ಚಳಿಗಾಲದ ಆತ್ಮಾವಲೋಕನ- ಭಾಗ 4

ಚಳಿಗಾಲದ ಆತ್ಮಾವಲೋಕನ- ಭಾಗ 4

ಚಳಿಗಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲೆಗಳು ಅರಳುತ್ತವಂತೆ. ಅಂತೆಯೇ ಈ ಋತುವಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಕನ್ನಡ ಪ್ರೇಮ ಉಕ್ಕಿ ಹರಿಯುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದು ನೀವು ಭಾವಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಯಾರ ಅಡ್ಡಿಯೂ ಇಲ್ಲ ! ಕಳೆದುಹೋದ ದಿನಗಳ ಕಹಿ ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ ವರ್ಷದ ಹನ್ನೆರಡು ತಿಂಗಳು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ಮನನ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾಗಿರುವ ಕೆಲವು ಸಂಗತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಲೇಖಕರು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮವಾಗಿ ದಾಖಲಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಲೇಖಕರು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಮಲ್ಲೇಶ್ವರಂ ಬಡಾವಣೆ ನಿವಾಸಿ ಸಂಜಯ್‌. ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ-ಕನ್ನಡ ಕಳಕಳಿಯ ಯುವ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗನ ಚಿಂತನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಲೇಖನ ಮಾಲಿಕೆಯ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ‘ ಚಳಿಗಾಲದ ಆತ್ಮಾವಲೋಕನ’ ಸರಣಿ ದಟ್ಸ್‌ಕನ್ನಡ ವಾಹಿನಿಯ ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ವಿಶೇಷ ! ಬರಹಗಳನ್ನು ಉದ್ದೇಶಪೂರ್ವಕವಾಗಿ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಅಕ್ಟೋಬರ್‌ 31 ರಿಂದ ಒಂದು ವಾರ ಕಾಲ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗುವ ಈ ಮಾಲಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಗಮನವಿಟ್ಟು ಓದಿ. ಕನ್ನಡದ ನೆನಪು ಮಸುಕು ಮಸುಕಾಗಿರುವ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗೆಳೆಯ ಗೆಳತಿಯರಿಗೆ ಓದಲು ಹೇಳಿ- ಸಂಪಾದಕ ಸಂಜಯ್‌ ಮೈಸೂರುಮಠ, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು [email protected]

When I think of it, I realize my English is good ("good" is a very relative word here) because Ive read a whole lot of books all my life from comics to novels, hence my English has evolved over time. My Kannada has been restricted to an informal language that I speak with my friends and family.

I studied in a convent school since they are supposed to provide high quality education. Luckily it was converted to a girls school, and I got chucked out in the third standard, and joined a government school. Had I continued there, I would have had no exposure at all to Kannada poets like Da. Ra. Bendre, Kuvempu, Kailasam, etc. and no knowledge of Karnatakas history.

I recently went to an Elders Day Care Center, a very nice place for elderly people. I had heard that they conduct fortnightly cultural events and get togethers for aged people. My grandmother had been complaining of getting bored sitting at home, so I wanted to enquire about whether it would be nice if she could spend a day there occasionally. I spoke to the manager there, and she told me about the various noble undertakings of the organization. Then she asked if my grandmother knew English. I said yes, she can understand, but not speak in English. She surprised me by saying "all the old people who come here are very maardern, and all the programs are in English". I did not know what to say. Here I was, a whole generation ahead of her, a specialist in the newly evolving software industry... and I was speaking in Kannada. And this lady here was claiming to be more "maardern" than me! But I did not start a debate about it, since I did not want to be distracted from the main purpose of my visit. However it certainly gave me food for thought.

Another relatively more valid reason is that it is quite hard to express advanced thoughts in Kannada. Notice any learned person such as a doctor or engineer speaking about some technical topic in Kannada. He makes an attempt and then gradually more and more English starts slipping in. Finally he uses only a few Kannada words here and there and speaks mostly in English. The reason for this is that the language has to evolve along with all other aspects of society. And if the usage of the language itself is less, there is no chance for it to evolve!! If it does not evolve, it will end up becoming more of drudgery for well educated people, struggling hard to express their thoughts in Kannada merely out of obligation to the language. In that case it is only a matter of time before they end up giving up and reverting to the more convenient alternative, i.e. English. There should be some organization (Kannada Sahitya Parishad?) which continuously coins new words and phrases as per the dynamics of modern society, and adds it to the dictionary, and then publishes it regularly. This may look tough but it is far from impossible. Look at an advanced country like Germany. Though they lead the world in a lot of research and technology, they still have masters and post graduate courses in German.

[Actually this kind of an exercise has been done already, maybe we are not aware of it. In fact Dr. Shivarama Karantha worked and brought out volumes of English to Kannada dictionaries in 1950s itself to help students pursuing higher technical studies in Kannada. Sahitya Parishad has also made several attempts to help reduce English usage in government offices by publishing English-Kannada handbooks. But due to government’s negligence and officials’ indifference all these attempts have gone waste. But let us not start blaming each other, that is a waste of time which will end up in just pointing a finger at someone else and forgetting about it.]

ಮುಖಪುಟ / ವಾರ್ತೆಗಳು