Kannada 'sidelined'

A section of the Kannada writers who attended the Bengaluru Literature Festival on Saturday expressed concern about Kannada language being sidelined in the fest.

The only session dedicated to the language - ‘Kannada past, present and future’ which saw participation of writers like Chandrashekara Kambara, Kamala Hampana, Hampa Nagarajaiah and Narahalli Balasubrahmanya, was scheduled during the lunch time. Seeing the dwindling crowd, most of them heading towards lunch, the writers felt that the session could have been slotted at a better time.

“Fests such as these are encouraging more of English than regional languages,” said Narahalli Balasubrahmanya. Prof Hampa Nagarajaiah requested the organisers not to push Kannada sessions to the end. “In fact, from next time, it would be great if one Kannada speaking person could be accommodated in every session instead of keeping it exclusive,” he opined.