Kannada Sahitya Sammelan explores cultural challenges on second day

Kannada Sahitya Sammelan explores cultural challenges on second day

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Mar 16: “Nobody thought that the introduction of electricity and LPG would one day pose a challenge to culture,” said Dr. B Shivarama Shetty during his lecture on “Developmental Activities and Cultural Establishment” at the 16th DK District Kannada Sahitya Sammelan held at Town Hall on March 16, Tuesday. 








Continuing his speech on culture, he said that the special economic zone, which has entered the coastal region, has caused a great change in culture, adding that although modernity has a great impact on a large number of people, they have not yet given up the belief that a mythological character called Parashurama created Mangalore, he said. 

Lecturing on the topic, “Situation of Art Exhibition,” Dr Mahalinga Bhat said that rituals such as Tayyam, Bhoota Kola, and Aati Kalanje are today transformed into exhibition arts performed on stage. Speaking about the impact of westernization on modern youth, he said that, in spite of westernization, school and college students prefer to perform plays based on mythological themes and characters. He suggested that a statistical survey must be held to determine the number of cultural programmes organized by youth so that steps can be taken to safeguard it. He expressed regret over the fact that street plays are just an extra curricular activity for the social students, who are not really interested in them. 

Art critic Prabhakar Joshi said that culture determines the way in which a person desires to live and that art can be saved through respect. Speaking about the effects of globalization, he said that now is not the right time to argue about the rightness or wrongness of globalization; but one should negotiate with the phenomenon. The renovation of temples is not culture, but cultural violence, he declared. 

Speaking about Yakshagana, Mr. Joshi said that “Dashavathara” is the old name used for Yakshagana. He pointed out the irony of the fact that, when children participate in TV shows, society calls it “showcasing talent”; however, when children participate in Yakshagana episodes, the same society calls it “child labour.” 

Caricature Show 

Prakash Shetty, the renowned cartoonist, amused the audience by drawing caricatures of people. He began by drawing a cartoon of Dananjaya, the president of Shambhavi Jaycees of Mulki. The audience greatly appreciated his ability to draw caricatures within a matter of seconds. 







His caricature of three people, titled “Not Three Idiots,” also won great applause from the audience. Not Three Idiots was a caricature of the Founder of MIFT College M G Hegde, Yakshagana Artist Balachandra Rao, and Headmaster of Ganapathy Higher Primary School Mangesh Bhat. They had willingly posed for the caricature when requested to do so. 

The artist then made some simple changes to the three caricatures, transforming them into caricatures of JDS Chief Deve Gowda and his sons H D Revanna and H D Kumaraswamy. Later, he transformed the caricature of a giraffe into that of Amitabh Bacchan. Finally he drew a caricature of Pradeep Kumar Kalkura, the president of District Kannada Sahitya Parishad. 

The event was compered by R J Avinash and organized by Shambhavi Jaycees Mulky.