“Tamil computing must be naturalised for average user”

Anyone who is able to read or write Tamil should be able to use the language easily on the computer too.

“When people see their language on the computer screen, they get excited and want to make more use of it,” points out Michael Kaplan, Programme Manager of the World Readiness Team of Microsoft Corp. Hence, “For any user it is necessary to get rid of the computer baggage that makes it harder for them to use their language on the computer naturally.”

Now, English enables the computer users to get more knowledge and opportunities. Those, who speak, read and write Tamil and have learnt English by necessity would be the early adaptors of Tamil computing.

They should be able to lead the growth in Tamil computing. The potential for those getting into Tamil computing is 60 million.

The average users of computer in any language are those who just use it as long as it works.

So, it is important to enable people to use Tamil on the computer the way they think rather than visually how it appears. Tamil computing should be naturalised for the average user, he says.

Mr. Kaplan, whose special interests are in Tamil, Unicode and input methods, is here to participate in the Tamil Internet Conference 2010, a concurrent event of the World Classical Tamil Conference.

He says that Microsoft incorporated Tamil Unicode in the Windows 2000 version and since then, made several changes to improve the use of it.

For Microsoft, research is on to see what people are interested in. “I want people to try more what we have and give their inputs.”

Tolkappiyam is not dependent on Sanskrit sources: Tamil scholar

Tolkappiyam is not dependent on Sanskrit sources and a work that demanded not only vast knowledge but also a lot of thinking from its author, according to Alexander Dubyanskiy, veteran Tamil scholar from Moscow State University.

“Many scholars (have) pointed out that Tolkappiyam is dependent on Sanskrit sources. It is said that its author, Tolkappiyanar followed the Aindra School of linguistics. Subrahmanya Sastri, a scholar who studied Tolkappiyam, even stated that some parts of the work were translations of some portions of Panini's Ashtadhyayi, Yaska's Nirukta, Rigveda Pratishakya, etc., which according to me is not right,” he said in his paper presented at the World Classical Tamil Conference on Sunday.

“I think it is not correct because at those times the process of interaction of texts was connected not with translating but with rendering and, speaking generally, there was nothing unusual in borrowing or using ideas from other sources.”

The author of Tolkappiyam was a well educated person who used the works available to build a construction of his own and place the same in the mainstream Indian theoretical linguistic thought.

He said that it was known that Tolkappiyanar did not try to conceal his indebtedness to his predecessors and often used – around 150 times – expressions which clearly signified them.

Vast knowledge

“I am sure that Tolkappiyam is a work which demanded not only vast knowledge and a lot of thinking but a considerable creative skill from its composer.”

Dr. Dubyanskiy also said, “Interestingly enough, there are cases when Tolkappiyanar himself shows his independence on the Sanskrit tradition.” He quoted a verse to underscore his point.

“Besides, one should not forget that Tolkappiyanar described not an Indo-Aryan [language], but Tamil, a language of a different family with its own phonetics and grammatical structure and he could not copy the sources blindly.”

In his tribute to Tolkappiyanar, the professor said that though nothing much was known about him, he seemed to be a person of great intellect, deep thought and an open mind.

On Tamil and its classical status, he said any classical language presented itself in a fixed verbal form that was in the form of a certain kind of treatise, a text describing and analysing the structure and specific features of the language or literature, prescribing rules and regulations for them.

Like Greek, Latin and Sanskrit, Tamil too had such texts, he said and added “during more than 2,000 years of its development, Tamil tradition produced a great quantity of such texts. Many of them are very famous like ‘Nannool,' ‘Yaaparunkalam,' ‘Agapporul,' among others.”

“Together with commentaries they made a vast section of literature of a special kind, very important and interesting. And, in the beginning of the theoretical tradition stood Tolkappiyam, a treatise connected with Tamil classical poetry.”

Dr. Dubyanskiy further said that the authority of the text was undeniable. “It is a literary and cultural monument of great importance.”

Simple steps add largely to the cultural ambience

The cultural programmes performed so far at the World Classical Tamil Conference can be classified into any one of the art forms, viz., classical or folk. But, the group that performed in the open area in front of the main CODISSIA exhibition hall on Saturday evening did not belong to any dance troupe.

They were Hindu Irula tribals from the villages of Jambukandi and Kudalur near Anaikatti and the dance they performed was their traditional ‘Dilli Aatam.' It was a slightly modified version of the traditional ‘Kummi.'

Men and women from different age groups numbering 40 sang and danced to their indigenously set tune for which the lyrics too were penned by them. The lyrics were in a different dialect of the Tamil language. For example, ‘nalla sollu' is said as ‘arumaka sollu.'

The singers stood in the centre and the dancers danced around them in a circle. Men were dressed in dhoti, shirt, and a turban, while the women were dressed in bright saris that reached short of their ankles. They also made use of instruments like the ‘tavil', ‘porai' and ‘kozal.'

K. Vaidehi, a member of the group said they organised such dances during deaths and temple festivals. They do not perform the dance during other auspicious occasions. “This is an age-old tradition which we learn from our elders.”

First time

This is the first time the tribals performed outside of their village. Thanks to the efforts of S. Surendran, former Panchayat President, Anaikatti, the tribals were given a chance to showcase their unique dance form at the conference.

Though they are tribals, they are not the closeted kinds who do not move out of their native place.

Most of the men and women are educated and even working outside. Vaidehi is a B.Sc. graduate from Avinashilingam University for Women and works as a teacher in the local school.

N. Nagaraj, a post-graduate student of Public Administration from Government Arts College, Coimbatore, said that the group would like to make more public performances if given a chance.

Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi, Minister for Information Technology Poongothai Aladi Aruna, and Tamizhachi Thangapandian, were among the audience who cheered the group performing their simple art.

Youths spread awareness of Tamil on the web

At the Internet Exhibition at the CODISSIA grounds, a group of volunteers is actively engaging with the public. It wants to inform people how Tamil is being used on the Internet and how they can benefit and also contribute.

“Volunteers are teaching how to type in Tamil, how to use Tamil on mobile phones, projecting the Tamil content on the web, among others,” says A. Ravishankar at the stall.

“It is important to let the public know because when they understand that they can read Tamil content on the Web, they will avail an Internet connection.”

The group is also engaged in taking online encyclopaedia Wikipedia to the public. “Not many are aware that a free online encyclopaedia, that too in Tamil, is available,” says Mr. Ravishankar, an administrator at Tamil Wiki.

Being an administrator, he enjoys the privilege of monitoring content, editing them and deleting those that are radical, inflammatory and factually incorrect. He has been an administrator since 2005.

At present, Tamil Wiki has 15,000 members, including 250 active contributors. The credit for starting Tamil Wiki goes to Mayooranathan, a Sri Lankan Tamil working in the United Arab Emirates.

Another active member of the group of volunteers is R. Loganathan, who looks after the Tamil Wiktionary, an online Tamil-English dictionary. He says a team of volunteers has managed to upload 1.18 lakh Tamil words and provide meanings for the same. “We are growing and the Tamil Nadu government has volunteered to share its archives, glossary and other information it has,” he says.

Mr. Loganathan and Mr. Ravishankar say they want the Tamil people to realise the power of Web and use it to promote Tamil and add that their exhibition is a small effort in that direction.

Call for incentives to those taking up Tamil computing projects

The State government should provide incentives to those who carry out projects in Tamil computing, Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT-Kanpur and local organising committee of the Tamil Internet Conference (TIC) 2010 M. Anandakrishnan said on Saturday.

About one lakh projects were taken up in colleges in the State every year. However, only a handful of them pertained to Tamil computing, he told a function to mark the distribution of prizes to students who won contests organised as part of the TIC.

Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin gave away the prizes to the State-level winners and also released a special souvenir that had 130 articles. Emphasising that greater support should be given to promote the use of Tamil computing, he said that the State government should declare a policy that in the computers purchased for government departments, schools and colleges, the opening screen should be in Tamil when booted.

In an effort to sustain the interest of children in Tamil computing, they should be encouraged to use computers for activity-based learning. For instance, students could collect data and information related to the local economy, history and social issues and feed these in Tamil in the computer and also sort the information in Tamil. The secretariat for Tamil computing should be located with that of classical Tamil, he added.

About 8,000 school students and nearly 3,800 college students participated in the competitions. Dr. Anandakrishnan said prizes would be given away to district-level winners soon.

Among those present were Ministers for Higher Education, School Education and Information Technology, K. Ponmudy, Thangam Thennarasu and Poongothai Aladi Aruna, Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi and Principal Secretaries for Higher Education and IT K. Ganesan and P.W.C. Davidar.

Tamil must find its way into all faculties, says Sivakumar

Tamil, a classical language should diversify itself into various areas and find a place in the faculties of Medicine, Engineering, judiciary and all other fields, Actor Sivakumar said on Sunday. He was presiding over the seminar on “Vithaga Vilankum Tamil.”

Lines from theme song

The topics for individual speakers were a few lines each from the conference theme song.

Of the world's ancient languages such as Sanskrit and Tamil, Sanskrit is no longer a spoken language whereas Tamil has crossed various stages such as inscriptions and manuscripts thus reaching the computer era. Speakers reiterated that guidelines for life and scientific inventions for humanity had found place in the literature several thousand years ago vouching to the foresight and intellect of the litterateurs.

Rev. Jagath Gaspar who spoke on “Yaathum Oore Yaavarum Kelir” said that the ancient literatures had stressed the need for unity through the bond of brotherhood.

The elaborated DNA chart says that this community has crossed seventy eight generations.

“Highlight rich history”

He underlined the need for English speaking scholars who could highlight the rich history, culture and legacy of Tamil across the world.

Prof. Parveen Sulthana spoke on “Unpathu Naazhi, Uduppathu Irande and Uraividam Ondre” and said that any race that wants to dominate another race or community would first ensure domination of the language of the targeted race or community.

Tamil has valiantly fought such attempts to dominate and on the theme, she said human race says enough only for food and pointed out the all that a person would require is a limited food, two sets of clothing and a shelter.

Advocate Ramalingam who spoke on the theme “Theethum Nandrum Pirar thaara” meaning good or bad are always self inflicted, quoting literature said efforts never fail and in the absence of efforts there will be no progress. Advocate Arulmozhi spoke on “Porai Puranthalli…Porulai Podhuvakkave." Cumbum P. Selvendran spoke on “Orarivu mudal Aaarivuvarai” and Tiruchi Selvendran spoke on “Agamendrum, Puramendrum Vazhvai Alaghaga Vaguthalithu.”

Peter Alphonse who was listed as one of the speakers was not present because of the death of Congress Legislature Party leader D. Sudarssanam.

Modern Tamil literature's resonance akin to Sangam's, says expert

Modern Tamil literature has the resonance and power of words that the Sangam literature possessed, according to George L. Hart, Professor of Tamil language, University of California, Berkeley, United States.

Just as the Sangam literature had mirrored the lives of people, modern writing in Tamil too had the ability to describe human conditions,

Professor Hart told delegates of the World Classical Tamil Conference on Saturday, expressing his admiration over the continuity in Tamil literary traditions.

Delivering a lecture on the uniqueness of classical Tamil here in the presence of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan, among others, the 65-year-old scholar, now involved in making annotated translations with extensive introduction of ‘Akananooru' and ‘Paitruppattu,' said the Sangam literature's influence could be seen in the subsequent literary creations of Nammazhwar and Kamban.

The hymns of Azhwars blossomed into the Bakthi movement of Vaishanavites which was exported from Tamil Nadu to the rest of the country.

That was how the “Tulsi Ramayana” could be seen as being influenced by the Sangam literature, he argued.

Kamba Ramayanam contained some amount of Sanskrit but many elements from early Tamil.

“Kamba Ramayanam is probably the greatest poem written in India,” he noted.

Tamil-Sanskrit ties

On the relationship between Tamil and Sanskrit, Professor Hart said the languages of south Asia, excepting Tamil, derived their traditions from Sanskrit or Persian/Arabic. In the beginning, Tamil, like most other classical literatures, developed from an oral culture. While the Sangam poets were aware of the Sanskrit epics, they did not imitate them but referred to them a few times. “The Sangam literature is entirely independent of Sanskrit and follows its own rules and traditions.”

Sanskrit literature

Sanskrit literature was predominantly other-worldly, mediating on lofty issues. Though Sanskirt poetry had always been beautiful, it, in later times, turned introspective. In contrast, Sangam poetry was always about here and now.

Though Sanskrit subsequently began to exert considerable influence on Tamil, Tamil literature had always been indebted to its beginnings.

The anthologies of classical Tamil formed a sort of template for expression, feeling and the use of language for later writers, just as the Vedas and Upanishads did for later Sanskrit writers.

Despite the two languages being different radically in their focus and conception of the world, they influenced each other and each took many elements from the other. They had very different and complementary ways of viewing the world, Professor Hart explained.

Socially elevating literatures transcend generations: Kanimozhi

Literary works that bring in social transformation alone will transcend generations and remain popular, Rajya Sabha MP, Kanimozhi said on Sunday. She was speaking at an academic session on “Padaippilakkiya Nokkum, Pokkum,” on the concluding day of the World Classical Tamil Conference presided by Prof. Karthigesu. Sivathambi.

Ms. Kanimozhi said that there had been a debate on whether the literature has a direction and objective. Literature should be in a conversation mode and expressive in nature with a beautiful richness. Literary creations could never be for one's own self. In today's world, sharing has become more important and essential. Happiness or sorrow should not be suppressed in one's own self then it would not reap any benefits. Sharing such emotions, through literature will bring immense benefits. Be it song, drama, kavithai or film, they are called as “Padaippilakkiyam.”

When literary works are on the basis of sharing, they stand popular transcending generations. Literary works that fail to usher in the required social transformation are of no use and it is as good as presuming that such works never existed, she said. In a world racing against time, many incidents, events that are witnessed are often forgotten. No body thinks or looks into the reasons for such incidents or events. When such incidents or events make a person to record the same by writing, it becomes a literary work, she added.

Observing that many people see the works born out of the Dravidian movement as propaganda, Ms. Kanimozhi said that the issue would be settled in due course. Be it ancient sangam or medieval or modern literature, humanity was in the habit of taking just what was required for them. Literature depicts women in very good light whereas the society tends to see women in a bad light or context. Tinsel world was in the habit of portraying women in a negative manner. When such creations are appreciated and encouraged, the deterioration of culture begins. When women record the sufferings and the pains that they have undergone, the society shows a very poor acceptability to such works. Women should continue to document their experiences and thoughts as literature.

Literatures of the past have contributed to social transformation thus transcending generations and time alone is the best evaluator for any form of literature.

A recollection on world Tamil meets

The idea of forming the International Association of Tamil Research (IATR) took shape when most of the Tamil scholars attended the South Asian Linguistic Conference held in New Delhi.

Ka. Po. Rathinam, former MP belonging to the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in Sri Lanka, proposed this and was welcomed by Dr. M. Varadarajan, Fr. Thani Nayagam of the University of Malaya, Salai Elanthirayan of Delhi University and various other Tamil scholars.

The main condition of the IATR to hold a World Tamil Conference was that it should be supported by the Government of the host country and sponsored by its university. It was then possible to hold the first World Tamil Conference at Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, in 1966. Tunku Abdul Rahman was the Prime Minister at that time and Thani Nayagam of Sri Lanka was the head of the Tamil Department of University of Malaysia.

The then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Baktavatsalam, led a delegation from Chennai with Tamil scholars such as T.P. Meenakshi Sundaram, Ki. Va. Jeganathan, Sanjeevi, V.R. Nedunchezhian and Sa.Ganesan .

From Sri Lanka, TULF leader A. Amirthalingam and Rajadurai, MP from Batticaloa, and a small group participated.

Mr. Bakthavatsalam announced that Tamil Nadu would host the second IATR World Tamil Conference in Chennai. His successor C.N. Annadurai fulfilled the promise in 1968.

M. Karunanidhi, then the Public Works Minister, played an important role in making the conference a grand success. It was held with the involvement of all the people. Various functions were arranged at Island Grounds in Chennai, which was named ‘Theevu Thidal.'

“I was a student leader of Tamil Nadu and stopped the agitation for a separate State that was announced by the students of Coimbatore Agricultural College. The third Tamil Conference was held in Paris in 1970. Pilliazo was the head of the Department of Linguistic Studies in the College De France there.

The responsibility of organising the conference was undertaken by Fr. Thani Nayagam. Malcolm S. Adiseshiah donated a huge amount in his capacity as the Secretary General of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

For the fourth Tamil Conference in Jaffna (Sri Lanka) in 1974, I entered the country without the knowledge of Sri Lankan Government although the then Prime Minister, Srimavo Bandaranaike, gave instructions to cancel all visas issued to the Tamil scholars from Tamil Nadu.

The fifth Tamil conference was held in the University of Malaya in a grand manner in 1977. V. David, MP of Malaysia, was the president of World Tamil Movement and I was the vice-president. Dato Samy Vellu, the then Minister from Malasyia, extended full support. I led a delegation of 300 people to the conference from Chennai.

Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran came forward to conduct the next conference in Madurai in 1981 and gave a facelift to the town.

In 1989, Parasuram Arumugham, a Minister in Mauritius, took special interest in conducting the conference. Actor Kamal Hassan stole the show when thousands of Mauritius Tamils attended the conference. The public meeting was held in the sports ground of Mauritius. The irony was that although there were Tamil names they could not utter a single word in Tamil.

At least South Africans were able to say “Vanakkam”, taught by Govindaswamy, a Tamil teacher who studied in Annamalai University. In 1995, the then Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, conducted the Tamil Conference at Thanjavur and that town got a facelift in terms of infrastructure and accommodation.

An unpleasant incident took place when the Central Bureau of Investigation stopped Dr. Sivathambi and a few Tamil scholars who came on a tourist visa to Tamil Nadu to attend the conference.

Thereafter the IATR did not evince any interest in holding World Tamil Conferences in India.

Now, Mr. Karunanidhi has put and end to IATR's hesitation, by taking the wise decision of conducting a “ Classical Tamil Conference”. It paves way to conduct a Tamil conference elsewhere including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Europe and Canada where lakhs of Tamils are living.

Ninth World Tamil Internet Conference 2010 concludes

The State Government has issued an order that it will migrate to 16-bit encoding, mainly Unicode, from eight bit encoding for all its computer applications in Tamil.

Speaking at the concluding session of the Ninth World Tamil Internet Conference (TIC) 2010 here on Sunday, Information Technology Secretary P.W.C. Davidar said theGovernment Order was issued onJune 23, 2010.

According to the order, the Government will stop using all eight-bit encoding and migrate immediately to 16-bit encoding. Unicode will be the main code to be used in all applications where support for Tamil is available.

In applications that do not support Unicode, TACE16 (Tamil All Character Encoding) will be used as the alternative standard.

Speaking at the session, Information Technology Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna said IT was reaching new heights. It was going to all fields and was becoming multi-dimensional. It should go to the villages too through Tamil. The Government would support efforts taken for this.

“The government should not be seen. It should be felt through the e-governance initiatives,” Santhosh Babu, Managing Director of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, said.

Through e-governance, it was now possible to get birth, death, and nativity certificates by applying online.

As many as 138 papers were presented at the TIC that concluded here on Sunday. Of these, 75 were presented by overseas participants, numbering about 150.

Some of the subjects covered at the conference were: e-governance, wikipedia, blogs, search engines, character recognition and Tamil domains.

For the computer professionals, some of the emerging areas of interest in Tamil computing were high-scale, high-quality content, Tamil domain name and more search engines. For the users, it was easily extractable content, according to M. Anandakrishnan, chairman of the local organising committee of the conference.

Call for Tamil cultural centres in foreign countries

Former Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University and Chairman of the Seminar on ‘Kadal Kadantha Tamil, Tamilar' organised as part of the World Classical Tamil Conference K.P. Aravanan on Saturday appealed to the State government to seek the Centre's support for establishing Tamil cultural centres in countries with Tamil population.

Mr. Aravanan made this as a concluding remark of the seminar and pointed out that only 15 per cent of overseas Tamils seemed to lead a happy life, while 35 per cent were in average state and the remaining 50 per cent facing some problem or the other and sought measures to ensure a decent living for those people. Mr. Aravanan said that very few linguistic communities had crossed the shore and Tamil was primary among them.

The migration of linguistic communities was either for survival or for position. There are no archaeological traces for the presence of Tamil in Egypt, Greece, Rome or China. Classifying the presence of the language among the Tamilians, Mr. Aravanan named four models: Reunion, where the language no longer exists among the generations, Euro Union where the language exists only with the first generation migrants, South African-Mauritius where the language had merged with the local dialects thus becoming a new language and Singapore and Malaysia model still had Tamils transcending generations.

N. Andiappan of Writers Association from Singapore called for a World Classical Tamil secretariat branch at Singapore and suggested that for the headquarters there could be representatives from each country. He pointed out that Tamils occupied major positions in the country. P. Rajendran of the Malaysian Writers Association and a journalist said that the crisis for Tamil was over in Malaysia and the government was responding to the requirements of the Tamil people positively now. He also called for a World Classical Tamil conference branch secretariat at Malaysia for the benefit of the people living in southeast Asian countries.

Pal Pandian of the U.S sought for institution of a Chair for Tamil or a department in the universities there and suggested that as in the lines of the Union government, the State should also come forward to have a department or a ministry for Tamils living overseas.

Kerala institute willing to translate Tamil literary works

COIMBATORE: The International Institute of Dravidian Linguistics in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala is willing to translate Tamil literary works into Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam, said Puthusseri Ramachandran, honorary professor of the Institute, here on Friday.

Speaking to TheHindu on the sidelines of the World Classical Tamil Conference (WCTC), he explained: “This is in response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's call on Thursday for translating Tamil literary works into other languages.”

A poet and writer, Mr. Ramachandran has done extensive research on the evolution of the Dravidian languages. “We have the expertise and the infrastructure to carry out the translation. This will be discussed by the institute's board and a formal proposal will be sent to the Tamil Nadu government,” he said.

Translation was important to enable each linguistic section understand the language and culture of the other. As a first step, at least the States in South India, which was the cradle of the Dravidian culture, should know each other through their literary works.

“I hope to meet Mr. Karunanidhi during the ongoing conference to discuss the proposal and also compliment him on the conduct of the WCTC that is witnessing absolute devotion on the part of Tamils to their language and culture,” he said.

“The conference in Coimbatore makes me feel pained that the struggle to get classical language status for Malayalam is yet to meet with success. A delegation led by Kerala Chief Minister C. Achuthanandan had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Experts will study the memorandum,” he said. Mr. Ramachandran was part of the delegation.

The 83-year-old researcher and critic on Dravidian languages argued that even if a language was living and evolving, the classical status would only enhance its value through various promotional efforts.

“The Central government provides Rs.100 crore as grant, with the condition that enough studies on and the promotion of the language, declared as classical, must be done.”

The funds would certainly enable the setting up of institutions and other infrastructure necessary for the development of language. From short stories to Internet, the use of a language could be enhanced.

“Take for instance journalism, which is also a medium of learning for the people. Language plays a significant role in disseminating information through various forms of media,” he pointed out.

Turning to the situation in Kerala, Mr. Ramachandran said he led the efforts in conducting the first All India Conference on Dravidian Linguistics in Thiruvananthapuram in 1971 because “we felt there was a need for Malayalam teachers to interact with their counterparts in other languages. So, we held the first World Malayalam Conference in 1977.”

He lamented that the passion and dedication the Tamils had for their language and culture was missing in Kerala. “Malayalees must learn from Tamils.”

“Even 33 years after the conference was held, Kerala still does not have a Malayalam University, in sharp contrast to the language universities of other southern States,” he pointed out.

The younger generation is not encouraged to learn Malayalam. The focus was on learning only that language which would fetch jobs overseas. This rocked the very foundation of the Malayalee culture. “I plan to bring out an English version of my book on inscriptions in Kerala's history because there were very few takers for the original seminal work in Malayalam.”

“Now, we need to first educate the politicians and the elite of Kerala on the need to develop the language. Quite a number of people should also be educated on the fact that Malayalam is 1,500 years old and that it did not emerge from Thunjath Ezhuthachan's ‘Adyathma Ramayanam',” he said.

Asked if the classical language status was becoming an instrument for political one-upmanship, Mr. Ramachandran said: “The passion for one's own language and the pursuit for a classical status should be independent of politics.

At the same time, a healthy competition among political formations for obtaining this status for their language is always welcome.”

MP on World Tamil Conference

While hailing the Tamil Classical Conference (Semmoli Maha Nadu) being held in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, one could not ignore the absence of any Sri Lankan Tamil Parliament Members at this historic moot, said MP A.H.M. Azwer in a release yesterday.

He said, the so-called champions in Tamil Nadu who do not fail to let out their verbose unceasingly shedding crocodile tears for their brethren in Sri Lanka has exposed their hypocracy in not inviting a single Member in our Parliament for this occasion when, they claim that Tamil academics and Intellectual have from around the globe found their due place in the vast concourse of over 4,000 delegates attending this Conference.

“M. Karunanidhi, the brain behind this world Tamil Vilzha, should also be reminded that it was a Sri Lanka born Tamil, the modern architect of the International Tamil Conference, first organized in four world centres. He laid the foundation for the renaissance of Tamil language and culture, bringing together under one roof non-Tamil Tamil scholars from various corners of the world and created a new dimension in this field.”

“News reaches our shores that even the former Indian President Abdul Kalam, a great Tamil scholar has been omitted from the invitees list,” he said.

Initiative to preserve, promote Tamil culture

The work of Subashini Tremmel and her group is a good example of what happens when computer technology is used to preserve a rich language and culture.

The software engineer and 1,070 enthusiasts, mostly from the Tamil diaspora, have come together to preserve and promote Tamil language and culture. They have formed the Tamil Heritage Foundation (THF) for the purpose.

Ms. Tremmel, a Tamil of Malaysian origin working in Germany, says the group has collected around 300 books and 28,000 palm manuscripts, some of which have been uploaded on its website, www.tamilheritage.org.

The vision document on the site says: “Tamil Heritage Foundation is a global initiative to preserve and understand Tamil heritage in a proper scientific way so that its history, science and technology are properly understood.” The group has been at it for the past 10 years. “On the eve of the First Tamil Internet Conference, Narayanan Kannan, a scientist of Tamil origin working in South Korea, and I had a discussion and subsequently realised the need for having an organisation to preserve Tamil language and culture. THF is an outcome of that,” she recalls. She adds that “in Germany or any other country for that matter, it is difficult to read Tamil books or watch programmes related to Tamil or Tamil Nadu on TV. Bringing in books physically is a costly affair and even if TV programmes are available, one cannot watch what he or she wants.” The foundation is the result of that desire and need of the Tamil diaspora. And the community felt that it can leverage the power of the computer and Internet for the purpose.

Team touring State

Since 2001, Ms. Tremmel and a core group of 50 members have been touring Tamil Nadu to document almost everything under the sun that relates to Tamil. “From siddha medicinal herbs to Tamil lifestyle to music and dance to temple architecture, we document everything without sitting on judgment.”

Whatever is collected is vetted by a group of subject experts. “We want the information to be authentic,” she says. Only books without copyrights are made as e-books. To underscore the importance the THF attaches to authenticity, she says she spent days with Radha Chellappan, granddaughter of Tamil scholar Vaiyapuri Pillai, to write an authentic account of Pillai.

Stop praising me and get down to subject: Karunanidhi

Within ten minutes of the commencement of the seminar on “Engum Tamil-Ethilum Tamil,” even as the first speaker was giving his introductory address, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, interrupted him and said speakers should not vie with one another in praising him, but focus on the subject of the seminar.

The first speaker was Mohammed Liyakath Ali Khan from Udumalpet who went on praising the Chief Minister for the welfare of the minorities and for the efforts to protect and promote the language.

The Chief Minister took the hand mike and reminded him that the stage had almost all the leaders of various political parties and the subject of the seminar was ‘Engum Tamil-Ethilum Tamil.'

Another speaker in the line-up, Dawood Mia Khan, recalling the services of Mr.Karunanidhi to Tamil, the State and the minority community, said he was left with no option but to conclude saying “Engum Kalaingar, Ethilum Kalaignar and Endrum Kalaingar.”

Change inevitable if language has to progress, says expert

Every language has to borrow from other languages or be productive in itself to come up with new words to keep pace with new developments and technologies, according to Gregory James, professor, Language Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and author of the book ‘Colporul: History of Tamil Dictionaries.'

Prof. James, who is here to participate in the World Classical Tamil Conference, told The Hindu on Friday that since one cannot stop the march of progress, one has to be open to change even in languages.

“Language will grow only when it responds to new developments. That does not mean the language is getting diluted or worse. It should only be viewed as change. English, as a language, has borrowed a lot but now it is in itself productive.”

Explaining the English language's technique to become more expansive in terms of vocabulary, he says it has reworked on the existing words; expanded the field to include additional meaning for the same word and also started using metaphors and expanding metaphors.

He suggests the same model should be adapted by the Tamil language. Pointing out that people are fixated about borrowing from other languages, he says it is not necessary to borrow since much can be derived new from within the language.

Conceding that whenever there is a suggestion of a change there is resistance, Prof. James says what is a natural outcome cannot be avoided. Still, change is inevitable if the language has to progress.

Giving examples of how the English language has effectively gone in for metaphoric expansion of existing words (mouse, cut and paste), he adds that such words have become so popular in computing that they have started to be accepted as the primary words. This he attributes to the influence of technology and computerisation.

Touching upon the fact that Tamil is still conventional in including new vocabulary in response to the latest technology, he says even though antiquity of a language should be celebrated, its enrichment should not be deterred by stagnation.

“Enrichment does not mean just adding new words to the existing vocabulary, but it is actually a process of give and take. When you gain some, you lose some,” he concludes.

Acceptance speech of Asko Parpola, recipient of the Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award

Your Excellency the President of India, Srimati Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, distinguished dignitaries, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Vanakkam!

It is indeed a very great honour to receive the first Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award from the President of India. Yet I feel embarrassed, because my work is only partly related to Classical Tamil, while there are Classical Tamil specialists who really would have deserved this award. But as this is not the only time when the award is given, I humbly accept that this is my turn. I am most grateful for the very considerable support for my continued work in this field.

The Government of India has rightly recognized Tamil as a classical language, a status that it fully deserves in view of its antiquity and its rich literature that in quality and extent matches many other classical traditions of the world. Yet, Tamil is not alone in possessing such a rich heritage in India, which is really a very exceptional country with so many languages having old and remarkable literatures, both written and oral. Sanskrit with its three thousand years old tradition has produced an unrivalled number of literary works.

Sanskrit goes back to Proto-Indo-Aryan attested in a few names and words related to the Mitanni kingdom of Syria between 1500 and 1300 BCE, and to earlier forms of Indo-Iranian known only from a few loanwords in Finno-Ugric languages as spoken in central Russia around 2000 BCE. But none of these very earliest few traces is older than the roots of Tamil. Tamil goes back to Proto-Dravidian, which in my opinion can be identified as the language of the thousands of short texts in the Indus script, written in 2600-1700 BCE. There are, of course, different opinions, but many critical scholars agree that even the Rigveda, collected in the Indus Valley about 1000 BCE, has at least half a dozen Dravidian loanwords.

Old Tamil texts constitute the only source of ancient Dravidian linguistic and cultural heritage not yet much contaminated by the Indo-Aryan tradition. Without it, it would be much more difficult if not impossible to penetrate into the secrets of the Indus script and to unravel the beginnings of India's great civilization. In my opinion the Tamils are entitled to some pride for having preserved so well the linguistic heritage of the Indus Civilization. At the same time, it must not be forgotten that, though their language has shifted in the course of millennia, people of North India too are to a large extent descended from the Harappan people, and have also preserved cultural heritage of the same civilization.

Nanri! Tamizh vaazka!

Underlying language of Indus script, Proto-Dravidian: Asko Parpola

The underlying language of the Indus script was Proto-Dravidian, Asko Parpola, Professor-Emeritus of Indology, Institute of World Cultures, University of Helsinki, Finland, said on Friday.

Declaring that “an opening to the secrets of the Indus script has been achieved,” Prof. Parpola said the results of his readings kept within narrow limits: fertility cult connected with fig trees, a central Hindu myth associated with astronomy and time-reckoning and chief deities of Hindu and Old Tamil religion.

Delivering the Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Research Endowment Lecture on “A Dravidian solution to the Indus script problem” at the World Classical Tamil Conference here, the Indologist said the readings were based on reasonable identifications of the signs’ pictorial shapes. The results made good sense in the framework of ancient Indian cultural history.

“These readings have been achieved with strictly adhered methodology which is in full agreement with the history of writing, methods of decipherment and historical linguistics including the comparative study of Dravidian languages,” he told the audience that included Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.

Displaying nearly two dozen illustrations of Indus seals and inscriptions, he dwelt upon the topic by explaining two broad aspects — underlying language and type of the script — that were essential in the decipherment of an ancient script. He also substantiated his thesis with an etymological analysis of certain Tamil words such as ‘muruku’ and ‘miin’.

Hinting that Harappan language had a genetic relationship with the Dravidian language family, Prof. Parpola said 26 Dravidian languages were now mainly spoken in central and southern parts of India. However, one Dravidian language, Brahui, had been spoken in Baluchistan of Pakistan for at least one thousand years. In contrast to Burushashki, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic languages, very small minority languages in south Asia, the Dravidian speakers until recently constituted one-fourth of the population in India.

Loanwords from the Dravidian family had been identified from Indo-Aryan texts composed in northwestern India around 1100-600 BCE. Besides, Indo-Aryan had several structural features that had long been interpreted as borrowings from Dravidian. “Historical linguistics thus suggests that the Harappans probably spoke a Dravidian language.”

Referring to the type of writing system, Prof. Parpola said the number of known Indus signs was around 400 “which agrees well with the logo-syllabic type but is too high for the script to be syllabic or alphabetic”. Though word divisions were not marked, many inscriptions comprised one, two or three signs and longer texts could be segmented into comparable units. The Indus script was created before any syllabic or alphabetic script existed.

Pointing out that the confirmed interpretations and their wider contexts provided a lot of clues for progress, he acknowledged there were still serious difficulties in the decipherment of the script. “One is the schematic shape of many signs which makes it difficult to recognise their pictorial meaning with certainty. Possibilities of proposing likely readings and their effective checking are severely limited by our defective knowledge of Proto-Dravidian vocabulary, compounds and phraseology.”

The problem of the Indus script resembled to some extent that of the logo-syllabic Maya script, where advance was phenomenal after Mayan speakers were trained in the methods of decipherment.

The Indologist said those who had good acquaintance with the realities of Indian culture and south Asian nature could make useful contributions in suggesting possible pictorial meanings for the Indus signs. For this, there was no need to be a Dravidian speaker.

Iravatham Mahadevan, eminent archaeologist, presided over the event.

Of ‘madikkanini' and ‘tharavu'

After typing on the madikkanini, the penachchemippam is taken out to save the tharavu. Wondering what is all this?

These are the Tamil equivalents of computer terms in English. The first means laptop, the second pen drive and third data. To make computers easier and friendlier to the Tamil populace, a list of Tamil equivalents of computer terms has been placed at the Tamil Internet Exhibition at the CODISSIA complex here.

There are more than 200 terms which have been classified into six categories. The first is General or podhu, the second Office Applications or aluvalaga payanpaadugal, the third Internet or inaiyam, the fourth Network or pinaiyam, the fifth Database or tharavuththalam and the last Programming or niralakkam.

The list draws a lot of people, some of who even memorise the Tamil terms. S. Ganesamoorthy of Madurai appreciates the efforts taken to translate the words and list the same.

“I find it interesting and informative. But then it could have been better if visitors were given a handbook to carry home the information.” Many visitors placed similar demands.

And reading the list makes everybody a Tamil-literate valaivaasi (netizen).

“Good ties with Centre ensured classical language status for Tamil”

Good relations between the Central government led by the Congress and the State government headed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam resulted in Tamil getting classical language status, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said here on Friday.

Presiding over a seminar on ‘Engum Tamil, Ethilum Tamil,' held as part of the World Classical Tamil Conference, he also said that it was not as though the Centre was unwilling to accede to the State's demand for Tamil as the language in courts. It was yet to be met only because of procedures and the workload in New Delhi.

He suggested that Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu could take up this issue with the Centre by pointing out how the Congress in Tamil Nadu was co-operating with the State government and how the latter was supportive of the Centre.

The Chief Minister was responding to a 10-point charter of demands placed by Mr. Thangkabalu at the seminar.

The demands included compulsory Tamil from primary education level, recruitment of qualified Tamil teachers at all levels and the constitution of a classical Tamil sangham and opening of its branches in all places where Tamils lived.

The Chief Minister also exhorted diverse linguistic sections to accord due importance to their languages and make them acceptable to all.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said Tamil language continued to develop unlike other classical languages such as Latin because it had maintained its liveliness by being constantly among people.

Mr. Yechury pointed out that the Left parties had played a significant role during the previous tenure of the United Progressive Alliance in fighting for classical language status for Tamil.

The Communists had also participated in the struggle for significant status for Tamil. Sankaralingam died while observing a fast to demand that the name change from Madras Presidency to Tamil Nadu. Language should be universal and not vary with the communities. Tamil's strength lay in this area. Instead of the Nehruvian three-language formula, the language of the land should prevail.

Dravidar Kazhagam leader K. Veeramani said he was happy to note that Tamil had become a classical language now from the days of being associated with lower castes. He lamented the situation where orders from governments were still being sought in order to ensure that Tamil was used in all spheres. “Should it not be used spontaneously?” he asked. People in urban areas should learn Tamil from those in rural areas, he said, criticising the tendency to speak more in languages other than Tamil.

Praising the Chief Minister for organising the WCTC, he wanted it to serve as a strong foundation for encouraging more people to learn Tamil and achieve in letter and spirit, the theme of the seminar: Engum Tamil, Ethilum Tamil.

Pattali Makkal Katchi president G.K. Mani promised to the Chief Minister his party's support to the movement for ensuring that Tamil was used in all fields. “It pains to see Tamils living in other countries speaking chaste Tamil than those living in Tamil Nadu. The media too has a key role in encouraging wider use of Tamil,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. Ganesan said the basic step was to encourage students to read aloud in Tamil while studying. Only then would they perfect proper pronunciation of Tamil words. He also said it was important for all parties to unite while working for the development of the language.

Communist Party of India secretary D. Raja said Tamil always had a unique identity. Yet, it had to struggle for due prominence. Even now, the status of an official language remained elusive.

Mr. Raja cautioned that the promotion of Tamil should not be misconstrued as an effort at degrading other languages.

“Language does not belong to one community or a party. A united effort to promote Tamil should be made by breaking political barriers.”

M.G.R. Kazhagam leader R.M. Veerappan said the conference was a fitting reply to those in the State who had boycotted it, even as Tamils in other countries participated.

The Chief Minister concluded his speech with an element of suspense. “I am not going to say on everything we have planned to do after the conference. I will announce a detailed plan of action, may be even as big as the budget, at the valediction of the conference,” he said.

Tamil lovers and humility

One expects praise of a language and pride in its origins at an international seminar devoted to the subject. So it is with the ‘World Classical Tamil Conference’ in Coimbatore. We do wonder, though, if speakers at such events couldn’t approach such issues with more awareness of the word called overkill. Some months earlier, in these columns, we had mentioned a speaker who had warned against divine worship of any language, including his own. Displaying a sense of humour, which we wish there were more of at the Coimbatore conference, he had said any language was a set of sounds and strokes, and to argue that one such set was superior to any or every other didn’t seem logical. Well, we’ve had the Kalaignar talk of how Tamil predates the Ramayana; how it is actually the mother of all languages of the world and so forth. And, then, inevitably, to “how all this reveal the ancient origin of the Tamil race…” Many other speakers, including diverse academics and scholars were as, or more, effusive — they would say factual. Everyone is entitled to praise the things he or she loves and oratory has often inspired humans to much good. Unfortunately, and especially when put to the service of convincing people that they are superior to everyone else by birth because of their inheritance — of skin, language, country, race, beliefs, whatever — then various negative events are set in train. Karunanidhi’s DMK’s origins lie in a reaction to one such train of thought, as he has argued forcefully at diverse fora. You could, in fact, argue that much of the turmoil on this planet since the origins of time lie in this belief that there are superior people and their legacies and the others who need to accept this. Chauvinism, the militant belief in the superiority of whatever it is that one is chauvinistic about, has never been an attractive quality. Whether such remarks are warranted at the conference in question is for people to think about. Our job is only to sound a caution and preferably before, not well after such a train of events. A people who love their language and culture and find in it the security to take to learning and progress with an open mind is what we wish for all, whether their tongue predated Valmiki or not. May the conference take such a state of mind forward.

Iniyavai Narpadhu rally photos – Sendhamizh Manadu Kovai 2010

23rd of June 2010, there was a procession on the theme ‘Iniyavai Narpadhu’ {Sweet 40 things} which is basically a rally with statues and models (oorvalam) about Tamil language, culture, icons, civilization, folk arts, musical instruments, etc. from VOC Park in Coimbatore to the CODISSIA grounds where the Ulaga Thamizh Semmozhi Manadu (World Classical Tamil Meet) is being organised. The procession went through the Avinashi Road and there were huge crowds all along the way to watch it. Since I was also one of the crowd members,
The line up floats in the name of Iniyavai Narpathu are as follows;
Mangala Isai,
Kurinji,
Mullai,
Marudham,
Neithal,
Palai,
War Heroes,
Purananuttru Thai,
Marakudiye Tamil Kudi,
Tamilaga Kalai Valarchi,
Pudhiyadhor Ulagam Seivom,
Kopperunchozhan,
Pisirandhayar,
Manu Needhi Chozhan,
Began presenting a shawl to peacock,
Kavari Veesiya Kaavalan,
Pari gifting his chariot to Mullaikodi,
Adhiyaman presenting a Nellikani to Avvaiyar,
Porkai Pandian,
Rajivan – Mirugangal Nadai,
Silambu Vanjina Maalai (Kannagi),
Unvalithalin Uyarvu,
Velunachiar warfare,
Women in war,
Maram Udan Piranthavazhagirathu,
Love scene transcending caste,
creed barrier,
Suzhandrum Eripinnathu Uzhagam, T
hirukutrala Kuravanchi,
Mannan Koothar with Paanar and Sandror,
Pirpokkum Ella uyirkkum,
Vannangal Verupattal Manidar Vetrumaiyillai,
Rustic Scenes,
Sange Muzhangu,
Dance artistes from Film Industry,
Sadhi,
Mada Verupadatra Tamil Revolution,
Pagirnthu Unn,
Kalathai Vendru Nirkum Historical Tanjore Big Temple,
two floats for Laser Show.