The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Academic sessions cover an array of topics

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Monday, Jun 28, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Academic sessions cover an array of topics

Amutha Kannan

Over 3,000 delegates from 50 countries attended

— Photo: M.Vedhan

All ears:Delegates at a session at the World Classical Tamil Conference held in the city on Sunday.

Coimbatore: The five-day World Classical Tamil Conference was a potpourri of plenary lectures, symposia, panel discussions, and academic sessions, besides kaviarangams, debates, and other cultural fiesta.

On the subject side, what held the intellectual interest of the delegates was the 234 academic sessions that were held in 23 halls spread over the main exhibition area of the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex. The 23 halls were named after ancient Tamil scholars.

Over 3,000 delegates from 50 countries were attending the sessions that covered a volley of topics from the ancient to the modern. They began on June 24 and ended on Sunday, the last day of the conference.

The topics covered on June 24 dealt mostly with the status of Tamil as a world classical language, Sangam period artefacts, signs of Indus script, grammar, problems in translating personal pronouns, analysing dictionaries, etc.

The sessions on June 25 covered a wide range from Tamil to music, cultural relations with South East Asia, Sinhala poetry, African American music, role of Tamil women in nation building process, etc. Most of the topics were in relation to international languages and their association with Tamil.

There were also interesting topics on ancient coinage, copper and silver plates of the Cholas, Dutch, and Buddhists, marine archaeological explorations, etc., on June 26. Some of the other catchy topics were in relation to religions like the contribution of Islam and Hinduism.

The sessions on the last day of the conference touched upon translation, media and Tamil. There were also those which dealt with the status of the language in Australia, Mauritius, etc.

Each paper was presented using multimedia aids. The audience was a motley group of linguists, researchers, teachers, students, and in some cases the public. There were many language enthusiasts belonging to various language associations who had come from other countries. They attended the sessions related to their country and language.

The feedback of the presenters and the listeners was quite positive. Most of them said that the minutes of the deliberations would be shared with like-minded people of their respective associations, colleges, or countries.

Some teachers said that the ideas put forth in some sessions provided a fertile ground for research and dissertation topics.

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