Whose Karnataka is it anyway?

The history of south India can be traced back to over 2,000 years. However, it was only 50 years ago when the four southern states were created along linguistic lines.

CNN-IBN unveils the changing face of south India and celebrates the Dravidian spirit in a special series The Golden South.

Bangalore: Nineteen-year-old Prajwal Devaraj is an average Bangalore teenager who loves partying, working out and living it up.

Devraj is also part of a burgeoning population of Karnataka’s Generation Next that puts a premium on tradition and cultural values, but does not let culture cloud their outlook towards non-Kannadigas.

"Other than the language they speak and their customs, nothing else, all of us are the same. I have a lot of north Indian friends, Tamilians etc we get along very well not a problem at all. We don't have arguments but a lot of discussions," says Devraj.

Over 65 per cent of Bangalore's population is non-Kannadiga and for them, the state is their home and Kannada their mother tongue.

"It was a choice, my father always used to say that you are in Karnataka so you should know the local language, it's good for you when you grow up. It was out of choice not compulsion. People have always been friendly, taken you as you are. There haven't been problems thinking I'm from a different state or I'm not a Kannadiga,” says a Bangalore-based Marwari Pradeep Chatur.

But while the younger voices of Bangalore have a different story to tell, the movement for resurrecting Karnataka's identity has gained momentum.

With the IT boom attracting talent from across the country, locals in Bangalore feel they are being marginalised.

"There is a fear among Kannadigas in Bangalore that the language is dying out. The government has also taken serious note of it. The government has to take steps to revive the language since it's the capital of Karnataka. No proper employment is being provided to Kannadigas, specially IT/BT should provide jobs to Kannadigas," says Chairman of Kannada Development Authority, Dr Siddalingaiah.

The state government is doing its bit to appease pro-Kannada activists.

The special legislative session in Belgaum last month – that declared that Belgaum and other Marathi speaking areas were very much part of Karnataka - couldn't have been a clearer message. So is the recent decision to change the name of Bangalore and other cities.

"Although it may seem contradictory, the pro-Kannada claim is not anti English or anti-Hindi like it might be in the other states. It's a very interesting claim. It's actually a pro-diversity claim because if you see one of the processes of globalisation, as something that is trying to homogenise cultures, cultural forms, institutions and so on. As the auto slogans say - ’IT/BT irali kannada jaathe girali’ - meaning IT/BT is there but Kannada will also stay alongside," says Director of Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Tejaswini Niranjana.

That, many say, is perhaps the best way to assess at the situation. Fifty years after its formation, Karnataka’s cultural multiplicity remains one of its USPs.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

#the golden south #karnataka #culture