54 artistes’ fate hit as Minister Anjaneya misses visa date

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Minister H. Anjaneya

ENARADA, Bengaluru, August 27, 2015

By Guruprasad

Around 54 artistes from Karnataka may not make it to the third world Kannada summit of NAVIKA (North America Vishwa Kannada Association, scheduled to be held from September 4-6 at Raleigh, USA), if they fail to receive a call from the US Embassy for visa interview in a day or two!

As NAVIKA is one of the biggest overseas Kannada fest, artistes prepare for months to perform in front of the Kannada Diaspora. In fact, this year, everything was going smooth for these artistes who had done all their preparation and were even ready to head to Chennai for the visa interview scheduled for August 25 and 26.

However, the interview had to be cancelled at the last minute as their group leader and Minister for Social Justice H Anjaneya failed to turn up!

Minister H. Anjaneya
Minister H. Anjaneya

According to an artiste, “The Karnataka government encourages artistes to participate in such fests. Hence, it had nominated Mr Anjaneya as the group leader for the delegation. On August 25, we were camping in the Department of Kannada and Culture office, Bengaluru, waiting for the minister to lead us. However, we were told at the last minute that Mr Anjaneya couldn’t make it as he was busy. As a result, we couldn’t attend the visa interview. This time, 56 artistes are lined up to perform in the US. Of the 56 artistes, only two have US visa, while the 54 are hoping to get one. This has definitely been disappointing as many of them were heading to US for the first time to showcase their talent. Many of the talented artistes are from poor background and NAVIKA was a dream platform. Now, we have re-grouped with a new team leader and have once again applied for the interview. However, we have been told by the visa authorities in Chennai that the time’ is too short to call for an interview. We have pleaded our case and are hopeful to get a call in a day or two, failing which our NAVIKA dreams may never sail through.”

 

When Enarada contacted Minister Anjaneya, he confirmed that he couldn’t attend the visa interview due to his busy schedule and has sought another date for the interview.

[dropcap style=”inverted”]When Enarada contacted Minister Anjaneya, he confirmed that he couldn’t attend the visa interview due to his busy schedule and has sought another date for the interview.[/dropcap]

 

NAVIKA is a non-profit organization in the United States of America created to promote and enrich the very rich cultural heritage of Karnataka. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people from Karnataka are living in the United States of America. This year, a host of programmes have been planned for NAVIKA from Bhavageethe and Janapada geethe to Sitar/Hindustani recital and from Lambani Nruthya to comedy shows. This year’s NAVIKA will feature ‘star’ power as top artistes like Upendra, Yash, Radhika Pandit and Srinath have confirmed their participation. Though the stars have no visa issues, it is only the traditional artistes who are still hoping to showcase their talent at NAVIKA.

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