The current article is an enlarged version of a talk presented by Arjun Bharadwaj on 5th June 2018 at the National Seminar on Dharmashastra - Theory and Practise - RC Puducherry. The article derives its inspiration from a paper titled "Vedic Cambodia" written by Dr. R Nagaswamy.
While reflecting on the history of Kannada revival, one thing that I am most certainly reminded of, is the publication of Udupi’s Śrīkṛṣṇasūkti. Śrīkṛṣṇasūkti was a monthly journal; Kerodi Subba Rao and Rajagopalakrishna Rao were its editors. Though I am not acquainted with Kerodi Subbarao, I have seen him from a distance. I have met a few of his friends and have spoken to them. It seems that Subba Rao is a student of Bangalore's Central College. For a brief period he lived in Madras too.
The name ‘Chandamama’ itself is so sweet. For all children, the Moon is like their lovely maternal uncle. This attractive word, although appears to be in the language of children, is originally a Sanskrit word. It is well-known that the Moon is commonly called ‘Chanda’ and someone close is often called ‘Mama’ in Sanskrit. It is seen that the same word is used in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, and so on. This publication, titled ‘Chandamama’ in the Sanskrit version was called ‘Ambulimama’ in Tamil and Sinhalese and ‘Chandoba’ in Marathi.
In 1922, the Kannaḍa Sāhitya Sammeḻana[1] was held at Davanagere. That year, Mysore’s Vṛddha Pitāmaha[2] Sri. M. Venkatakrishnayya presided over the conference. The service he rendered to the Mysore region at large and to Kannada language and literature is widely known. Sixty to seventy years of his ceaseless, multidimensional service to society, is remembered as a virtuous life[3] in our state’s history.
Typically if you ask a middle-aged person—or even someone in their thirties—who is a connoisseur and from a middle-class family, to describe a few sweet memories from his childhood, among the many things he would mention, without fail, you will hear the name of the periodical Chandamama, isn’t it? My tender and unforgettable sweet memories were formed by reading Chandamama. It is true that like me, billions of Indians have experienced joy from reading it. Personally speaking, Chandamama was among the cultural media that shaped my artistic taste.
ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಆಟವೆಂಬುದನ್ನು ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಗೇ ಮೀಸಲಾಗಿಸುವುದುಂಟು. ದೊಡ್ಡವರು ಆಟವಾಡಬಾರದೆಂದೇನೂ ನಿಯಮವಿಲ್ಲ. ಅಲ್ಲದೆ, ದೊಡ್ಡವರ “ಆಟ”ಗಳೂ ಬಲುಬಗೆಯಾಗಿರುತ್ತವೆಂಬುದು ಬೇರೆಯ ಮಾತು! ಸದ್ಯಕ್ಕದು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಅಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ, ಅಸ್ತುತವೂ ಹೌದು. ಏನೇ ಆಗಲಿ, “ಬಾಲಸ್ತಾವತ್ ಕ್ರೀಡಾಸಕ್ತಃ” ಎಂದು ಚರ್ಪಟಪಂಜರಿಕಾಸ್ತೋತ್ರವು ಹೇಳುವಂತೆ ಬಾಲ್ಯವನ್ನು ಬಗೆಬಗೆಯ ಖೇಲನವಿನೋದಗಳಿಂದಲೇ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಿಸುವುದು ಸಹಜ, ಯುಕ್ತ.