Devappajja head of Dakshina Vaishnodevi Mandir.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Hubballi: Various Kannada-related programmes are organized in November, often termed 'Kannada month,' unique 'challenge events' take place, especially in the North Karnataka region. In these events, one can win a cash prize if they make Devappajja utter a single word or sentence in English.
For the last several decades, Devappajja (Devindrappa Vanahalli) of Hubballi has not spoken English due to his love for Kannada, although he completed primary and secondary education in English medium. He has never been defeated in the hundreds of challenge events held at different places so far and is sometimes referred to as 'Abhinava Andayya' (a 13th-century writer who wrote poetry in pure Kannada).
Hailing from Kusugal in Hubballi (Rural) taluk, 62-year-old Devappajja, who is the head of Dakshina Vaishnodevi Mandir at Eshwar Nagar in Hubballi, is a postgraduate in Yoga and has also learnt Russian through a diploma course.
He never uses an English word or sentence, except for proper nouns. Politicians, officials, seers, and other dignitaries have also tested him, and Devappajja has remained unbeaten. Even for words like 'bus' and 'electronic devices,' he has Kannada equivalents in his unique 'jawari' style of the North Karnataka dialect.
Devappajja has displayed his 'non-English speaking' skills at programmes held in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Delhi, Bhopal, Jammu, Bhubaneswar, and other places. In other states, he speaks Hindi, Marathi, and other Indian languages, but not English since childhood.
"It all began around 50 years back at Kusugal village when I was 12-year-old, and villagers started challenging each other to make me utter an English word. Girmit and mirchi were the bets then, and later I got invitations from different places. Organisers offered even gold and lakhs of Rupees for those who win the challenge against me, but nobody has won so far. Pejavar seer, Sattur seer, Mallikarjun Kharge, Pralhad Joshi, Jagadish Shettar, Patil Puttappa, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar and others have tested me, in addition to judges and IAS officers," Devappajja said.
Saying that organisers include his 'challenge event' in different programmes at various places throughout the year, he observed that the number of such programmes is more in November. Recently, he participated in such programmes at Vijayapur, Kagwad, Belagavi and Gadag. "Once I had to communicate with foreigners, and I wrote in English but did not speak English," he added.
This year also, BKS Trust has organized such an event on November 19 in Hubballi and has announced a prize of Rs one lakh for anyone who can make Devappajja speak English (except proper nouns) in four minutes.
Former MP I G Sanadi who knows Devappajja since several decades admits that he never speaks in English even if some twist is posed before him. "In these days of most of us using English words very commonly, the principle he is following is a service to Kannada and an achievement too," Sanadi added.