Development should be inclusive, says UR Ananthamurthy

BANGALORE: Jnanpith awardee writer UR Ananthamurthy derided the modern concept of development, which he said is wrongly measured only in terms of roads and flyovers.
Squarely blaming present-day politicians for this lopsided definition of development, the veteran social thinker said, "Our so-called leaders are conveniently turning a blind eye to the real engines of growth and development.They build huge flyovers and swanky airports, just to impress foreigners when they visit our cities. It's wrong and ridiculous. What is development without education for all? What is development that ignores our villages?"
Speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival on Saturday, Ananthamurthy laid stress on inclusive development. "Development should pave the way for the progress of all. Villages should not be ignored at the cost of cities. Parameters like education should not be sidelined at the instance of physical infrastructure," he said.
The acclaimed writer insisted that Mahatma Gandhi's 'Sarvodaya' model of development is the need of the hour. "Sarvodaya brings peace of mind. Today, we're all chasing happiness and in the process, losing peace of mind," he observed.
The second day of BLF witnessed some of the most creative Kannada minds dwelling on 'Creativity in writing'. Ananthamurthy hailed the creative richness of Indian languages, including Kannada. "By drawing from the strength of regional languages and varied local experiences, an Indian writer in English could indeed produce better literature than those from the English land," he said.
Narrating how a series of murders that were common in his village in North Karnataka, and the sight of bodies floating in the Ghataprabha river left an imprint on his mind and prompted him to write his much-acclaimed poem 'Helateeni Kela', Jnanpith laureate Chandrashekhar Kambar said creativity lies in correlating the local with the universal.
Poet KS Nissar Ahmed, whose 'Nityotsava' has been hailed as the unofficial state anthem, stressed the need to open the mind to external happenings, while responding to internal feelings. A synthesis between dreams and reality and emotions and knowledge should be achieved to become a good writer, he said.