'Initiate Yakshagana training in English medium schools'

Karnataka Yakshagana Bayalata Academy President Prof M L Samaga said the finest option to teach students to speak Kannada fluently is by initiating Yakshagana training in English medium schools.

Speaking after inaugurating a workshop on “Kannada language and Yakshagana arthagarike” here at Rajangana on Thursday, Prof Samaga said there is a need to experiment by introducing Yakshagana to children studying in English medium schools. Kannada literature is becoming extinct. Yakshagana should be taught to the children in schools in order to promote fault-free Kannada speaking. It will help them to understand and follow the grammatical intricacies of Kannada language. He said Yakshagana has immensely contributed to the purity of Kannada language. The language used in Yakshagana Arthagarike is perfect and is the only available media from where one can come across error-free spoken Kannada language, he added.

Stating that studies on the contributions of Yakshagana to Kannada literature should be taken up, Samaga said Yakshagana can be used for the development of Kannada language. Yakshagana has words that are used in spoken language. The language and speaking style in Yakshagana should be studied. Yakshagana artists speak fluently in Kannada and do not use any other language words. However, a research should be conducted over how effective is the language used in Yakshagana, he stressed.

Delivering the keynote address, veteran litterateur Ambathanaya Mudradi lamented that extensive use of English words in Kannada spoken language is posing threat to the survival of Kannada language. He said Kannada language has lost its essence and one can hardly find people who speak Kannada without using English words in between. He added that Yakshagana has sustained the purity of Kannada language. It is absolutely an open university for Kannada language in coastal region. Kannada language is in its full vigor in Yakshagana and Kannadambe can be seen adorned with all ornaments and without any sort of disability. Yakshagana teaches Kannada language and enhances the awareness about the language, he added.