Tamil’s the name of the game
Many of the woes of Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers M K Azhagiri, son of Tamil Nadu CM, M Karunanidhi, are self-inflicted. Even his best friends will say (behind his back, of course, lest Azhagiri unleash “attack” Pandi on him) that if Azhagiri had been more crafty, instead of so in-your-face, he may yet have outsmarted his brother M K Stalin, who as deputy CM is just one step away from being led to the gaddi by his father. He’s supposed to be more a chip of the old block, politically, than brother Stalin although the latter has more than 20 years of administrative experience.
But Azhagiri's one handicap -- his inability to speak Hindi -- that has kept him away from Parliament, bringing the wrath of the opposition BJP -- is something he cannot be blamed for. From the 60s when the motto was “down, down Hindi” (in which Karunanidhi was an enthusiastic participant even if as an octogenarian he has become more practical with time and in keeping with the winds of globalization) Tamil was given more prominence. But unlike his father whose felicity with the Tamil language is legendary, Azhagiri is no poet though his daughter Kayalvizhi has been acknowledged as one by her own grandfather.
Even so, it will be music to Azhagiri’s ears to hear that from June 1, all signboards of shops in Chennai are to be compulsorily in Tamil. If might not please him so much that the edict has been given by Stalin’s acolyte, M Subramaniam, who happens to be the mayor of Chennai. It’s not just chauvinism that has prompted it – unlike the diktats by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray or his estranged nephew Maharashtra Navnirman Samiti chief Raj Thackeray – but part of Chennai’s projected look (as the capital of Tamil Nadu) for the World Classical Tamil conference being held in Coimbatore from June 23-27, supposedly Karunanidhi’s swan song before he hands over the baton to Stalin.
How do you solve a problem like Azhagiri?
While the octogenarian put up a fierce defence for Telecommunications minister A Raja during his trip to Delhi last week, his son Azhagiri was not offered the same protection.
It has long been said here that when the patriarch was carving up roles for his family, he should have sent the urbane Stalin to Delhi and kept Azhagiri in the state. While there has long been speculation that Azhagiri will be replaced by step sister Kanimozhi who is a Rajya Sabha MP, how do you solve a problem like Azhagiri who wants a bigger role in state but no one, including his father, want that?
Panikuzhaivu to beat the heat, anyone?
It’s not just signboards of shops that will be lit up in neon Tamil letters, even some of the roads in Chennai -- like Cathedral Road, Greams Road, Greenways Road, Pycrofts Road, etc -- could be sporting Tamil names. No, these names are not going to be translated into their Tamil equivalent (just names of prominent Tamil individuals), but that’s going to happen too if the corporation has its way in seeing that commercial establishments too have a Tamil edge. Even if people do a double take when a signboard says Marundagam (medicine shop) or Mazhalayar Palli (nursery school) or Kozhi-Chaaru Kadai (chicken soup shop)!
In April, Chennai corporation even released Tamil translations of a list of 537 ‘commonly-used’ English names and words which shops and restaurants will have to use by June 1.So when you see a signboard that reads Panikuzhaivu, you can head there because when there’s a scorcher overhead, ice-cream (that’s what 'panikuzhaiv' means) is what the doctor ordered to beat the June heat.
And for the record, there was not a squeak of protest when the state government said it would give an exemption in entertainment tax only if a film has a Tamil title and in fact, even famed director Shankar changed the title of his Robot (starring Rajnikanth and Aishwariya Rai) to Endhiran. Young mothers in corporation hospitals fell in line christening their babies with a Tamil name when there was a gold ring as an incentive.
So what’s the big deal here? Some would wonder. And among them would be mayor M Subramaniam who mooted the drive. “The result of this drive would be that future generation would learn proper and pure Tamil. Instead of saying they are going to coffee shops, they'll use it in proper Tamil language,” he says.
Alien to younger generation
But while young people use a mix of Tamil and English and thus spout a language that shouts that they are “with it”, not all young people are over the moon about the idea.
While kids who go private schools and colleges are known to be indifferent to Tamil, what has come as a shock is that students of many government schools are unable to even recite the Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu (song of invocation to Mother Tamil).
Among those irritated at this discovery was Transport minister K.N. Nehru, when he found at least eight students unable to recite the invocation after he inaugurated newly-constructed classrooms at the Adi Dravidar Welfare Middle School at Chevalur near Manapparai. Nehru himself sang the rest of the invocation but after it was over, reprimanded education department officials, “What are the teachers doing? These students are unable even to recite the Tamizh Thaai Vaazhthu. “
Academicians and Tamil lovers have long made a case for the invocation to be made compulsory. Hope it won’t end up becoming a political tool just as “Vande Mataram” became for the BJP.
Hope Floats
But the same lovers of Tamil will be thrilled with 32-year-old Sakthivel and 37-year-old G Babu Charles because the two youth, who are friends, have designed a ‘mega book’ called Arundhamil which will have over 8,000 pages of Tamil poems, essays and other literary works, for the upcoming World Classical Tamil Conference (WCTC).
The book is meant to spread awareness about the history of the Tamil language during the conference and to motivate students to take up research work in Tamil.
Displaying their book, Sakthivel and Charles said, “This book will be lengthiest book in Tamil in the world. We will draw more than 350 pictures; write down over 1,000 poems and include selected couplets from Tirukkural in this book. There will be oil paintings, grain drawings and pictures drawn with paints taken from plants. Verses from literary books of the Sangam period and poems written by ‘Vanampadi Kavingnargal’ (skylark poets) of Tamil Nadu and Pudhukavidhaigal (modern poetry) will also be added.”
Advertisement
Charles, who is a full-time artist and Sakthivel, owner of a foundry company in Coimbatore, have decided to complete this hand-written book within 40 days. “Twenty pages of this book will be written by students. This book does not just connect people but also makes them feel proud to be a Tamilian and contribute their skills for the WCTC,” they said.
