New book ‘Coorg State: Udaya-Pathana’ is ready for release
‘Coorg State: Udaya-Pathana’ is the Kannada translation of journalist P.T. Bopanna’s most successful book ‘Rise and Fall of the Coorg State’, which mainly deals with the circumstances leading to the unpopular merger of the erstwhile Coorg State (now known as Kodagu) with Karnataka in 1956.
The English version of the book was published in 2009. Journalist B.K. Ganesh, who also hails from Kodagu, has translated the book into Kannada. The book has been published by the Press Club of Bangalore.
The book tries to find answers to some of the questions like why the key players, including the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, took such a short-sighted decision resulting in the snuffing out of the prosperous Coorg State forever from the Indian map.
The book also discusses the neglect of the district after the merger with Karnataka and the growing demand for separate statehood for Kodagu.
Commenting on the latest book ‘Coorg State: Udaya-Pathana’, Bopanna says: “When the book ‘Rise and Fall of the Coorg State’ in English was first published, I was not sure how the book would fare in the market. There were reasons for my apprehension.”
“Firstly, because I was publishing the book myself. Though I had approached several publishers, none showed any interest in the project. Maybe because the subject matter of the book was about an issue which was more than 50 years old and confined to one of the smallest districts in Karnataka.”
“However, I was taken by surprise when the entire stock was sold out within two months of the publication, mainly in Kodagu.”
“I was keen to bring out the Kannada edition of the book to reach out to the Kannada readers as I felt that people in the rest of Karnataka should understand the feelings of the people in Kodagu.”
Even though Kannadigas were overjoyed by the integration of Kodagu with Karnataka following the linguistic reorganisation of the state in 1956, a large section of the local people in Kodagu still feel that they would have been better off had they remained an independent State.
The policy makers in Bangalore should try to remove this feeling of alienation by striving for the all-round development of Kodagu, considered by many as a jewel in the crown of Karnataka.
The book priced at Rs 80 per copy will be available for sale after its formal release sometime later this month.
