Kayyar Kinhanna Rai

Kayyar Kinhanna Rai

Kayyar Kinhanna Rai in 2010
Born 29 March 1915 (1915-03-29) (age 96)
Kayyar,
Kasaragod,
South Canara,
Madras Presidency,
British India[1]
Occupation Novelist,Essayist,Journalist
Nationality Indian

Kayyar Kinhanna Rai (Tulu: ಕಯ್ಯಾರ ಕಿಞ್ಞಣ್ಣ ರೈ Kannada: ಕಯ್ಯಾರ ಕಿಞ್ಞಣ್ಣ ರೈ) (born March 29, 1915) is an Indian independence activist,author, poet and a former journalist.

Contents

Early life

Rai was born on March 29, 1915 in a Tulu speaking Bunt family to Duggappa and Deyyakka Rai .[1] His given name stands unique since it includes the Kannada alphabet 'ಞ' (a palatal consonant pronounced nasally as "nya"), which is used very rarely in the written Kannada of today and is absent in the English alphabet which often leads to various other transliterations of his given name such as Kinyanna and Kinnanna.Rai first learned Kannada in school.[1] Later he published his first handwritten journal, Susheela, at the age of 12.[1] He was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and also participated in the freedom movement of India.[1] During this period he married Unyakka and is a father to eight children.

Career

Rai started his career as a secondary school teacher. He also delved into journalism and contributed his writings to newspapers like Swabhimana, Madras Mail and The Hindu.[1] He received the National Award for Best Teacher in the year 1969.[2] He is a prolific writer and poet who has written books on theatre, grammar and children. Some of his famous poems are Shreemukha, Aikyagana, Punarnava, Chethana and Koraga. He has written a biography of Govinda Pai, the famous Kannada poet from whom he was highly influenced. His other important works are Malayala Sahitya Charithre (History of Malayalam literature),which is a translation of an original work by P. K. Parameshwaran Nair[3] and Sahithya Drushti. He was conferred an honorary doctorate by Mangalore University in the year 2005.[4] He also chaired the 66th Akhila Kannada Sahitya Sammelana (Kannada Literature Conference) which was held at Mangalore. Some of his poems have been used as songs for the Kannada film, Paduvaaralli Pandavaru (Kannada: ಪಡುವಾರಳ್ಳಿ ಪಾಂಡವರು) which was directed by the renowned film director, Puttanna Kanagal. In 1980, he also stood for elections in Kasargod to the Kerala Legislative Assembly but was unsuccessful.[5]

Later Activism

Rai has been a vigorous campaigner for the merger of Kasaragod district into Karnataka.[6] One of his main goals is to seek the implementation of the Mahajan Committee Report, which urged the inclusion of the northern part of Kasaragod district (to the north of the Chandragiri river) into Karnataka.[7] He founded the Kasargod Merger Action Council (Kasaragod Vileeneekarana Kriya Samithi) in the year 2002 to work towards this goal.Describing the goals of this council Rai has said that the linguistic minorities in the district were not against the Malayalis or Kerala State, per se, but were demanding the implementation of the Justice Mahajan Commission report, vis-a-vis the fulfilment of promises made by the former Chief Ministers, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, C. Achutha Menon and Pattam Thanu Pillai, in this regard. [8] In recent years he has also lent his hands for the demand of a separate Tulu Nadu state for the Tulu speaking population of India.[9]

Awards

Rai has been conferred with the following awards an honours:

Quotes

External links

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i A short biography of Kayyara Kinyanna Rai is presented by Anantha Padmanabha. "Kayyara Kinyanna Rai-90". Online Webpage of ThatsKannada.com, dated 2004-03-29. Greynium Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd.. http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/sahitya/people/290304kayyara.html. Retrieved 2007-04-18. 
  2. ^ Awards presented to Kayyara Kinyanna Rai are mentioned by Staff Correspondent (2005-01-25). "Honorary doctorates for Sheni, Rai, Sathyu". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/25/stories/2005012502470300.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-18. 
  3. ^ Sahitya Akademi , Eng Flying Dolls By Various
  4. ^ Honorary doctorate presented to Kayyara Kinyanna Rai is mentioned by "Three stalwarts conferred with doctorates". Online Edition of the Deccan Herald, dated 2005-01-25. 2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd. http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jan252005/d21.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-18. 
  5. ^ Kayyara Kinyanna Rai's election campaign has been mentioned by "Statistical Report on the General Election, 1980 to the Legislative Assembly of Kerala" (PDF). Online Webpage of the Election Commission of India. Election Commission of India, New Delhi. http://www.eci.gov.in/StatisticalReports/SE_1980/StatisticalReport-Kerala%2080.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-19. 
  6. ^ Proposal by Kinyanna Rai to approach the Supreme Court of India to urge the merger of Kasargod into Karnataka is mentioned by K.P. Pushparaj (2002-11-25). "Will Kerala lose its northern tip?". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.hindu.com/2002/11/25/stories/2002112503010400.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-19. 
  7. ^ Kinyanna Rai's assertion to implement the Mahajan Report is mentioned by Decaan Herald News Service. "Political move on Mahajan Report sought". Online Edition of the Deccan Herald. 2005, The Printers (Mysore) Private Ltd.. http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/Jan152006/district1938212006114.asp. Retrieved 2007-04-19. 
  8. ^ Formation of Kasargod Merger Action Council is mentioned by K.P. Pushparaj (2004-05-06). "Demand to implement Mahajan panel report". Online Edition of The Hindu, dated 2004-05-06 (Chennai, India: 2006, The Hindu). http://www.hindu.com/2004/05/06/stories/2004050610690400.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-19. 
  9. ^ Kinyanna Rai's indication of a movement for a separate Tulu Nadu state is mentioned by Daijiworld News Network. "Mangalore: 'Movement for Tulu State after Merger of Kasaragod' - Kinhanna Rai". Online webpage of Daijiworld.com. Walter Nandalike, Daijiworld.com. http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=24763&n_tit=Mangalore%3A+'Movement+for+Tulu+State+after+Merger+of+Kasaragod'+-+Kinhanna+Rai. Retrieved 2007-04-19. 
  10. ^ "Nadoja for Kinhanna Rai, Sarojini Mahishi, Ham. Pa. Na., two others". The Hindu. 26 November 2006. http://www.hindu.com/2006/11/26/stories/2006112618510100.htm. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  11. ^ "Kinhanna Rai to receive fellowship". The Times Of India. 2009-06-06. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4625587.cms.