru, this self-taught singer has no professional training and learnt singing from listening to singers in his village. He began writing short poems in school and later developed these into songs dealing with local culture and traditions. All his lyrics are written by himself which are inspired by his surroundings and incidents. “I am not influenced by movies or any other sources of entertainment and I perform because I enjoy music,” says Shivaswamy. “The songs I sing are pure and people who listen to it find solace in them.”
He was invited to sing at Bhoomi Habba by Shraddha, a member of the Grameen Seva Sangh. He will be singing folk songs from Malai Mahadeshwara and Mysuru which describes the life and habits of villagers.
Bhoomi Habba is an attempt to revive an old ritual of harvest where villagers gather and share food on the field. The aim of this festival is to convert consumers to activists to raise awareness about the plight of farmers.
Social activist, D S Nagabhushana, writer Marulasiddappa and retd HC Justice, A J Sadashiva, agriculturalist, Mallikarjuna Hosapalya will speak at the occasion.