SHIVAMOGGA: Kannada is a language of many dialects -- the various accents and inflections define the culture, nativity and idiosyncrasies of the different regions. From the purist Malenadu sing-song to the staccato North Karnataka accent to the raw Mandya Gowdru style, it is a diverse language that changes with the landscape.
Globalisation, followed by the advent of the IT revolution, resulted in a ‘uni-culture’ creeping in across the state and country. It has changed the dynamics of life for people, including lifestyle, tradition, culture, sartorial sense and also had a significant influence on our daily language.
This puts our diverse traditions and even dialects at stake. It is these dialects that find significance in Kannada movies and on the small screen, and artistes performing in the rural dialects pull off satire, especially the political variety, with ease.
In a bid to conserve the native dialects of Kannada -- one of the richest and oldest languages in the country -- Puja Harish, a homemaker of Sringeri, Chikkamagaluru district, is making an effort to reach the people with the native Malenadu dialect, which is waning under the influence of ‘uni-culture’. Puja’s short comic films have made a commendable impact and gone viral on YouTube and Facebook.
Her films feature three main characters -- mother Susheelakka, her daughter Putti and son Tammanni. The film Ondu Kadubina Kathe met with great success -- in this Susheelakka offers the same kadabu breakfast to Putti for more than a week but with different sides and dips like sambar, brinjal chutney and non-veg curry. She artistically convinces her daughter to eat Kotte Kadabu – a traditional Malnad dish of batter cooked in jackfruit leaves.
Ondu Kadubina Kathe was posted on YouTube and Facebook and went viral throughout Malnad region, drawing appreciation from Malenadu people all over the globe. Puja’s comic films have their genesis in her search for novelty in her duties as a homemaker. She hit upon the idea of making special Malnad dishes and posting the videos on social media, and discussed it with her husband Nandagopal and family.
“My husband said it was better to do something interesting, and that ended in making short comic films with values and other interesting issues of Malnad region, presented in the Malenadu dialect. With the help of an app, I mixed the language to narrate a small incident of 4-9 minutes duration,” she said.
Overnight, Susheelakka’s character became popular with the local dialect and presentation style, and led to many more such short comic films, like Hathu Meenina Kathe, Heggalaldi Kathe and Shaleya Makkala Kathe. Puja’s voiceover for Susheelakka hit success and she got more than 30,000 followers on both YouTube and Facebook.
This success made Puja think differently and she took up the serious issue of bus transport in Malenadu region -- the decades-old ‘Sarige’, a popular local service which was stopped. “Sarige transport was the oldest bus service in our region, and was like a lifeline for the people here. When this service was stopped, Malenadu could not accept it, such was its association with the people. I took up this issue and it got a lot of encouragement,” said Puja.
SUSHEELAKKA’S PUBLIC ROLE
Gauging the popularity of Susheelakka among the local populace, the Cyber Crime Branch of Shivamogga decided to use Puja Harish’s creativity to educate people about online bank fraud and how they could get cheated. Cyber Crime Branch Inspector Gururaj Karki, with support from Puja, went on to make a short comic film of nine minutes to raise awareness about online frauds.
CREDIT LINE
Puja Harish shares the credit of her success with husband Nandagopal, mother Vasanthi Harish, in-laws G D Vishnumurthy and Gowri.
Puja is also lending her voice for a Kannada movie, Entha Kathe Maraya, and narrating stories for the Karthik Adithya audio stories – Kadu Hadiya Jadu Hatti.
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