Need to reconstitute Tulu in massive scale stressed

DH News Service,Mangalore:

Speaking after inaugurating ‘Bale Tulu Kalpuga’, a programme to teach Tulu to non-Tuluva people, being organised by Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy here on Wednesday, he said the task need to be done by teaching Tulu to as many people as possible. “A language does not die; rather it changes in the course of time,” he said referring to some recent reports, which expressed apprehensions that Tulu was one of the languages moving towards gradual decay. He said the threat Tulu had been facing was different from that of Kannada since Tulu had to shield itself from the influences of 3-4 languages.
 “There is a need to prepare Tulu for the challenges of the tech-savvy world,” he emphasised.
Tulu is losing its traditional bases. One should inevitably create new contexts to use it and thus develop it, he added.
Prof Gowda said it was strange that there was no established way of teaching and learning Tulu, a language spoken by about 35 lakh people. “The work done so far regarding Tulu is just 5 pc - 10 pc of what actually should have been done. There are about 80,000 folk stories in Tulu, of which at least 30,000 are original. They all need to be documented,” he observed.
In his address, Lokayukta (Udupi) Deputy Superintendent of Police Dr Prabhudev B Mane said learning a language of a specific region changes one’s style of living and develops a feeling of unity and harmony.
Academy member Dr Padmanabha Kekunnaya presided. The class conveners Dr Kishor Kumar Rai, Sadananda Poonja and others were present.