After Georgia, Kannada Rajyotsava is official in US state of Wisconsin

BENGALURU: The US state of Wisconsin said that it will be celebrating November 1 as ‘Kannada language and Rajyotsava Day’.
The proclamation by the governor of Wisconsin goes: “The state of Wisconsin joins Milana Kannada Koota of Milwaukee and Kannadiga people across the state in celebrating the numerous contributions, rich culture, heritage and diversity of the Kannadiga community.” Last year, another US State — Georgia — had made a similar proclamation.
Milana Kannada Koota, an organisation of Kannadiagas founded in 1977 in Milwaukee, was instrumental in getting Wisconsin to make this declaration. Ganesh Bettadapura, Koota president and IT manager by profession, said: “Multiple states in the US issue proclamations to bring awareness to the gene ral public on events/culture/ celebrations that are significant and are of value to society. Popular festivals from India like Deepavali get a lot of attention and proclamations from multiple states in the US. I was part of one such initiative in the past and this gave an idea about the process and the significance of proclamations. ”
Suresh Krishnaiah, a director on the Koota board, said: “This proclamation will help bring recognition to the rich contributions by Kannadigas to the state of Wiscon-sin. We are the first among other Indian organisations to get this recognition. I’d like to say this is the fruit of 40-plus years of efforts by Kannadigas to promote Kannada culture here. ”
Milwaukee has around 250 Kannadigas and Krishnaiah estimates the total number of Kannadigas in Wisconsin to be around 1,000.
The proclamation and the recognition, however, is set to have a much bigger impact than the numbers suggest.
Bettadapura said K annadigas being a small groupof people in Wisconsin, the recognition will help them carve out an identity among locals. “I remember a conversation I had with my daughter’s teacher about our D asara celebrations. She was amazed at the rich history and scale of the celebrations. She mentioned to the whole class that this is a festival they have been celebrating for 500 years whereas the USA was born 250 years ago,” he said.
The Koota celebrates and hosts Kannada festivals and events throughout the year. Recently, it hosted humourist Krishne Gowda to talk about village life in Karnataka. Educationist Gururaj Karajagi delivered a lecture two months earlier. On November 12, the Koota will host Deepavali and Kannada Rajyotsava events.
It also conducts Kannada classes for children of expats. At present, 50 children take Kannada reading and writing classes there.