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Tamil is classical and modern
 T S Subbaraman is a
professor of physics. This is one side of him. The other side is, he is the director of
the Centre for Development of Tamil in Engineering, Anna University. When this aroused our
curiosity, we spoke to him.
Tirunelveli Sesamani Subbaraman (his full
name) holds a doctorate in physics. He has been teaching the subject for decades and for
the past four years has been the head of the physics department for. His specialisation
may be physics, but his heart is with Tamil.
He always had the passion to write
dramas, articles and stories in Tamil. He is also an expert in writing poems in English.
Subbaraman has acted in plays from the age of nine. He has also performed in various TV
and radio dramas.
 He has to his credit
running the science show Maanudam Ventradhu, aired in All India Radio for three continuous
years as scientific drama. Seeing Subbaramans passion, Anna University appointed him as
the director of the Centre for Development of Tamil in Engineering.
He is also the chairperson of the
committee for 'Kalanjiyam', the quarterly magazine brought out by Anna University. Last
year, the centre conducted an international Tirukkural conference at the university, in
which they passed a resolution that Tamil should be given the status of a classical
language.
Subbaraman has authored many books
including Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in Tamil. Now he is busy writing a book about the science
of light in Tamil, titled 'Olinooru'. It will be released in July.
Excerpts of his interview:
 When was the Centre for Development of Tamil in
Engineering started?
Anna University formed an association for
Tamil called 'Valar Tamil Manram' in 1984-85. It was started with the cooperation of many
persons such as the then vice-chancellor Va Se Kuzhanthaisami. The main objective of this
association was to develop Tamil. It was then in the hands of the publishers.
The then vice-chancellor of Anna
University, Dr Kalanidhi, with the objective of giving the 'Valar Tamil Manram' autonomy,
changed the 'manram' into the present form: Centre for Development of Tamil in
Engineering, in January 2001. Previously the centre did not have financial powers. It was
under the Registrar of Anna University. After it got the autonomy status, now it has
financial powers.
What is the objective of the centre?
 To develop Tamil in
engineering, to develop scientific Tamil, technological literature. To bring in awareness
among the people of other languages about Tamil's rich and valued heritage and to publish
research books. The centre has been publishing a quarterly magazine titled 'Kalanjiyam'.
The magazine has articles on science and technology in Tamil, written by various scholars.
What are the pioneering works done by the
centre?
We celebrate the birthdays of scholars
who have worked hard to develop Tamil. The centre has conducted competitions for students
in Tamil and has motivated many students to write in Tamil. We also award certificates to
students who get first mark in Tamil in class-10 and plus-two government examinations.
What are the books the centre has published?
Until now, we have published eight books.
Shortly, we will release another two books titled, 'Tanerum Nanerum' and 'Maniyal'. We
also update a Tamil dictionary through the Tamil Virtual University on a regular basis.
Until now we have published more than 50,000 words. The centre has been asked to publish
1,50,000 more words in Tamil. In another six months we will finish all the words.
What steps has the centre taken to preserve old
manuscripts?
That is the main objective of our centre
- preserving old manuscripts (olai chuvadi). We are digitising all the manuscripts.
Generally, a manuscript can survive for 400 years. Now many manuscripts have been lost.
Today, more than 25,000 manuscripts are scattered at different places. If we digitise all
these manuscripts, it will be useful for the next generation.
In our endeavour to digitse all the
manuscripts, Prof Mu Ko Raman has been supporting us. The centre has digitsed eight
litreatures. We have submitted a proposal to the Government of Tamil Nadu, seeking
permission to digitise and publish more than 20,000 manuscripts as books. We have also
informed President A P J Abdul Kalam about our mission. He has sent us a letter of
appreciation. Trouble is, to digitise all the manuscripts, we need a lot of money.
About the international Thirukural conference?
 The centre and Mailai
Tamil Sangam conducted an international Tirukkural conference on January 14, 2004, in
which participants from all over the world took part. Many resolutions were passed at the
conference, one of which was to ask the Central government to declare Tamil as a classical
language. The resolutions were sent to President Kalam. I am happy that in his address to
Parliament he announced that steps would be taken to declare Tamil as a classical
language.
Will Tamil benefit because of this?
A language should be such that it should
function individually. The language which we want to declare as classical language should
be the mother of many languages. That language should have high literary value and the
most important thing is that the language should be an ancient one. The language which has
all these qualities can be declared as a classical language.
All the south Indian languages have been
derived from Tamil. May be all the south India languages like Malayalam, Telugu and
Kannada may have been zonal languages. They have been influenced by other languages. So,
they cannot be termed as classical language. The fact is that these languages were derived
from Tamil. So, Tamil has all the qualities of being declared as a classical language.
If Tamil is declared as classical
language, all universities in India would create a seperate department for Tamil.
Government of India would fund for projects in Tamil. And people all over India would
greater awareness about Tamil and its value.
K
T Sri
Translation by N Arun Kumar
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