Away from the glitz of the Kannada Rajyotsava programmes, a lone man has been working for the last 34 years to teach the language of the land to around 10,000 non-Kannadigas.
H G Srinivas Prasad studied Master of Arts in Kannada to become a Kannada lecturer but circumstances saw him join the Reserve Bank. Despite his busy schedule, his love for Kannada continued with encouragement from the Department of Kannada and Culture.
In 1981-82, Prasad completed the department's workshop for those who wanted to teach Kannada to non-Kannadigas. After the training, Prasad received support from the RBI management to start Kannada classes in the bank.
The service to Kannada, which began within the confines of the high walls of RBI, soon spread. "In the coming days, I got invitations from medical colleges, IT companies and various associations to conduct Kannada learning courses and workshops. But there was a time constraint. So in 2004, I resigned to take up teaching Kannada full time," Prasad said.
He became a Kannada lecturer in RV Engineering College. Prasad now teaches at the Indian Institute of Science. His weekends are reserved for more Kannada classes in apartments or for employees in the banking and IT sectors. Many foreigners have picked up the local tongue, thanks to Prasad.
Stressing that a language cannot be taught through force, he said teaching Kannada becomes easy when the learner finds the prospect beneficial.
"Once they realise the need for and benefits of learning Kannada, they get the motivation to learn the language," he said.
Prasad prepares different syllabus to different groups of learners based on the need.
"I take a conversational, instead of grammatical, approach to language. With the help of humour classes turn lively, helping people relax and engage in the learning process," he added.