Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

VC for efforts to `resurrect' Tamil culture

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, NOV. 24. The Vice-Chancellor of the Madurai Kamaraj University, P.K. Ponnuswamy, today called for efforts to resurrect Tamil culture, which has started to fade due to "degeneration" of values in society. It is unfortunate that "we are in a situation where we have to search for our culture and find it difficult to trace our roots," he said.

Speaking at an orientation programme for Tamil teachers living in Singapore, Malaysia and South Africa, he said the literary and history records speak volumes of the culture that existed in this land. "But the present situation is such that we do not know what is Tamil culture." The loss of moral and ethical values in society is the reason for this state of affairs.

`Timely effort'

Tamil literary works provide a wealth of detail about the culture. There is evidence to show how a rich culture existed here. These roots have been lost, as the people's way of life has changed, he said.

Calling for the resurrection of ancient Tamil culture, Prof. Ponnuswamy suggested that it could be included in the curriculum for school children. He praised the orientation programme, organised by the School of Tamil Studies of MK University, as a "timely" effort.

Moral instruction

The Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University, E. Sundaramurthy, who inaugurated the programme, said that Tamil culture was lost due to a fall in moral values. "In earlier days, there was moral instruction in schools along with a citizenship training period for school children. We have nothing like that today in schools."

Describing culture as the purest and highest expression of human thought, he said such classes should be reintroduced in schools.

C. Samikannu, president, Singapore Tamil Teachers Union, and V.R.P. Manickam, deputy president of the union, said their visit to Tamil Nadu would help in better understanding of the culture.

The nine-day programme, coordinated by the Singapore Tamil Teachers Association, is being attended by 41 Tamil teachers. They will be taught about the language, performing arts, folk arts, siddha and yoga among other things.

M.R. Mohan of the School of Tamil Studies and `Sirpi' Balasubramaniam, Tamil poet, spoke.

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