‘Life and language of Tamils closely linked’

Purohit while pointing out the importance of speaking in one’s mother tongue, quoted South African leader Nelson Mandela and said “if you talk to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. But if you speak in his mother tongue, it goes to his heart.”

The Governor also praised Tamil literary works like Tirukkural, Pathupattu and Kamba Ramayanam. He said Tirukkural offers nuggets of wisdom that hold value even in the present time.

He said the poems belonging to Sangam literature which were composed by Tamil poets, more than 2000 years ago, remind us of the antiquity of the language. All through history the Tamil language flourished because of the royal patronage and its close affinity to the Tamil way of life and spirituality.

Purohit said, “The purpose of celebrating International Mother Language Day and the Indian Cultural Festival here is to make every one realize that in a land of varied cultural diversity, we are held together by a unified bond of a rich heritage and the freedom to celebrate it. No-where else in the world can we see this diversity and variety,” he added.