As the days drag on it seems there is nothing much interesting than a quiet Friday spent dreaming about the impending weekend holidays. But what a Friday it was today. I was at college in my class of RF and MW Engg when they called us for a talk on Tamil in our auditorium. The speaker was Tamilarivu Manian(yeah even i hadn’t heard of his name before today!) They did give us some snacks to keep our stomachs full enough for the entire duration of the speech. But when it came down to the speech… Oh what a speech. I was simply astounded by the power of his words. I like so many other Tamilians don’t like my mother tongue of Tamil very much. That basically stems from the idea that there’s not much use in learning it.
Well that all changed with today. The sense of pride which he invoked in me was unbelievable. He rekindled my love for Tamil from the bare ashes that had been left of it in my heart. Quite honestly i have heard so many people notably my past Tamil teachers speak about the greatness of the language. But something that was missing was the basic acceptance that Tamil is not in the legion of languages like English which can change and adapt according to the new discoveries made everyday. Tamil in its present form simply cannot compete with English in the scientific front where its inadequacies are often exposed. But Mr.Manian not only accepted that fact but also urged us to prevent it from dying from a sheer sense of pride. Hats off to you sir! I’m just disappointed i couldn’t record his speech so that i can share it with all my fellow tamilians over the Net. Vaazhga Tamizh!
P.S. Mr.Manian is lawyer and a poet. he has written so many books and is currently member of the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission
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