JOIN USSarvajna, Thiruvalluvar become leitmotivs of good neighbourliness
A strand of this emerging social trend was in full bloom on Monday, as a unique two-day cultural dialogue between Kannada and Tamil writers and artists got underway here.
A dozen eminent poets and artists, including Vaidehi, Prathibha Nandakumar, C K Ravindra Kumar, P Chandrika, S Nataraja Budalu and Mamatha Sagar (all Kannada), Sirpi Balasubramanian, Indran, Manushyaputhran, Na. Muthukumar, Madhumitha, Leena Manimekalai, K Malarvili and Iraiyatiyan (all Tamil), have come together to reflect and share their ideas on various issues.
The poets’ meet and symposium, organised by the Sahitya Akademi, also includes an artists’ camp at the Lalit Kala Akademi premises with the help of Yali Foundation, Chennai.
“We have been doing these things in different parts of the country. But this one (in Chennai) is unique, as the recent unveiling of the statues of the two great poets in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have occasioned another programme aimed at greater people-to-people understanding,” said Agrahara Krishnamurthy, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi.
In contrast to only writers interacting at such symposiums in the past, “even painters, sculptors and folk-artists are participating in this programme,” Krishnamurthy told Deccan Herald. A Yakshaghana performance by Shivananda Hegde and his troupe, Karnataka, and a Therukoothu performance by a Salem group in Tamil Nadu is also organised.
“People are now talking of resolving the water/border disputes in the same spirit of cooperation. Besides, Kannada and Tamil, being so well-knit languages for ages, have given this process a fillip,” Krishnamurthy said. The interactions in Kannada, Tamil and English mainly seek to explore the contemporary relevance of the works of Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna.
For Vaidehi, who moved the poets on both sides with her profound lines on a peacock, the meet gave a chance to explore the cultural landscape of Chennai. If Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna are immortal, it is because “they spoke their hearts out and not just their language,” opined Indran in his brief opening at the poets’ meet.