MANGALORE: 'Paaddanas' (tulu folk songs), 'Panaratas' (spirit worship in Kannada) and other folk songs of natives making waves in coastal space are warming the cockles of those rooting for its survival in original form.
Since December 5, Mangalore Akashvani has been broadcasting Paaddanas under the programme 'Janapada Sampada' every Sunday at 7 pm. Not known to the listeners in Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kasargod, is the fact that a motley group of techies and doctors had collectively shared a part of their salaries to sponsor 26 episodes of the programme of 30 minute duration each.
"It was an underlying passion to support rural folk singers, who were an integral part of their childhood, that prompted them to step forward and support an unattractive programme," says Mangalore AIR programme executive Devu Hanehalli. Techies like Sreedhar Puranik from USA, Nagabushan Gangula (Oracle), Vasanth Kaje, Harish Khunder, Rajendra Kuradi from Bangalore, Associate Professor in KMC Dr Padmanabha Kaimar and Vishnumoorthy Prabhu of Sadhana Trust, Shivpura, supporting 13 episodes dedicated to documenting rich folk songs is something unheard of in broadcasting sector, AIR sources reveal.
The remaining 13 episodes are being supported by Bangalorebased entrepreneurs Belur Ganapathy Bayri and Rajesh Adiga. Anaesthesiologist Dr Padmanabha Karimar says, "The rich paaddanas are an integral part of the system and we have to support it when government is not doing so." Another techie Nagabushan Gangula though raised in Maharastra and speaks Marathi, it has not stopped him from supporting a programme relatively alien to him.