Mangaluru: The Tulu Wikipedia steps into its 5th year this Thursday, on August 6th, 2020. Its longevity is the outcome of the passionate and persistent efforts of the Karavali Wikimedians Group.

To celebrate the occasion, increase awareness and encourage its use, the Karavali Wikimedians has organized its annual meet and greet meet via video conferencing from 4:15 pm to 06:00 pm today, Aug 6, 2020. The meet will also be streamed live on YouTube.

Eminent Tulu literature and folk scholars Dr. Paltadi Ramakrishna Achar, Dr. Amrita Someshwara, and Prof B A Vivek Rai along with Chief Guest Dr. Purushothama Bilimale, will speak at the webinar. It’s a webinar that none should miss

The origin of the Tulu Wikipedia

The Tulu Wikipedia is the 23rd Indic language Wikipedia and it took 8 long years of scrutiny in the Wikimedia Incubator before Katherine Maher, the Wikimedia Foundation’s Executive Director announced the project going live at Wiki-conference India 2016 that was held in Chandigarh. Tulu Wikipedia Editor Vishwanath Badikana tracing the origins said, “We first registered Tulu Wikipedia in 2008, and have come a long way so far. Mr. Pavanaja immensely supported the cause by conducting workshops and programs about the importance of Tulu language. With more than 500 publications with excellent citations and references, it finally went live. In fact, one of the most remarkable experiences in the WikiConference held in 2016 was when several people had not even come across the Tulu language itself. It’s a delightful feeling to have people informed about the language.”

U B Pavanja, Dr. Vishwanatha Badikana and Dr. Kishore Kumar Rai Sheni

The Karavali Wikimedians are a group of Wikimedians whose goal is to mainly work on language-based Wikipedias, especially Tulu, Kannada, and Konkani Wikipedia. The prime goal of Wikimedia is to globalize knowledge and educational content at no cost to the consumer of that content. Currently, this Tulu encyclopedia has 3,766 registered users who work on the content, which has 1,382 articles and 6,375 pages in total.

Principal Kishore Kumar Rai, an active member and editor of the Wikimedians Group has made various contributions for the growth of Tulu Wikipedia conducting workshops in Ramakrishna PU college, St Aloysius and various other colleges. “Recently, we have conducted 2 workshops with 25 active participants. We make sure that technicalities such as putting up the articles and modifications are easily convenient”

When asked about the journey of being a part of the user group, he said, “Initially, we had no idea about Wikipedia and its significance in the modern-day. Along with other mentors, B A Vivek Rai and Mr. Pavanaja have been crucial members of the group, creating awareness about the language and helping out students with the working of Tulu Wikipedia.”

“Every language has its importance, variedly. May it be Kannada, English, or Hindi. What makes it rich is the communication, that enables two or more individuals to understand each other, he added.

Currently, while Tulu Wikipedia is focused to work on its sister projects, a handful of steadfast volunteer editors, are taking the history and culture of the Tulu language globally through Wikimedia. Pavanaja adds, “We believe in free knowledge. That is the motto of Wikipedia, with authentic and verified posts, or references.”

Mr. Bharatesh, techie, and editor of the group, when asked about the significance and cultural aspects of the Tulu heritage said, “Free Information and free knowledge are the two main objectives of this project. If you want to preserve some information, you will have to document it. And if that is given free, the next generation will get it, and so it will be passed on. People will discover. It is exchanging information, just like an encyclopedia. That’s all”

Tulu – a language with history and culture that deserves to be preserved

The UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered Languages lists 173 languages, and Tulu and Kodava are languages among the group on the verge of being forgotten. This is something that should never happen given the language’s rich cultural heritage.

With diverse customs and beliefs that have been passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth and practice, historically, Tulu is one oldest and culturally dense languages of Coastal Karnataka from Kasaragod to Kundapur. It has nearly 2 million native speakers as of today.

IT expert and a Former Scientist at BARC for 15 years, the mentor of the Tulu Wikipedia Mr. Pavanaja U.B says, “Tulu has an extraordinarily rich culture, tradition but little documentation. It is a language that is mostly a vocal and oral tradition, passed on from generations to the present day. Currently, there is no encyclopedia based on it. So, culture and tradition should be documented and should be available in the form of an encyclopedia for people” With an excellent history in Kannada Computing, he draws attention towards the crucial steps to be taken to save the language.

Even though Tulu is recognized as the oldest member of the Dravidian languages, there are very few publications of literature, or magazines in the language today. Pavanja feels that preserving a language cannot be just in the form of stories, or literature. “Of course, it has huge importance. But that is inadequate. If you want a language to survive and grow, it should be in real-world knowledge, otherwise, it would be unsettled, being just a side language.”

To promote its conservation, the language has been added to the institutional syllabus in the academics of grades 6 to 10 in Dakshina Kannada, enabling the students in these classes to learn it as a subject, just like any other language.

Presently, the Karavali Wikimedians Group is working on a project that includes distributing the syllabus derived from the textbooks, online. 732 topics have been listed so far for allocation to the offline version stored in pen drives, making it easier in areas where lack of internet facilities could pose a problem.

Folk tales passed on through the generations help keep the language and its culture alive but that is not enough as families spread across the world to make their living. The Language’s Systematic documentation is what will provide the backbone and the backup for the conservation and promotion of the language and its rich heritage, and to that end, the Tulu Wikipedia is an initiative like no other.

Let’s celebrate and support it!