To learn Tamil is my life ambition: Governor RN Ravi

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi says he has fallen intensely in love with Thirukural and it has now become his life mission to learn the Tamil language and take it to other parts of the country.

“I think everyone should learn Tamil. Those whose mother tongue isn’t Tamil should also learn it. They should not only read the translated version but learn the language and its vocabulary,” Ravi said on Saturday.

Addressing an event on Saturday as part of his ‘Think to Dare’ series of interactions at Raj Bhavan in Chennai, Ravi pointed out that European languages, especially English, did not have the vocabulary to accurately convey the depth of the meaning present in ancient Tamil literature during translations.

Also, he said among Indian languages only Sanskrit and Tamil were the only two ancient Indian languages with the vocabulary.

Ravi was attending the ‘Governor’s Think to Dare’ event under the series, ‘10th interaction with eminent Tamil Nadu personalities’ in Chennai. “When I came to Tamil Nadu two years back, I did not know much about the Tamil language and its literature. I had heard about ‘Thirukural’ but did not know what exactly it was. Tamil Nadu has this good tradition of greeting guests with books. I started to read Thirukural, which I got was an English translation. And I fell intensely in love with it,” Governor Ravi said.

He further said, “I am still a toddler in language but this has become a life mission to learn this language and take it to other parts of our country so that others could also benefit from this. Sometimes I start to wonder whether the English translation is doing it justice. Now I started to learn Tamil to read. I use Google and dictionary.” The Governor said that he has been collecting some Tamil books and urged everyone to learn Tamil.

“I have been collecting some Tamil books. I think what a treasure. Language is the soul of people. It reflects the status of the civilization of people. How come for 70 years we were ignorant of it. How come this great knowledge has not reached to many parts of our India? I think we have a huge responsibility to take this light of knowledge. wisdom not only to the rest of world but to the rest of our country too,” he said.

Ravi said that he was delighted to see Delhi Tamil Sangam teach Tamil to non-Tamil speakers. He added that Tamil should be taught not only as vocational but also as conversational Tamil. He also put forth an offer for students from other states to visit Tamil Nadu during their vacation to learn the Tamil language. “In Banaras University I found they teach Tamil for one to three years. When I visited Kashi Tamil Sangam, I heard 30 students from the Hindi belt learnt Tamil. I also encouraged Sanatan and Vishwaguru students so that I sponsor and help them. I’m giving an open offer that in your area (other states) students during their vacation can visit our state to not only read Tamil but learn Tamil. Maybe for two to three weeks,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu Governor further said, “It was a delight to see Delhi Tamil Sangam teach Tamil language so that Hindi people talk Tamil. Tamil should be taught not only as vocational but conversational Tamil.”