And now we have our flag-waving missionary with an addition. He is garlanded. Yes Sir he is. In fact, three days back he had two flags – one stuck to his robe and the other to his hand. The former is missing. But, the good news is that old Kittel carries a new flag, instead of the old mop in his hand. The sad news is that the other flag (stuck to his robe) was probably stolen by some Kannada patriots. Now I know the source of one of the flags adorning our city’s autos and street corners.
Bangalore doesn’t see too many Karnataka flags, except before and after the ‘Rajyotsava’. It just happened on November 1st. Perhaps that should explain the sudden increase in demand for these red and yellow cloths.
Now, I’m not being disrespectful towards Karnataka or Kannadigas (residents of K’taka). Quite the contrary. It’s just that I fail to understand why there should be state flags, when we have a perfectly good national flag. Is there a state-level patriotism that’s different from being patriotic towards India? Why then do states like Karnataka and Maharashtra have their own flags? But, hey not every state in the country has a state flag. So, are they more or less patriotic than the red and yellow flag bearers in Karnataka, or the saffron coloured flag-lovers of Maharashtra?
1 Comments:
During Kittel's time, Karnataka flag was unknown to him. Earlier, during the British Empire days- Mysore as it was known used to be a vassal under Madras Presidency and the benevolent Maharaja of Mysore, its ruler was loved by the Kannadigas.
Many years after India gained independence, States reorganisation took place now and then- when Mysore State, as it was known then got in its orbit North & South canara, Belgaum etc and was rechrstianed as Karnataka State and came the Karnataka flag.
Kaveri river water distribution is one of the cause for dispute between Karnataka & Tamilnadu. That is why whenever the river dispute breaks out- the vehicles plying in each of these States fix the flags of their state and switch over to the other when the border is crossed. That is just to save the fury of the mob from damaging their vehicles!!.
The same thing happened even when the great Kannada actor was kidnapped by Veerappan, the brigand hailing from Tamilnadu but operated in both States -inside the forests. Many Tamilnadu vehicles were damaged in Karnataka & vice versa in Tamilnadu.
Possibly, the flags are a means to protect the vehicles from damage than any show of patriotism.
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