Nayaka KV

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA will engage fourth and sixth grade students of Government Higher Primary School in Maraluru, Chikkaballapura district, with the project titled Nelagamalu (Fragrance of the Ground). Students will engage with the translation of folk songs from Telugu to Kannada connecting it to their curriculum in languages and social science. Students will also be involved in practising the folk dance form jade kolata. Nayaka KV will be the Coordinator for this project. 

Nayaka KV is a theatre practitioner and an activist from Gouribidanur taluk, Chikkaballapura district. He has been closely associated in organising theatre activities and shows at Aadima cultural centre in Kolar district for almost a decade now. He had conducted theatre workshops for youngsters and organised various art festivals and summer camps for children. Nayaka KV has written and directed many theatre plays in Kannada and Telugu languages. Given his experience he is best placed to be the Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.     

Regions across Chikkaballapura and Kolar are widely populated with Kannada and Telugu speaking people as these two districts share a geographic proximity to the border with Andhra Pradesh. The cohesiveness of the language is visible in their day-to-day business and conversations at homes. Children studying in these regions speak both the languages effortlessly by creating a new language of their own. They have an interesting accent where they mix both the languages in their conversations. This exchange has created a new platform for sharing poems, prose and other short phrases and songs in both the languages. This cultural exchange and linguistic uniqueness are the main focus of this project. 

Telugu language has become an integral part of their life in these regions. Hundreds of Telugu folk songs are used in the folk-art forms here and have become an important part of the local culture. For instance, in the Burrakatha style, Telugu narratives are performed. Examples include stories like Sassi Chinnamma, and Raja Kathas. Similarly, the songs sung during the Muharram celebrations also have Telugu influences. The words used in Kolata are in Telugu and Chakke Bhajane and Pandari Bhajane are also performed in Telugu.

This project will explore the folklore and folk literature in both the languages connecting it to the curriculum in Kannada and Social Science. Students will keenly observe and learn the folk songs in Telugu and they will be involved in translating these songs. They will examine the essence of the translated folk songs and will discuss the changes that might occur when translating and singing these folk songs. Some questions that will be addressed for example will include - What kind of changes occur during translation? Are they literal translations or are they seeking to convey the meaning? What are the methods employed? 

Another aspect of the project is to engage them with Jade Kolata, a folk-dance form which is soon fading from the cultural life in this region. Students will perform these translated Telugu folk songs in a Jade Kolata format in the school premise. Students will be introduced to poetry compositions of Gattahalli Anjanappa, Minakannagurki Kondarya, and Bhimasena Betta’s Nagarya who are the local poets from the region. They will also improvise and write small poems by adapting their style of seamlessly shifting from Kannada to Telugu while speaking with their classmates at the school. This will be captured and observed throughout this project with the help all the teachers, villagers and parents who will be actively involved in this project. At the end of the project, all the activities will culminate into a performance of Jade Kolata, and a publication of all their findings and writings. 

The outcome of the project will be a performance in the presence of school staff and villagers and a publication. The deliverables to IFA with the final report will include a copy of the publication, still and video documentation of the process, performance, and exhibition.

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Education programme in the manner in which it attempts to help students connect their school curriculum to the stories from the regions they inhabit and communities they live with.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.