'Golden' years of Kannada Sangha

PUNE: The Kannadiga contribution to the city, thankfully, is a lot beyond the mouth-watering idli-dosas and sambhar and filter coffee of Udupi restaurants.
In fact, some of the community''s biggest contributions have been made under the aegis of the Kannada Sangha''s (KS) Shamrao Kalmadi group of schools,which caters to nearly 4,000 students from kindergarten to HSC.
Speaking to TNN on the eve of the KS golden jubilee anniversary, which is to be celebrated in the presence of Karnataka chief minister S.M. Krishna here on Saturday, KS president Gunduraj Shetty proudly says: "Our trust, which has set up three large school complexes worth Rs 4 crore, is perhaps the largest charitable Kannadiga trust outside Karnataka. Providing quality English education to a large number of city children, we have managed to establish a very warm relationship with the city."
However, the early days were difficult. Shetty remembers starting a Kannada medium school for needy children in just three rented rooms in the Erandwane area with help from late Dr Shamrao Kalmadi, father of city parliamentarian Suresh Kalmadi.
The hoteliering Shetty community was the backbone of the school in its early days, he adds.
Today, the KS takes pride in running a virtually free Kannada school for 120 students from class VIII to X at Bhonde Colony, Erandwane.
The KS also offers a free mid-day meal, books, uniforms and a fee waiver to the children.
"I am happy to report that many of our needy Kannada medium students have grown up to become high-level officers," he says.
Shetty also underlines the KS''s role in binding the community together in the city with a host of religious and cultural programmes. "Bhajan programmes, the Nad Habba (local festival) and the Ram Navami festivals are enjoyed thoroughly by everybody," he says.
Shetty attributes the success of community-run restaurants to the high standards of cleanliness, cooking and courteous service.
He, however, laments the declining numbers of disciplined workers coming from Karnataka''s Udupi district, which according to him, "Is closing the gap between the success of Udupi and non-Udupi hotels."
Kushal Hegde, vice-president, KS, a successful industrialist, complimented the people of Maharashtra saying, "The greatest virtue of the Maharashtrians is their ability to accept people from outside with open arms. Being a neighbouring state, we have many things in common with Maharashtra and this has helped us settle down easily here."