What is Sheikh Shal Wali who has never been to a Kannada school doing at the Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, a festival built around Kannada literature?
“I should admit it. I just came to see what is happening,” he said. He is one of the countless people who are thronging the grounds of the University of Agriculture Sciences on Askihal Road here, to have a look at what is happening.
But then, why does someone go to a sammelan? This is the question that haunts any visitor to the 82nd all India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan. The numbers are awe inspiring. “If we add the visitors on all three days, we have hit a new record. We have attracted around five lakh people,” says Manu Baligar, Kannada Sahitya Parishat central committee president.
The registered delegates are just 5,000. But for every one delegate, there are 30 visitors, say officials. “Over 1.4 lakh people are visiting the venue every day. Between 80,000-90,000 lunches are served in the afternoon while 20,000-30,000 are having dinner,’’ Chetan Singh Rathod, Superintendent of Police, said.
Each one of the visitors, it seems, has a reason to attend. The reception committee has invited around 300 speakers for the 22 sessions and two poetry recitals. Innumerable poets, art lovers, teachers and members of pro-Kannada organisations have arrived to be a part of the deliberations. From time to time, the sammelan throws up crucial questions on language, culture, and social and political issues.
Renuka and Vimalakshi, government employees, travelled all the way from Chitradurga to listen to the poets speak.
“We usually get to know their thoughts only by reading. This is an occasion to hear them speak and know if they sound any different in person,” Ms. Renuka said.
She has attended most of the sammelans in the last 10 years. The two friends from Chitradurga had a pleasant surprise when she spotted writer A.R. Manikant in a bookstall put up by Abhinava Publications. They made him sign the books they bought and convinced him for a selfie with them.
A lot many are like Seshadri Kulkarni who is here with his wife and children to watch the cultural programmes in the evening. “We don’t have patience for the discussions on the stage. We would grateful if the speakers finish fast and leave the stage ready for songs and dances,” the insurance agent said.
There are some who are proud of such a festival being organised in their city and are happy to serve. Shamsundar Raj, businessman from Rajasthan, is in charge of feeding the lakhs of visitors.
“For us, it is like the village car festival. We are the hosts here and we need to serve others. If they bless us before leaving, we will be happy,’’ he said.
And, there are some with causes too. N.S. Rajkumar, a teacher from Kunigal, wants to demonstrate the benefits of cycling. He pedalled his way for three days before reaching Raichur. He spoke to students in schools and colleges on the way.
T. Ranganath is going around wearing a banner seeking a national river water policy that should put an end to all disputes. Sanganna Sharanappa from Bagalkot is asking people to use Kannada numerals.
“Otherwise, they will be lost in a generation and young people will start seeing them as floral designs,” he said.
A team of young techies are going around in home-made T shirts with lines from classical Kannada poetry. “We want to show Kannada can be hip too,” Niranjan Kadur, one of them, said.
For a host of others like Kankanur Ramanna from Mysore, the sammelan is a big market place. Mr. Ramanna sells Ayurvedic products.
“I travel across the State to set up stalls and sell my ware. The event is irrelevant to me, at least to that extent,” he said.
The sammelan thus acts as a force that brings together diverse people with varied tastes in various corners of the State and prods thinking and activity that pushes away the bane of everyday living. It acts as group therapy to masses. A sammelan is to the millions what poetry readings on a lazy afternoon is to the heart, says young poet Ramesh Aroli.
