The grandparents of a young Indian-American kid were eagerly waiting for the arrival of the flight to welcome their grandchild, who was coming after many years to spend his vacation. The young boy along with his parents got off the flight and started walking towards the exit gate. The grandparents welcomed him with a hug. But by then something else had caught the boy’s attention. He was seen reading haltingly ‘Ku..di..yu..va..nee..ru’ (‘Kudiyuva Neeru’, Kannada for drinking water) which was painted on a water container at the airport. The grandparents’ joy got doubled when they learnt that their grandchild was able to read Kannada even if he resided thousands of kilometres away from Karnataka.
This is just one story among hundreds such stories where Indian-American children residing in California can read, write and speak Kannada. This has been possible due to ‘Kannada Kali’ – an initiative -- started in 2006 by the Kannada Koota of Northern California (KKNC), a non-profit organisation founded in 1973. It imparts reading, writing and spoken Kannada skills to children and adults residing in California. Over the last 14 years, nearly 2,500 have learnt Kannada with the support of 90 selfless teachers and hundreds of student volunteers.
Ramesh Javagal, the founding president of KKNC, and his team initiated this programme while Sandhya Ravindranath took the lead. The programme was started with a mission to teach, preserve and propagate Kannada language and culture to native and non-native Kannada learners in the region. In the first year, over 55 students enrolled and today it has grown so much that 500-odd students have enrolled for this year.
“The purpose of Kannada Kali is to offer high-quality education without burdening the students with the rigours of academics. The motto is to make Kannada learning easy and enjoyable. Students are helped to develop a sense of pride and interest by getting them involved in Kannada singing, stage plays and participate in cultural events,” says Jyothi Sargur, Principal of Kannada Kali.
She adds, “Language is not just a medium of communication, but an important facet of a cultural group’s identity. Language binds a community by virtue of being the most important link. I believe my duty is to pass on this important facet of our culture to the next generation.”
Kannada Kali is a six-grade proficiency programme, starting from beginners’ grade-1 to the advanced grade-6. The team enrols anyone who is above the age of 5 years.
The classes are conducted every Saturday for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Initially, Kannada Kali had only one branch, but later with the support of the KKNC’s Board of Trustees-- - Mohan Ashwath Narayana, Giridhar Malavalli, Padmanabha Melanahalli, Ananda Rama Murthy and Rajendra Bhandi --- two other branches were started in Evergreen and San Ramon areas. The Milpitas centre is the main one.
During their early days, the major challenge that the team faced was to find easy-to-follow curriculum and material that is best suited for the America-raised children to learn Kannada. Traditionally Kannada Kali has been using textbooks from Karnataka. But to overcome these challenges, two years ago, a dedicated committee of teachers led by Vasudha Hegde, Jyothi Shekar, Jyothi Sargur, Nirupama Bayar, Manjari Phadnis, Suguna Sheshaprasad, Sandhya Gayathri and its publisher Mahabala Bhat SeethaLabavi, worked to create a colourful text and workbook content suitable for the first, second and third graders.
The team is also making efforts to get customised books published for all grades in the coming days and is hoping to get the approval of the Karnataka government.
Arjun Gowda, a fourth-grade student, says, “At Kannada Kali, we learn the Kannada alphabet, numbers, colours, grammar and the most fun part is we get to learn to speak in Kannada. Teachers teach us with affection through fun activities. I want to continue learning Kannada and wish to volunteer some day.”
This not-for profit Kannada organisation charges $200 as enrolment fees, which includes KKNC annual membership for the year. All the teachers and student volunteers work without any payment or salary just to spread the fragrance of Kannada.
Most of the students say that they have a good time with their grandparents or cousins during their India trip.Nidhi Bhat, a student volunteer who graduated from the Kannada Kali school, says that being capable of conversing and reading Kannada has had more of an impact on her life than expected.
“Conversing with my grandparents in the language they grew up speaking is something that has helped me connect with them on a personal level, learn all their philosophical ideologies and openly discuss the different perspectives we have on the world,” she says.
Learning Kannada through these classes has also helped many parents and students who moved to India in the past several years. Ashwini Bakshi, a parent who moved to India in June 2019 from the USA, was apprehensive about her kids’ performance since Kannada as a second language could pose a challenge for the kids in higher grades in Karnataka.
“My children’s enrolment in Kannada Kali made the transition a lot easier and they have been able to cope with the curriculum here with a little bit of help at home. They are also more confident in conversational Kannada at family gatherings. I must thank all the amazing dedicated teachers and volunteers of Kannada Kali for ensuring that our next generation is in touch with Kannada,” says Ashwini Bakshi.
Kannada Kali is also helping non-Kannadigas to experience the language outside of class. Serena Mysore, an American whose six-year-old kid Vihaan is a student there, says, “My son started last year with only minimal understanding of the language. He learnt all his letters and some words last year. This year he has been very excited about attending class and learning new words and speaking full sentences. My husband speaks Kannada and I speak English. As a positive effect of my son being in Kannada class I have started to learn as well.”
