ಕನ್ನಡದ ಬೆಡಗು ಪರಿಮಳ ಒನಪು ವೈಯ್ಯಾರ ಸಿಟ್ಟು ಬೆರಗು ಕೀಟಲೆ ಸೆಡವು ಬೆಳಕು ಇನ್ನೂ ಮುಂತಾದವುಗಳನ್ನು ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಹರಡುತ್ತಿರುವ ಕೆಂಡಸಂಪಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ನು ಮುಂದೆ ಆಗೊಮ್ಮೆ ಈಗೊಮ್ಮೆ, ಹಾಗೊಮ್ಮೆ ಹೀಗೊಮ್ಮೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಬರಹಗಳೂ ಪ್ರಕಟವಾಗಲಿವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಬರಹಗಳೂ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಬದುಕು, ಇಲ್ಲಿನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ,ಸಂಗೀತ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಈ ಕುರಿತೇ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ನಾಡಿನ ಮೋಹಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿ ಆ ಕುರಿತು ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆಯುವವರು, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಇದ್ದು ಈ ನೆಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಡದ್ದನ್ನು ಲೋಕಕ್ಕೆಲ್ಲ ಹಂಚಬೇಕೆಂದು ಬಯಸುವವರು, ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಇದ್ದು ಕನ್ನಡ ಆಡಲು ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ ಬರೆಯಲಾಗದ ವ್ಯಾಕುಲ ಚಿತ್ತರು ಈ ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಒಮ್ಮೊಮ್ಮೆ ಆಗಾಗ ಬರೆಯಲಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

ಕೆಂಡಸಂಪಿಗೆಯ ಚೊಚ್ಚಲ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಲೇಖನ ಬರೆದವರು ಇಂಗ್ಲೆಂಡಿನಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಕತ್ರೀನ್ ಬೈಂಡರ್ .ಕತ್ರೀನ್   ಜರ್ಮನ್ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವಿದ್ವಾಂಸೆ, ಯಕ್ಷಗಾನದ ತೊಡುಗೆ ತೊಟ್ಟು ನಲಿಯುವುದು ಇವರ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಕೆಲಸ.

ಕೆಂಡಸಂಪಿಗೆಯ ಮೊದಲ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಒಕ್ಕಣಿಕೆಯಾಗಿ ಕಾರ್ಟಿನ್ ಬರೆದ ಬರಹ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

Experiences of a wannabe Kannadiga

Writing about my experiences in Karnataka is not easy. There are so many memories! From my first visit to India in 2000 till now, I have been to Karnataka five times. My longest stay was nine months in 2002/2003, when I was doing research for my M.A. thesis in Indology. That was when my love affair with Yakshagana, Kannada and Karnataka really began.

I had tried to learn a little bit of Kannada with a friend before starting my research. But when I arrived in Mangalore, I did not understand a word people were saying. Of course I knew that most people there spoke Tulu, it took my a while to get my ear around the two languages. As I was taking daily lessons at the University, I slowly started to be able to make out when people were speaking Tulu and when they were speaking Kannada. Then I moved to Udupi. I was told the teachers at the Yakshagana Kendra would allow me to follow the classes, and give me some basic instructions when they were free. But I rarely sat on those wooden benches watching. Instead, I quickly filled a notebook with the seven talas and was on my feet dancing to them. A whole new world of rhythm and movement was given to me. But I struggled with even the most basic ragas. From my earliest childhood, I had been trained in Western classical music, and this now prevented me from picking up Yakshagana music. With dance, it was different. I had never danced before, but always wanted to be a dancer. And my interest in theatre and drama fuelled my enthusiasm for Yakshagana. Although much of my early training did not involve a lot of speaking, the absence of English at the Kendra forced me to work on the language. It still is quite a challenge though to even memorise the dialogues for a role, let alone improvise on the spot the way real Yakshagana artists do.

I would not have grown into the language in the way I finally did had not Guru Sanjeeva Suvarna and his wife Vedavathi taken me into their hearts and home. Yes, they are Tuluvas. But the Yakshagana world around their home is Kannada speaking, and I finally learned all those little bits of day-to-day idioms and conventions that are so important. Whenever now I think of Karnataka, it is them I remember and their kindness, and the happy moments we shared like my engagement and wedding.

Working on the translation of the Yakshagana prasanga ˚Abhimanyu Kalaga' into my native German with Prof. N.T. Bhat introduced me to yet another world, that of Kannada literature and poetry. We also read portions of the ˚Gadugina Bharata˚ together. I grew to love the flow of the Kannada language and the melodious patterns of this old poetry. I began to appreciate that melody in the way people speak and I think it survives in modern prose writings.