A touching invitation to a coveted honour

By Our Special Correspondent

DHARWAD, MAY. 20. The mood at the house of Ms. Shantadevi Malwad here was touching, when the members of the reception committee of the sammelana came there on Saturday to extend the formal invitation to here to preside over the All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelana to be held in Bagalkot in June. The honour, coveted by all Kannada litterateurs, had bypassed late S.S.Malwad, her husband and Kannada scholar.

Mr. Basavaradhya, President of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, was present to extend the formal invitation to Ms. Malwad (78), who is the second women writer to be chosen for the honour.

Many literary figures gathered at her residence in Kalyannagar. Ms. Malwad said that she would consider the honour as an opportunity to complete the unfinished work of her husband. S.S.Malwad, she said, had left his autobiography incomplete. She had completed it, and likewise, she was accepting the invitation to preside over the sammelana on his behalf.

Mr. B.B.Chimmanna Katti, Minister for Urban Development and President of the committee, told Ms. Malwad that the sammelana would be meaningful rather than ostentatious.

The Minister said that the State Government had proposed to spend Rs. 3 crores on improving infrastructure such as roads, water and drainage in Bagalkot town for the sammelana, which was expected to cost around Rs. 1 crore. Nearly 10,000 delegates expected to participate in it, he added.

Mr. R.S.Patil, Bagalkot MP and working chairman of the committee, and Mr. S.R.Patil, MLC, were present.

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Section  : Southern States
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