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 languages, I was considered equal to Sanskrit.  Scholars, well-versed in pristine Tamizh, composed great epics and many scriptures.  I lived with my glory spread all around the world.

Time, aka Lord Yama, destroys everything that was created, unmindful of their qualities.  Languages, which were widely spoken during my youthful days, have disappeared over time.  I survived the onslaught of time with the grace of my father, Lord Shiva, and the enriching contribution of the virtuous scholars of the past.

Today, my dear children, I heard unutterable words uttered by a person, which completely shook me at the very core.  This imbecile declared, "Newer forms of arts and science are being developed in the western world and those are not available in Tamizh.  Tamizh does not have the capacity to imbibe those and so, slowly, Tamizh will die.  Those western languages will rule the world."

Alas!  Will you allow this dishonor to befall me?  Go forth in all directions and bring back the wealth of the newer forms of arts and science and enrich me.

By the grace of my father and by the enriching contribution of the virtuous scholars of the present, put an end to this dishonor and ensure that I regain my glory and remain forever in this world.

Bharathi died in 1921.

A whole century has passed but nothing much has changed.

And the sad part is that many of us are not even concerned about this issue.

What is the root cause for this apathy?

Over the centuries that the westerners ruled us, they systematically, through multiple modes of interventions, impressed upon us that our cultures, our traditions, our languages and our lifestyles were inferior and primitive in nature and the only way we can become "civilized" is to imbibe their superior culture, traditions, languages and lifestyle.

The governments that we had post-independence were so focused on resisting imposition of Hindi, the most widely spoken language in Bharat, instead of strengthening Tamizh.

Our entire education system was so focused on how to get ahead in life, from a material perspective, instead of how to cherish, preserve and enhance the treasures that we already have.

All these conditions have resulted in Tamizh people putting their children in English medium schools and choosing Hindi or Sanskrit as their second language.  When two or more Tamizh people meet, they take pride in speaking in English or Hindi.

What should we do now?

The central government has rolled out the National Educational Policy (NEP) which is encouraging schools to adopt mother tongue as the medium of instruction up to a certain grade.  They are even encouraging students to enroll in higher education courses in their respective mother tongues.

There is a bit of confusion between learning multiple languages and the medium of instruction.

One may learn any number of languages and be proficient in them.  Medium of instruction is the language through which we teach/learn.

The children who are enrolled into a school are already stressed with the fact that they are moving from the comfort of their homes into a totally new environment filled with a lot of strangers of different age groups.  On top of this, if the instructions are given in a language that is totally alien to them, it only adds to their stress.  That is why it makes sense to keep mother tongue, the primary language that is spoken in their homes, as the language of instruction and gradually introduce other languages to them.  There is enough time to learn other languages.  We don't have to rush.

If this is too much of a mindset change for the parents who believe that studying in English medium schools only will enhance the prospects of the children, I have an alternate suggestion: 

Let the medium of instruction be bilingual, i.e., instructions given both in English and mother tongue, up to a certain grade and then gradually switch to only English.  In most upcountry locations, this is already being done informally by the teachers, who themselves are not very fluent in English.  Once we make this as a formal policy of the schools, they will do it wholeheartedly without the pressure of looking over their shoulders. 

Having named our state as Tamizhnadu, the nation of Tamizhs, it is the onus of the state government to ensure revival of Tamizh language and widen the usage of the language even among the people whose mother tongue is not Tamizh.

Finally, it is all up to us.  

We, as Tamizhs, need to start adapting Tamizh into all walks of our lives and encourage our children to do the same.  Only when we immerse ourselves into the language, we'll discover the richness and heritage of the language.

A personal note:

I started writing this article about 2 years ago but couldn't complete it as I was questioning my own double standards.  I have been advocating the fact that "Ego is any which way I define myself."  The moment I stand with the cause of Tamizh, I may be nurturing my ego of being a Tamizh and alienating myself from others.

A few days earlier, a bit of clarity emerged.  I choose to stand with Tamizh not just because it is my mother tongue, though there is still a tinge of pride, but also because it is one of the oldest languages of the world that had survived so far.  

Isn't it my responsibility to ensure that it continues to survive, sustain and grow?