Over one lakh of Malayalis are residing in Mangalore. Most of them have come to this Port city to study in educational institutions or they have been posted here as part of their work by various organisations. It is generally believed that Malayalis mingle with the local people and learn the local language and take part in cultural activities.
When litterateurs and intellectuals are complaining that students are not keen on learning Kannada and demanding Kannada medium in elementary education, the Mangalore Kerala Samajam, in a novel initiative, is conducting a Kannada-learning classes for the Malayalis in the area. Already 100 students, mostly workers, businessmen and housewives, have enrolled for the six-month course, which started on Sunday.
The classes will be conducted in two batches (morning and evening) on every Sunday and holidays.
The classes are conducted by a panel of Kannada teachers, led by Expert PU College Kannada department head Karunakar Balkur and Mangalore University research scholar Praveen Kumar. The formal inauguration of the Kannada learning course was held during the Onam celebrations by the Kerala Samajam during last September.
“I am very excited with the response for learning Kannada. They are very co-operative and understand the subject very well,” said Karunakar Balkur. He said to begin with the students will be taught alphabets. Later, they will be taught Kannada grammar.
Kerala Samajam Secretary Ajith Kumar said that the Samajam is planning to approach the Kannada Development Authority for further assistance.
“We are preparing a detailed report, which will be submitted to the KDA. Hope, we can issue a government recognised certificate for the students successfully completing the course,” he said.
Though I am residing in Mangalore for the last 20 years, I did not get an opportunity to learn it systematically. I found teaching very useful and the teachers are putting in a lot of efforts to teach us the language,” said, Pyarelal, one of the participants who owns an electronics goods shop in the City.
Another participant lamented that the Dakshina Kannada District Kannada Sahitya Parishat had only made promises when they had requested them several times to organise a Kannada-learning programme.