Modern Mysore

 The Maharaja was doubtless assisted by able and imaginative Dewans of whom there was a long line. They had autocratic power at their disposal but, by and large, they used it wisely and strived to put Mysore on the map of India. The names of Dr M Visvesvarayya, the village boy who came to be known as engineer –statesman, and Mr. Mirza Ismail, of Persian descent, come to mind. They set up the highest standards of integrity and were truly the maker of modern Mysore. He built dams and canals, electricity projects, consumer industries like soap and silk, hospitals, schools and colleges, all in the government sector.

Public life centered on the Maharaja in the earlier part of this century. He was patron of learning (late Dr. CV. Raman, the physicist, found Bangalore an ideal setting for his scientific work), music, dance and fine arts. It was during the maharaja’s time that Mysore took pride in claiming to have produced giants in these fields. Was not the Carnatic style of music Mysore’s greatest gift to the music world?     

Old Kannada and Tamil have such remarkable resemblance to each other that at one time they were believed to be dialects of a single language. In modern Kannada, there are at least three regional dialects –Mysore Kannada, Dharwar Kannada and Mangalore Kannada –and linguistic as also emotional integration is still a dream.