Mangaluru: When politicians, elected representatives, litterateurs etc. are pressuring the government to include the Tulu language in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution through the use of speech, here is a bus owner who has opted to scrawl the Tulu script on his bus to promote the native language of the Tuluvas.
Dilraj Alva, the owner of the ‘Ganesh Prasad’ bus (Route No 27) that plies between Mangaladevi and State Bank bus station, is that creative individual who has decided to promote the language in a unique way.
Alva has painted the Tulu script on both sides of one of his five buses that ply on this route. Instead of writing the name in and the route number in any other language, he had written them in Tulu.
The bus also bears the words #TuluTo8thSchedule#.
This is Alva’s unique attempt to promote the Tulu language and get it included in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
While this is a novel attempt, this is not the first time Dilraj Alva has started this kind of initiative. It can be noted that whenever the government comes out with a new policy that is of a social concern, Alva takes the responsibility of highlighting it through his buses.
He had earlier written slogans on ‘Swacch Bharat’ when Prime Minister Narendra Modi initially launched the campaign. When the city had witnessed a water crisis during the summer, he asked the public to save water through paintings on both sides of his bus.
“In order to provide recognition for the Tulu language in the Constitution, several campaigns have been launched over the past few years. But such campaigns have lost their significance. In order to keep the campaign alive and to build pressure on the government, I have taken this initiative now. Many Tulu scholars and those who live abroad also approached me over the phone and lauded my move. If my small move can help fetch a good result, I will be really grateful to all,” he added.
Kannada Sahitya Parishat district president Pradeep Kumar Kalkura lauded the move and requested all buses owners to follow suit. “I will really appreciate and support his attempt as it is a legitimate effort. As writing Tulu scripts on both sides of the bus doesn’t violate the traffic guidelines, other transport vehicles can also follow his steps. It would definitely build pressure on the government if many private buses bear the Tulu script,” he said and added that one should not make such paintings on the vehicle number plates as it is prohibited under traffic rules.
When newskarnataka.com contacted Tulu Sahithya Academy President Dayanand Kattalsar and drew his attention towards Alva’s unique move, he informed that he would soon meet Alva and congratulate him for his effort.
” Tulu is a language of the masses, language of the people who have struggled for centuries, one of the oldest Dravidian languages and the language of the saints and poets. Today, this language is struggling to maintain its identity. Even though some scholars opine that there is no need to focus on the Tulu script for inclusion in the eighth schedule, my personal opinion is that we should concentrate on the Tulu script and make it known to all Tulu speaking people. We don’t want a separate state for Tulu speaking people. But our language should be recognised as a state language of Karnataka along with Kannada. I also insist that the government take immediate measures for the inclusion of Tulu in the eighth schedule, ” Kattalsar said.
