Adding a tinge of humour to discussions in the Assembly, leader of the Opposition Sidaramaiah on Thursday said neither his family nor he knew his exact date of birth. “According to records, I am 75 years old as on date. But no one knows for sure. This is why I do not celebrate my birthday,” he said.
Narrating how his date of birth was recorded, Siddaramaiah recalled that he was enrolled into school straight away for class 5. At that time, his school headmaster Rajappa wrote down his date of birth as 03-08-1947 and this stuck, he said.
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He further went down memory lane and narrated how his father had not even considered to enrol him in school. “My father had sent me to learn Veera Makkala Kunitha, a form of folk dance. Luckily, my instructor Nanje Gowda taught me to read and write. In two years, he taught me Kannada and Mathematics. He tried to teach me Sanskrit too, but I couldn’t comprehend it,” Siddaramaiah narrated, prompting laughter in the Assembly. He even recited a line in Sanskrit.
MLA Krishna Byre Gowda egged him on, saying that Siddaramaiah had deep knowledge of Kannada grammar and vocabulary on a par with any Kannada scholar.
Siddaramaiah lamented the diluted quality of school education. “These days, schools have stopped teaching Kannada grammar. Whatever my teacher Eshwarachari taught me in high school remained with me. But when you come to college, lecturers do not teach you with the same interest. So what you learn in college doesn’t remain,” he said.
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