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Working Group Members: Meti Mallikarjun (Convener), J. K Suresh, GSR Krishnan,      A. Shanmukha and Veena Joshi

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A Proposition

If India is to be considered a civilization and not a mere nation, its history must lie in the story of the evolution, assimilation and interactions of its languages, and therefore, of various knowledge systems that they represent. Linguistic variety is central in shaping the diversity of beliefs, world-views, cultures and destinies of communities. In this multi-verse, when a language dies, a world dies along with it.

In our pre-occupation with development since independence, it appears that India has not been very serious in engaging with the speedily changing world through the socio-cultural-philosophical tools that language provides us in order to enable us accommodate and assimilate world-views, technologies or constructs that come from across borders; to all sectors that are critical to our society, viz., economics, arts, thought, entertainment, communication and trade. The examples of China and Japan may suffice in illustrating our failure in this task. This failure has also led to a mind-set that is apathetic to the death of languages, based on a mistaken belief that greater uniformity aids the process of nation-building.

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How may we approach this task? In contrast with sub-continental Nationalism, languages grounded in the knowledge traditions of the region may bind people more cohesively through shared experiences, beliefs, mores and values in all walks of life. When viewed in the context of society, they offer a promise of enabling the development of a collective identity that can meet the challenges posed by evolving modern economics, social structures, and technological changes through continuous and creative assimilation and accommodation.
In this session, we intend to investigate the experiences of the Kannada Desha as an exemplar of how regional knowledge traditions, as reflected by their linguistic expressions – both in their written and oral forms - have faced the challenges posed by social change, unrest, political uncertainty, natural and man-made disasters and sudden changes over time. Some examples of these may be found in the Santa parampare of the Kannada Desha (before, during and after the Bhakti movement), the pre-modern eras of Buddhism, Jainism and multi-dimensional Hinduism; in the times of Colonialism, the nature of the language of ordinary life in the era of Kannada imperial conquest (Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Sevuna, Hoysala and Karnata Samrajya periods), the Karnataka unification project, anti-Hindi agitation, Farmers’ movements, Gokak agitation, etc.

We also seek to explore the promises offered by knowledge traditions such as of Kannada in resolving the vexatious relationship that has come to be between language and social development (e.g., in education), and well-being and justice for all (e.g., jobs for locals).

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In addition to the above, there is a need to look at the questions that may be addressed in the session:

There are three broad questions that we ask at the beginning and all of them have relevance for not just Kannada but any of the Indian languages. The questions are as follows: 
   1. What should be the nature of the knowledge that we receive through Kannada?
   2. Should the knowledge that we receive through Kannada be similar to the one we derive from English, Sanskrit or any other language?
   3. Is there a need to also import the frameworks through which we receive knowledge, that is, should we also borrow the troughs in which knowledge is contained?
These questions also focus upon some significant thrust areas of Kannada knowledge traditions and philosophies. These areas are correlated to Kannada language, literature, culture, society, politics, Agriculture, Development, Folklore, Science, Technology, and other relevant areas;

Suggested topics for the session:

What are considered to be the core knowledge traditions of Kannada?
What are the different shapes these traditions have taken over the last two millennia to face challenges posed by political economics, wars and mass movements? What lessons do they hold for today?
Do the shared history, culture, practices and beliefs of a region, embodied in its language, promote a collective identity that can aid equity and justice?
What can young men and women do to learn from their language and knowledge traditions in order to carve out their own space in today’s global village?

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