Renowned folk scholar and former vice chancellor of Hampi Kannada University Prof B A Viveka Rai said that Tulu is the language of Tulunadu.
He was speaking at the Paniyadi Award ceremony organised at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College on Sunday.
“Tulu has all qualities to be included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, however, lack of interest in taking up the issue has left the language get unnoticed,” said the retired vice chancellor.
He called for pride on the mother tongue and added that the language grows when people promote it. “All other languages should be respected. English, Hindi and Kannada can be studied, however, Tulu should be the main language of conversation and literature in Tulunadu. Tulu should be identified and respected by the administration and people,” he stressed.
Prof Rai added that Tulu is a language that is imbibed into the lives of all people without discrimination on the grounds of caste, religion, and belief.
Translation
“Earlier, children were penalised for speaking Tulu in schools. Fortunately, these days, Tulu is being taken up for research in universities,” he said and advised that novels and stories in different languages should be translated into Tulu and vice versa.
Prof Rai stressed on the fact that Tulu is also gradually becoming popular owing to Yakshagana and other art forms in foreign countries. “The Tulu movement was started in 1834 in Udupi and Paniyadi contributed to the growth of Tulu language,” he pointed out.
The award was given to Akshatha Perla for the novel ‘Bolli’ and Rajasri T Rai for ‘Chowki’. Veteran Yakhagana Bhagavat Dinesh Ammanna was given the award ‘Samagere Nempu’.