A noted researcher in Telugu literature and language, Velchala Kondal Rao, said that Telugu was born in Telangana and Telangana Telugu is the very existence of the Telugu community here.
Delivering the keynote address at the round table conference on Telangana Telugu jointly organised by the Telangana Social, Economical and Cultural Research and Study Centre and Department of Telugu at the Telangana University, on Thursday, he said, “Insult to our language, accent, culture and literature is one of the major reasons for the bifurcation of the united Telugu State”.
“Protecting our language and accent is nothing but protecting our self-esteem. We need to promote our language to make it earn a greater position in the country,” he said.
Telangana University Vice-Chancellor C. Parthasarathy said that efforts must be made to standardise Telangana Telugu. While going to the roots of Telangana Telugu, research should be done to promote it in all spheres, he said.
“In the wake of globalisation when languages are vanishing, the responsibility is on us to protect and popularise our mother tongue to give it to our progeny. In an effort to make it a standard language, we need to carry out research on it and Telangana Telugu lexicography has to be written,” he said.
Head of the Department of Telugu, Kanakaiah, disclosed that Telangana University plans to introduce a separate course on Telangana Telugu in post-graduation in its south campus, Biknoor to bring back its past glory. Participants in the roundtable were requested to prepare syllabus for the course, he said.
Appreciating the efforts of the Telugu Study Centre to protect Telangana Telugu, Registrar R. Limbadri said that this was the first ever attempt in the newly-formed State. Syllabus of the proposed new course must be in consonance with the syllabus of the UPSC and the TSPSC competitive examinations, he added.
Famous literati Nandini Sidha Reddy, Jayadhir Tirumal Rao and Nalimela Bhaskar participated in the debate.
A roundtable on Telangana Telugu discusses ways in which the language could be promoted and standardised
