It was a rare gesture of gratitude when a team of Badugu Mahajana Sangha, a tribal community forum from Nilgiri region in Tamil Nadu, came here to felicitate multi-faceted scholar and software expert K.P. Rao for his contribution in developing Unicode font for their unique Baduga dialect, here on Saturday.
A press release here said that the team from the Badugu Mahajana Sangha consisted of Singhan Sathu, Yogesh Raj, Sundarkumar Murthy, Nijanthan, Vidya and Murthy. While felicitating Prof Rao on the premises of the School of Communication, Manipal University, Mr. Singhan Sathu said that they came to know Prof. Rao’s work through newspapers and contacted him about a year ago for developing a digital script for the rare dialect they have.
“Our dream has come true now and we have been able to print books and other literature very easily in our language now with the help of the font. We really owe it to him. Hence, our team has come down from the Nilgiris to felicitate him,” he added.
Another member, Mr. Yogesh Raj explained how their dialect could find digital expression with this development.
Accepting the felicitation, Prof. Rao said that it took quite some time for him to develop Unicode font for Baduga as he had to try different experiments. Languages and dialects always fascinated him. “Any language is like a mother to me. I will readily work for it,” he said.
Prof. Rao was felicitated with many special products from the Nilgiri region such as honey, tea powder, special sweets, and a shawl. “Prof. Rao did not accept our money. Let him at least accept our honey,” quipped Mr. Sathu.
Speaking on the occasion, Varadesh Hiregange, Director of Gandhian and Peace Studies, Manipal University, said that if Prof. Rao was enamoured of languages, people around him were fascinated by his personality and varied interests.
“If something connects his variety of interests such as software, literature, history, Vedic studies, communication, etc., that is language,” he added.
‘Prof. Rao did not accept our money. Let him at least accept our honey,’ quips member of the Nilgiris team
