Although a few other languages like Greek, Latin and Sanskrit enjoy the status of classical language in academic world, Tamil is the first living language to be given the official status of a classical language. This is an occasion not only to rejoice over the victory of a century-old dream of Tamils turning true and propagate, promote and preserve the profound features of Classical Tamil but also carry it forward to the 21st century, based on its requirements and having in mind the rapid development in Science and technology, Information technology, linguistics and other fields of knowledge.
With this objective as the guiding spirit, this conference is designed as an improved and enriched version of the earlier World Tamil conferences, the last of which was held way back in 1995, after which the objective has undergone a virtual metamorphosis with rapid advance in science and technology and social life. Than never before, Tamils in our country and all over the world need to be reminded of the antiquity and hoary and rich heritage of their language and culture and at the same time enlarge and enrich the language relevant to the requirements of modern life.
Every step taken and preparation made for the conduct of this conference from day one about a year ago was in fulfillment of these needs and purposes. Very extensive, massive and meticulous arrangements and preparations have been made. To begin with, the government set up 21 committees, including the Apex and Advisory Committee chaired by me for the successful conduct of the conference.
The committees comprise of the Deputy Chief Minister, Ministers, senior government officials, Tamil scholars, leading industrialists, leaders of all political parties, MLAs, MPs, journalists, writers, artists et al., as coordinators or members. Every minute aspect of arrangements was taken care of by a committee formed to oversee the implementation of various activities relating to the conference. All these committees had met frequently and reviewed works done.
Review meetings of all these committees together were held in Chennai and Coimbatore. The Deputy Chief Minister, Union and State Ministers visited Coimbatore several times and supervised arrangements and I visited the city on May 24 and 25, reviewed the works and directed officials to complete the works in time. I launched an exclusive website for the conference.
Significance of the logo
The image of saint-poet Thiruvalluvar’s statue in Kanyakumari, lashed by waves caused by the tsunami and encircled by seven icons from the Indus Valley Civilisation, forms part of the logo of the World Classical Tamil Conference.
The logo emphasizes the ideal of the mankind that it should always be free of narrow walls of race, creed and casteism. The message is found in a palm leaf manuscript at the bottom of the statue. This concept “pirappokkum ella uyirkkum”
(“All men that live are one in circumstances of birth”) has been declared the motto of the meet which signifies ‘universal brotherhood’ being the notion of Tamils down the ages.
The figures of the Indus Valley Civilization icons, found in the logo, symbolise the Dravidian civilization, which is regarded as the oldest of the four ancient civilizations, according to an official release. The number of icons stresses the importance of ‘seven’ in the lives of Tamils.
Theme song
The Public Relations and Publicity Committee came up with the idea of the theme song for the conference to be written by me and composed by Oscar and Grammy Awards winner and film Music Director A.R.Rahman and visual CD made by leading film Director Gautham Vasudev Menon, which was successfully launched. Going from the downloads of the theme song from the internet, it is a real success and widely appreciated. The song has become very popular among people of all age groups in different strata of the society.
The theme song encapsulates the contribution of Tamil literature and culture down the ages. It was indeed difficult to illustrate in a poem the glory of different classical works in various periods ranging from Sangam era to the post-Sangam period, including those of Kamban and Kalamegam. I only saw this opportunity as a boon to pay a tribute to Tamil through the anthem, but did not expect to put together a piece that brings out the sweetness of Tamil literature and its epics. Many who have listened to the anthem points to its beauty, which transcends geographical boundaries.
The work brings the landmark events in the history of Tamil Nadu like the Mamallapuram and Thanjavur big temples and the Sittannavasal inscriptions in the form of an audio visual treat. The Tiruvalluvar statue in Kanyakumari too is featured prominently.
Over 50 top-notch artists from different genres, including playback music, Carnatic, folk and Sufi have participated in this rare, special confluence. It is not often that some of the greatest playback singers such as T. M. Soundararajan, P. Suseela, leading Carnatic singers, including Aruna Sairam, T.M.Krishna, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Bombay Jayashri, noted folk and playback singer Chinna Ponnu, and other young singers such as Karthik, Shruti Haasan perform together. When they do, it is bound to sound rather special. Particularly so, when Rahman composes the music.
Gautam Menon’s team not only captured visuals across the State through off-beat, aerial shots right from Kanyakumari, but also filmed a series of sequences representative of the Tamil culture and ethos. In one sequence, all performers gather by the sea, against an elegant backdrop reading “Semmozhiyaana Tamizh Mozhiyae”, which is truly exhilarating.
Gautham Menon blends the visuals in such a pleasing, effortless manner. It is, indeed, a collage of voices and sounds, with masterly strokes from remarkable artists. The anthem has both a classical and contemporary appeal. It is very young and vibrant and will certainly appeal to all sections. The anthem showcases the richness of the Tamil culture through literature, the arts, our architecture and so on.
Academic sessions
As a part of the conference grand and comprehensive academic sessions in which research papers in Tamil language, literature, culture etc., will be presented by scholars and researchers will be held. The response has been overwhelming to this session with thousands of abstracts pouring in from academicians, scholars, researchers from different parts of the world.
As many as 7,000 delegates from about 50 countries have registered for participation at the conference including those registered for presenting papers. 1,020 papers have been selected for presentation. The scholars concerned have been invited to present detailed papers under 55 titles. Major highlight of the conference is that foreign scholars constitute more than 25 per cent of the total number of scholars selected for presentation of papers, which is a remarkable record in the history of the World Tamil Conferences. In the various academic sessions, a wide range of themes such as status of Tamil and other classical languages of the world, Dravidian languages and comparative studies, grammar and linguistics, Language Movements, Tamil dialects, Indus Valley Civilization and its script, archeology, inscription, epigraphy, paleography, numismatics, translation, lexicography, literary criticism, comparative literature, modern literature, folk literature and arts, traditional arts, traditional sciences, manuscriptology, religion, philosophy, fine arts, ecology, media, neo magazines, architecture, sculpture, Tamil medicine etc., will be discussed during the deliberations.
Opportunities have been provided for all Tamil scholars to participate in this conference and for presenting papers on their views regarding literary heritage and greatness of Tamil and evidence thereof, present trends and its future needs under 56 broad subjects.
General sessions for the public
The general sessions will have various literary programmes to benefit and attract the public. During the general session, the public will get an opportunity to listen presentations on classical Tamil in the form of various programmes like literary speeches, poetry sessions and scholarly debates of renowned personalities.
As a curtain raiser to the conference, grand cultural shows of classical and folk dance and music would be organized in different parts of the Coimbatore city in which around 2500 artists are expected to participate. Further, during the conference days, dance operas, music performance etc., will also be organized, in the evenings to showcase Tamil culture to the delegates and general public.
Exhibition on Classical Tamil
A grand exhibition on the occasion of World Classical Tamil Conference is to be organized. The exhibition will have exhibits depicting Tamil Arts, Culture, language, literature and history of Tamil. The exhibition will have about 30 stalls under 6 categories or themes including display of Indus Valley Civilization. Audio-Visual shows will also be organized at the exhibition. There will be on display objects of pottery, figurines, bricks, and seals, bathtubs etc., which were excavated from the Indus Valley apart from Chola bronzes, stone inscriptions and statues from various ages. Nearly 600 items like sculptures, pillars and palm-leaf manuscripts will be on display besides various publications.
A books exhibition and an audio visual presentation on Tamil history, tradition and culture, are planned during the conference. Over 700 items depicting the culture, tradition and history of the Tamil race will be on display. A request to extend the exhibition beyond June 27 is under consideration. The exhibition hall will be 35,000 sq ft and air-conditioned. Film Art Director Thotta Dharani is executing the work according to the designs approved to ensure that visitors to the exhibition benefited from it. There are plans to make it interactive.
About 120 publishers belonging to the South India Book Publishers Association will participate in the books exhibition. An audio visual presentation will be organised with the help of ELCOT. There will be a stall of the World Tamil Research Centre and another of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Efforts are on to provide space and time for those wanting to display their talents in Tamil such as reciting Thirukkural and ambigrams.
Pageantry procession
A massive pageantry procession will also be organized on the Inaugural day namely 23rd June 2010. The procession will cover 9 kms from VOC grounds at the heart of the city to CODISSIA grounds, the venue of the conference. The procession will have 40 floats named ‘Iniyavai Naarpathu’ displaying paintings and models of sculptures depicting the glory of Tamil culture. The floats will portray rare and resplendent scenes from ancient Sangam classics and reflect richness of Tamil people and their culture. Forty cultural troupes consisting of 2,000 artistes will also participate in the procession.
Tamil internet conference
A Tamil Internet Conference 2010 also will be conducted along with the World Classical Tamil Conference from 23rd to 27th June 2010 at Coimbatore. The Tamil Internet Conference 2010 will be the ninth in the series.
The main objectives of the Tamil Internet Conference 2010 are to showcase the development of Tamil Internet till date and to identify steps required to increase the use of Tamil language in Internet, to establish a wide network between Tamil literary scholars and Tamil Internet developers and to motivate the younger generation to use Tamil on the Internet.
Challenges and tasks ahead
In today’s context of global village, the use of Tamil language within the younger generation is declining alarmingly. There is a need to raise awareness among younger generation as there is some concern that the youth is losing touch with the rich literary heritage of our language.
An alternative to preserve the Tamil identity and uphold the Tamil values, is to promote Tamil culture among Tamil people living all over the world. There are 1.63 crore Tamils living in various countries outside Tamil Nadu. Therefore, it is inevitable to promote Tamil literature and culture among the younger generation filling the irreparable language barrier to uphold Tamil values and culture.
Now that information technology has taken deep roots over the world and internet becoming the most important source of communication and knowledge and likely to replace all other media in the near future, the important challenge is to motivate the younger generation to use Tamil on the net.
Tamil ethos
More than 2,000 years ago, Tamil people had cherished and epitomized the values of ‘globalisation, egalitarian society and universal brotherhood’ in their lives, literature and culture as observed in the lines ‘Yaadhum Oore, Yaavarum Kelir’ (Every place is our place, Everybody is our kin) and ‘Pirappokkum Ella Uyirkkum’ (All are equal by birth), which find place in the logo and theme song for the conference, from Sangam age work ‘Purananooru’ and Tirukkural respectively. It is unlikely that any other society in the world would have envisaged these modern values of the present day world in those ages.
Impact and people’s participation
The conduct of World Classical Tamil Conference made a discernible impact on the people of Tamil Nadu and influenced every section of the society to partake in the run-up for the event and contribute their might for its success, individually and collectively. The vast participation of people is voluntary and enthusiastic.
If wholehearted and overwhelming people’s participation is held as the benchmark for the success of any event, then the World Classical Tamil Conference will be a grand success, more so because it blends the classical glory and contemporary relevance of the language, literature, culture and values of Tamil and Tamil people.
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