BENGALURU: There are many dialects of Kannada in Karnataka but here is one generation of youngsters who to save their language have decided to dedicate a day and celebrate the language. Kundapureans across the world including those in Israel, Baharain and Russia on August 1 celebrated ‘World Kundapura Kannada Day’.
Thanks to Cultural thinker Uday Shetty Padukare and his team from Kundapura, the group which thought of the need to celebrate this unique day floated the idea on social media and were overwhelmed with the kind of response they got.
“Kannada itself is a pride and Kundapura Kannada is a language in which the figure of speech stresses on emotions and feelings hence making it even more unique. August 1, all Kundapureans across the globe celebrated the day,” Uday Shetty told TNIE.
Kundapura Kannada has made its presence in several theatre scripts, movie scenes, internet jokes, youtube videos etc. From the time of Shivarama Karnath's characters talking Kundapura Kannada to the recent director Rishab Shetty using the dialogues in his movies like Ulidavaru Kandanthe to the poet, writer Vaidehi’s Ammachi Emba Nenapu, Kundapura Kannada has been a favourite to many.
According to the natives of this small place in Udupi Taluk is there are several people in Kundapura who have left the city for various purposes and have settled abroad or in other states. This kind of unique dialect, when spoken, immediately connects us and we feel at home wherever we are, said Ramanath Shetty, a hotelier from Kundapura, settled in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, there are several of them who have reportedly worked towards understanding the uniqueness of the language. For instance, Professor A V Navada, Professor at Hampi University has done interviews of several old-timers and have done extensive research of Kundapura Kannada itself.
The natives feel that after passage of one generation sometimes a language gets lost with the interference of English etc so they feel it is very important for us to pass on this language and the tradition to celebrate it and preserve it to the next generation, said Swarna S N, a classical dancer from Kundapura settled in the US.
“The style of speaking Kannada is different in various regions. Our language is a delight to hear and speak. There are many prominent artists, writers, cartoonists, actors and directors who our part of the land has contributed to the Kannada language. We have to keep this culture going and get more and more recognition for the uniqueness of the language,” said Suresh Shettya student in GKVK College in Bengaluru.
The day of ‘Karkataka Amavasya’ has been earmarked for the celebration across the world. So On Thursday several Kundapureans across the globe celebrate the day by performing the local plays, sing songs, dance, folk plays etc in several schools, colleges and offices.
Some of the famous names of Kundapura are director-actor Rishab Shetty, renowned cartoonist Satish Acharya and many.
This region has become popular with sever artists bringing the dialect to the screens with movies like Ondu Motteya Kathe, Upendra’s Nanavanalla, Ulidavuru Kandanthe film director Rishab Shetty, writer Janaki Srinivas Murthy (Vaidehi) and so on.
The August 1 celebration on Thursday garnered positive response on social media platforms too. Several Kundapureans shared memes, jokes, videos and wishes on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp too. Some of them even changed their profile pictures with wishes of the day.