Eminent writer Kamala Hampana and 13 others were felictated with the Kuvempu Award at a function organised by the Vishwamanava Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Kalaniketan Trust on Sunday.
After accepting the award Kamala said she had given up a chance to study in her hometown, Tumkur, only to study Kannada under prominent poet K V Putappa (Kuvempu), when he was a professor at Maharaja College in Mysore.
“Reading his works is as good as reading the entire literature of the 20th Century. He has inspired me and I am very proud to receive an award that has his name,” Hampanna said.
She, however, rued that women writers were not being recognised for their contributions to Kannada Literature.
“Today Umashree (Minister for Woman and Child Welfare) was supposed to be here but she could not come. I appeal to her to institute a prize or award for women writers. Not even one woman has been given the prestigious Pampa awards since its inception in 1987,” she said.
After releasing a special edition watch brought out by HMT featuring Kuvempu on the dial, Former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda said, “People in politics and those with responsibilities must look into the mirror of society for judging how they look and not in their own mirrors. With his simple yet elegant writing, Kuvempu managed to touch all our hearts and we must make all effort to showcase such talent.”
Writer D Javaregowda, and senior congress leader M V Rajashekaran were among those present in the programme.
The Kalaniketan trust also welcomed the allocation of funds to build a Kuvempu Bhavan in the state.