Dharwad :
A session on the relevance of Halegannada (ancient Kannada) drew a sharp response at the Dharwad Sahitya Sambhrama on Sunday.
Young Nagaraj Vastare, who has carved a niche for himself in the literary world as a promising writer, sparked off a heated discussion at the session — Why Halegannada Should Be Read — with the claim that the study of ancient Kannada is irrelevant today.
Leading writers S L Bhyrappa, M M Kalburgi, S Shettar, T V Venkatachala Shastri, O L Nagabhushana and C N Ramachandran as well as panelists Hampa Nagarajaiah, B Sukanya and M H Krishnaiah jumped to the defence of ancient Kannada literature.
Nagaraj then contended that there is a widespread feeling among the youth that reading literary works in ancient Kannada will not help address current issues and, hence, such works are outdated.
Nagarajaiah, Krishnaiah and Sukanya explained the importance of being well-versed with history, saying it is the root of any civilization and add to the growth of society in a healthy manner. They argued that since historical events were documented in ancient Kannada, it becomes pertinent to read works written in the language.
Bhyrappa explained how he was inspired by Mahabharata, written by Kumara Vyasa. He also stressed upon the importance of studying Sanskrit, pointing out that writers will find its rich vocabulary resourceful.
All scholars alleged that teachers who were not trained to teach ancient Kannada were goading students into opting out of studying the subject and are also opposing its introduction in the college syllabus.
E-media’s impact: At a session on ‘Electronic Media and Literature’, senior journalist N A M Ismail and author Vasudhendra talked about the vast impact of the online medium on the process of creation of literary works.
They referred to recent trends and developments in online technology and software that have made creation and transmission of literature fast and effective. They also said all the problems related to Unicode have been addressed.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubli> Kannada / by Gururaj Jamkhandi, TNN / January 20th, 2014