Bangalore : Singapore Kannada Sangha, one of the premier overseas Kannada organisations, is actively involved in promoting Kannada language and culture abroad.

The Singapore Kannada Sangha is a registered body which came into existence on September 11, 1996  to promote social, cultural, educational, recreational and other welfare activities, hold celebrations in which Kannada speaking people are interested and bridge cultural relationship among the Kannada speaking people all over the world,   Mohankumar, the present president of  the Sangha, who is also management consultant for KBS Advanced Technologies in Singapore, said.

The most significant contribution of Singapore Kannada Sangha is motivating the children of Kannada speaking families in Singapore to learn their mother tongue and make them understand the nuances of Kannada language.  “Initially, we hold story telling sessions to attract the children. When they develop a taste for the language, classroom teaching of the language is arranged”,  Mohankumar added. Dance and music competitions are also being conducted for the children.

Organising cultural and literary programmes by inviting and felicitating prominent writers and artistes from Karnataka has been the annual feature of the Singapore Kannada Sangha.  The Sangha has the credit of organising  seventh Vishwa Kannada Sammelana at Singapore on November 27 and 28, 2010. Noted artistes including P B Srinivas,  Flutist Praveen Godkhindi, Saxophone maestro Kadri Gopalnath, KDA Chairman Mukhyamantri Chandru, writer Bargur Ramachandrappa, singer Puttur Narasimha Nayak and actor  Shivarajkumar were invited to the Sammelana.

The Sangha brings out a periodical in Kannada, ‘Singara’, which contains articles on humour, poems, travelogue and other literary works authored by Kannadigas living in Singapore.  Occasionally, the Sangha organises business forums inviting business houses. Thus job opportunities are created for Kannadigas through the forum, Mohankumar revealed. Singapore Kannada Sangha had organised an interaction with Infosys mentor N R Narayanamurthy and his wife Sudha Murthy. It has been regularly organising classical music programmes, sports events, health camps, personality development camps for the youths and  humour sessions.

Thirty years ago, there were hardly 20 Kannada-speaking families in Singapore. Today, their number is more than 600. The membership of the Sangha has also increased proportionately. It is around 500 today. – EB