He was speaking after inaugurating ‘Sahityotsava and Poets’ meet,’ organised as part of Zilla Utsav at Dr Gubbi Veeranna Rangamandira, in Tumkur on Tuesday and said the elders who have been instrumental in giving us this vibrant culture and their thoughts and ideas are not the ultimate.

To create literature only the mountains and bountiful nature alone is not enough. What is equally important is the understanding of history and its search which will be an inspiration for literature, he added.

Globalisation

Due to globalisation instead of our cultural examples, the industrialists lavish styles are being reflected. As a result the educational and cultural models are turning topsy turvy. Hence, a situation has arisen where people are questioning what is the use of learning literature and history which is highly regrettable, he said.

“I am not against any awards or struggle. But giving awards like Padma Shree to those in literary field and Padma Vibhushan to industrialists shows this trend,” he said.

There are is no struggle when 93.1 per cent of the student population is getting only basic education. But there is lot of noise being made for higher education which a minuscule per centage of the population pursue. The Kannada literature from the beginning has raised its voice against such issues, said Bargur.

Sahityotsava Samiti president and Kannada Book Authority chairman S G Siddaramaiah spoke. Writer G V Anandamurthy, Mysore University’s G R Thippeswamy, District Janapada Sampada lecturer D N Yogeesh, presented a paper on ‘District History and Culture.’

Critic K G Nagarajappa, Sahityotsava Samiti secretary B H Ramakumari and Kannada and Culture department officer Sudheendra were present.