Contributions of Havanur should go online: Vivek Rai

Speaking at a programme to pay tributes to the renowned researcher and scholar Dr Srinivas Havanur, organised by Karnataka Theological College (KTC) and Dasajana at Sahodaya, Balmatta, here on Thursday, he said the vast amount of knowledge amassed by Havanur in the form of his published and unpublished works should be made available worldwide through internet.

“Havanur was the one who showcased the coastal region to the outer world. But even today the information on the coastal belt available online is very limited. The lacuna can be overcome by uploading the works of Havanur to the world-wide-web,” he said. Prof Rai suggested that the institutions like KTC, Mangalore University and the associates of Havanur can take the initiative of digitalising the scholar on the lines of ‘Wikipedia’.

Stating that Havanur’s was an “archivic life”, he said the researcher was one of the rarest personalities he came across in his life. “He had equal regards to all the people he met. He had a unique psyche of looking into others’ minds before beginning his words,” Prof Rai recalled.

The Church of South India - Karnataka Southern Diocese Bishop Dr J S Sadananda said Dr Havanur was a “literary missionary”. “His was a literary service that went beyond all the limitations and restrictions. It was his ‘Hosagannada Arunodaya’ which instilled life into the works of Basel Missionaries and showed them to the outside world. His presence brought a new spirit to the KTC campus,” he observed.

“We used to argue on various issues like conversions and Hindutva, but the arguments never divided us; they brought us closer and led towards consensus,” he recalled. KTC Principal Dr Honey Cabral, researcher Dr A V Navada, writers Dr Sabiha Bhumi Gowda, Dr M Prabhakar Joshi, Manorama Bhat and others spoke on the occasion.