Why Vishwa Kannada Sammelana in Belgaum was such a hit?

The recent Vishwa Kannada Sammelana (World Kannada Meet) held in border district of Karnataka- Belgaum- is of great success. With all initial hiccups- associated with choosing Mr.NRN as a Chief Guest- the meet was held successfully by the organizers. In fact, the more jubilant CM of Karnataka announced, on the concluding day, that this meet will be held, going forward, once in five years.

No one imagined this level of success, when the meet was announced. And to increase the anxiety of all, raising the question of Mr. Narayana Murthy as a suitable Chief Guest for the meet brought thicker cloud over its success. In fact, some people- who opposed Mr. NRN’s candidature- held alternative meet in Bangalore just few days earlier to the actual meet.

Before making any effort to conclude why the meet was successful, we need to understand the association of district of Belgaum with Karnataka vis a vis Maharashtra. This makes us to clearly understand as to why meet has succeeded beyond the organisor's expectation.

Karnataka, as a state, is uniquely placed in south India. In fact, during the British time the northern part of Karnataka belonged to the Bombay province and Southern part to the Madras province. The dividing point was the Tungabhadra River. Even today, if you travel along the banks of the Tungabhadra river you find striking difference in terms of food, culture at the both sides of the river.

The association of people of northern Karnataka with Maharashtra, especially western Maharastrian cities, is very deep. This depth encompasses political economical and social layers. Even before the British, the current Maharashtra based king- Chatrapathi Shivaji- ruled the most part of the northern Karnataka region. He still has the dominant cultural influence.

Even after the independence, that association grew significantly so much so that, even today, Mr. Sharad Pawar- a sugar dominant farmer leader of Maharashtra- influences the political future of many MLA’s and MP’s of the Belgaum district. This political clout of Maharashtra politicians is mostly driven by economic dependence of Sugar farmers of the Belgaum district on Maharashtra’s Sugar mills. For the middle class youth, for almost five decades, Pune and Mumbai were the ultimate destination for education, job and a decent life. Eventually, people started sharing greater social relationship as an extension of this political and economic relationship.

If we observe last 10 years development in economic sphere, we can notice some significant changes. More Sugar mills, within Karnataka, have reduced the farmer’s dependence on Maharashtra based Sugar mills. Educated youth now consider Bangalore as a better place to work and live than that of Pune or Mumbai. On a political front also, kannada as a language and a culture has grown as a mass mobilizing instrument. It has the ability, in 24*7 dedicated news market environment, to fuel the passions of the people either real or fake. Socially also, middle class is started having more association with kannada either on meaningful or hypocritical grounds.

Therefore, we need to see the success of this meet as a culmination of above factors in various degrees. It is not just an accident or sudden change in the people's attitude towards kannada. But this is not a denying fact that, Belgaum has got good roads, business reached its zenith in all three days. All thanks to Kannada Meet.