Karnataka: Uttarakhand youth bowled over by Yakshagana

A group of 50 youth from Uttarakhand, which is a part of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ (One India, Great India) - an inter-state youth exchange programme - was bowled over by Yakshagana and the culinary delicacies of Mangaluru.

The Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat is organised by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports through Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan and National Service Scheme of Yenepoya (Deemed to be University).

The programme is aimed to promote understanding of each other’s culture, traditions, language, food and other practices. Under the programme, Karnataka is partnered with Uttarakhand.

As a part of the 15-day programme, the team stayed in Mangaluru for four days and visited Kudroli temple, Ullal Dargah, St Lawrence Shrine in Attur, 1,000-pillar Basadi, St Aloysius and were carried away by the beauty of these places of worship and the tourist spots.

“Travelling from hilly areas of Uttarakhand to the coastal city of Mangaluru was beautiful. For the first time, we have visited sea shore,” said Anoop, one of the team member.

As Anoop is interested in music, he was carried away by the beauty of Yakshagana and also folk song ‘Sojugada Sooju Mallige Maadeva Nimma Mande Myale Dundu Mallige’ and sings it fluently understanding the meaning of the song.

Jyothi said, “We came to know of the culture and tradition of Mangaluru.’’

Another youth said Kannada language is polite. The paintings at St Aloysius Chapel is a marvelous wonder, even after several decades it looks fresh.

The team from Uttarakhand had an opportunity to interact with Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, MLA U T Khader and Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) Vice Chancellor Dr M Vijayakumar, which enriched their knowledge.

Dr Ashwini Shetty, NSS Officer, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), said that the team has been trained in first aid and basic life skills during their visit to Mangaluru.

‘’Initially, we were apprehensive over the food in Mangaluru. However, in the last four days, we started liking idli, vada, sambar, upma,’’ said Anoop.

The team from Uttarakhand also visited a few award winning youth clubs in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts and were carried away by the community works carried out by these clubs and wished to carry back the best practices from these youth clubs and implement in their respective districts, so that they can also contribute in nation-building process, said Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK) District Coordinator Raghuveer Souterpete.

After visiting an orphanage in Karkala, the group from Uttarakhand have taken an oath to take care of their parents and not to send them to orphanages.

One Hiremath of NYK said the team had interacted with selected youth from Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru (Urban) and Bengaluru (Rural), and would also visit Mysuru. The selected youth from Karnataka will visit Uttarkhand either in February or March.