Speaking in (or) of Sanskrit or Tamil

GANESANS at cl.uh.edu GANESANS at cl.uh.edu
Tue Apr 15 03:22:13 UTC 1997


  Re: Speaking in (or) of Sanskrit (or) Tamil
 **********************************************

as Dr. Deshpande's observations. Just like "Speak
Sanskrit" courses, the Tamil sangam events
serve a similar purpose. Cultural togetherness,
avoiding alienation, going back to "roots",
seeing your own kind, ...

People are comfortable in simple talks, skits, jokes
or at their best, reading a Bharathiyar poem.
Of course, they are into latest cinemas. 

Little deep, - prabandhams, TirukkuRaL, Kamban, or Cilappathikaram.
the general public avoid contact with them.
As an image to invoke "heritage", yes.
But reading & exploring, a definite NO!

Tamil Nadu Foundation, annually brings two retired/retiring
Tamil professors to their July 4th convention. They
go on a US wide tour. Many years I have hosted these
scholars. From them, I gather in Tamilnadu too, things
are not very different.
As an image to invoke "heritage", yes.
But reading & exploring, a definite NO!

This is the interest of classical Tamil or Sanskrit
literature. Is it different in Europe for classical
Greek or Latin studies? 

N. Ganesan







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