மெல்லத் தமிழ் இனிச்சாகும் - Slowly, Tamizh will die?
At times, when I notice people, especially people whose mother tongue is Tamizh, either misspell or mispronounce Tamizh words, I exclaim in exasperation, "Mella Tamizh Ini Saagum" which means "Slowly, Tamizh will die". These lines are from a poem written by a great Tamizh poet, Subramania Bharathi . Recently, I started wondering why Bharathi, whose love for Tamizh is legendary, say such a thing. I googled and discovered a soulful rendition of the full poem தமிழ்த்தாய் (Mother Tamizh) and realized how some of us were misquoting Bharathi all these years. The essence of the poem, which was composed as though Mother Tamizh is lamenting to her children, the Tamizh people, is as follows: I am so ancient that my origin can only be traced back to eternity, aka Lord Shiva. Sage Agastya, pleased with me, enhanced my stature by defining my grammar. The three Tamizh kings, Chera, Chola and Pandya, patronized and nurtured me with love. Among the ancient lang...