Nage Gowda wanted to document folk melodies for posterity. Says Sarvamangala, his work associate at the parishat, “It was a challenge for him to record the pastoral melodies as some would refuse, some suspected his intentions and there were many who even said ‘this must be voodoo. How can we hear our own voice from that machine? May be we will lose our own voice later’.”
It was under these circumstances that he recorded the 103-year-old Gondenhalli Channamma in 1981, Gowra Madara from Pikkota in north Karnataka whose claim to fame was the appreciation of visiting Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; Janapada Sri award-winner Sadu Hanumaiah, and Mysuru Kamsale Mahadevaiah, the first folk singer to be to be absorbed as visiting professor in Mysuru university. In fact, if you have forgotten the beesopada sung by women grinding flour on beeso kallu , pick up the collection.
The Karnataka Janapada Parishath is offering a centenary discount. For details, call (080) 23605033.
