Speakers at the inaugural of the Tirupati Tamil Sangam here on Monday laid stress on the fact that the development of a language need not be at the cost of another and that the nation’s strength lies in diversity.
'Kalaimamani' RBN, noted orator and Asthana Vidwan of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, recalled how Tamil and Telugu coexisted in Tirupati as a ‘rich blend’ and said the same would hold good for any place and language. “The highly-educated people earlier preferred to speak in English, but the situation is changing now towards their mother tongue,” he said.
Sri Venkateswara Vedic University Vice-Chancellor K.E. Devanathan recalled the contribution of Tamils to the development of Tirupati and said not many knew their linguistic roots. He in fact faulted the parents for not encouraging their wards to take up literature. While the Prime Minister unveiled the Gujarati version of the famed ‘Tirukkural’ recently, Prof. Devanathan recalled that it had been translated into Sanskrit three decades back.
V. Arunachalam, the Sangam’s president and former Vice-Chancellor of Dravidian University, expressed joy at the effort coming to fruition after several failed attempts. Secretary U.B. Jaya Chandran, treasurer Ammu Devi, Tirupati Chamber of Commerce president K.G. Narasimhan, industrialist ‘Bhimas’ Raghu, edusocial activist K.Sridhar Acharya, K. Prameelamma and others took part.
‘Pattimandram’, a Tamil-specific literary activity akin to ‘Avadhanam’ of Telugu, was conducted, where litterateurs formed into two groups to discuss the pros and cons of the little screen and silver screen.
