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Malayalis ignoring mother tongue: MT

— Photo: Vipin Chandran

Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, S.R. Bannurmath, honouring writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair in the city on Wednesday.

KOCHI: There is a general apprehension that weaker languages will cease to exist in the not too long a period. But even minor languages have an in-built genius that could help them to survive. All we need to do is give due respect to our language, said renowned writer and Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair.

He was delivering the keynote address on the subject ‘Our language, society and literature’, as part of the Keralotsavam organised by the Kerala Abhibhashaka Sahitya Vedi (Kerala Advocates’ Literary Forum).

Every language grows by being in contact with other languages. Translations of works from outside helped Malayalam to open windows of its mind to a wider world, Mr. Nair said.

The Malayali’s attitude towards the mother tongue should change. Even the upper middle class of the Bengali society, which sends children abroad to study, did not sever their link with the works of Tagore, Bankim Chandra and Sarat Chandra. Every Tamil child knows the lines written by Bharathiyar. On the other hand, we consider it as a shame if our children can recite a couple of lines from the works of Kumaranasan or Vallathol, he said.

Mr. Nair was honoured by various associations. S.R. Bannurmath, Chief Justice of the a High Court, inaugurated the meeting. C.N. Ramachandran Nair, High Court judge, was the guest of honour.

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