Bengaluru may have problems but we need political will to teach Kannada to children: Prakash Raj

'Language shouldn’t be used as a weapon to fight. We must preserve our identity by using language as a bridge,' he said.

Bangalore: The final day of the Book Brahma Literature Festival 2024 kicked off with 'Morning Melody: Hindustani Classical Vocal' by Pandit M Venkatesh Kumar accompanied by Satish Kolli on harmonium and Keshav Joshi on tabla.

Followed by an exhilarating performance by actor Prakash Raj and his team from Nirdigantha, a theatre incubator in Srirangapatna. Entitled 'Diverse Languages Same Feeling', the performance featured poems from Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu. The gripping performance had a strong message of social harmony and speaking truth to power.

DH spoke to Prakash Raj and asked him about his return to theatre after 30 years and his theatre group Nirdigantha.

"Usually when you start from theatre and you explore the world, then where you started becomes another horizon. It’s fun, exhilarating to be on stage again. I want to challenge myself and see if I am relevant as an actor," he said.

On the philosophy of Nirdigantha, he said: "The name Nirdigantha has come from Kuvempu’s ‘Vishwa Manavana Sandesha’. Revolution is to become universal. Nirdigantha is beyond boundaries and is about human values, there is no specific political ideology, just social harmony.”

On the political landscape in Karnataka and its differences with the rest of the state, he said: "Language is just a sound. What is the sound pregnant with? What matters is the knowledge and wisdom we carry.

"Language shouldn’t be used as a weapon to fight. We must preserve our identity by using language as a bridge. The reason I can now speak multiple languages is because of my Kannada roots. Bengaluru might be facing problems but we need political will to teach Kannada to young children. Language is not just about teaching grammar. The right content needs to reach the youth.