BENGALURU: Stepping out of Vidhana Soudha and reaching out to ‘non-Kannadigas’, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has chalked out a programme to make learning Kannada fun. The programme, called ‘Kannada Habba’, will involve non-Kannadigas, especially those living in big housing clusters and working in software firms.
Folk songs, dance, fancy dress contests, a procession of folk artistes, rangoli competitions and cultural events by residents will mark the launch of Kannada learning classes at the first ‘Kannada Habba’, which will be held at the Platinum City Apartments on HMT Road, Yeshwantpur, on Sunday, July 27. Kannada Habba is a Kannada cultural festival and Kannada learning programme for non-Kannadigas, on the theme ‘Learn Kannada - Speak Kannada’.
The programme, to be inaugurated by Kannada and Culture Minister Umashree at 2 pm, will go on till 8 pm and will be attended by Urban Development Minister K J George, music director Hamsalekha, and actors, poets and litterateurs.
KDA, which has roped in former Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde to lend his voice to encourage non-Kannadigas to learn Kannada, plans to involve non-Kannada as well as Kannadiga celebrities like actors Ramesh Arvind and Sudeep, cricketers Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid and bureaucrats like DCP Rohini Katoch Sepat to popularise the programme.
Their messages will be in two languages, Kannada and English, and are meant to have impact on the non-Kannadigas. Of the 4,000 people residing in 1,000-odd flats in Platinum City, 3,500 are non-Kannadigas. Platinum City Residents Forum will also be involved in the fest and KDA will
pay anyone in the apartment volunteering to teach Kannada.
According to KDA Chairman L Hanumanthaiah, Bengaluru is a cosmopolitan city where people speaking different languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, Malayalam and others live with locals.
They have migrated to Bengaluru for jobs and find the language a major challenge. “Kannada Habba will bridge the gap between people of different languages,” Hanumanthaiah said.
G A Yashavanth Kumar, personal secretary to the KDA chief said private groups which are teaching Kannada normatively online and through WhatsApp groups will also take part in the fest. Tee-shirts printed with Kannada mesaages will be distributed to volunteers, he said.
IT Firms Next: “KDA’s next target are IT firms, where a large of number of non-Kannadigas work. With a few IT firms have already approaching the KDA to organise the fest, Kannada Habba will be organised in ITPL, Manyata Tech Park and Whitefield,” said Yashavanthkumar.
KDA chalked out this programme after obtaining details of residents’ forums registered with registrar of societies. Around 350 residents forums of big apartments with a large number of non-Kannadigas have been identified.