 "Kannada people holding a protest over Cauvery water row, in Mandya district")
The current Karnataka State Anthem, Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate written by KV Puttappa reads in translation as, “Victory to you Mother Karnataka, the daughter of Mother India! Hail the land of beautiful rivers and forests, hail the abode of saints!” 80-year-old Vasanthi Hegde, mother of one of the authors, remembers an earlier anthem from her schooldays which went "Udayavagali namma Cheluva Kannada Nadu", which loosely translates as "may our dear Kannada Land arise and dawn".
It took many years for that dawn to arrive. During British rule, areas that now comprise Karnataka were under 20 different administrative units. The princely
