Paradigm of Tamil culture
PREMA NANDAKUMAR
CULTURAL PARADIGM AND
SOCIAL CRITIQUE - A Tamil
Perspective: S. Panneerselvam;
Pub. by Progressive Books, 6,
Tiruppur Kumaran Street, A-1,
Tambaram West,
Chennai-600045. Rs. 225.
The Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, has been quietly serving the cause of Tamil research in an exemplary manner for the last couple of decades. Among its publications with an encyclopaedic range are Life-World of the Tamils (Volumes I and II). The essays contributed to the two volumes by S. Panneerselvam, a student of philosophy and an erudite scholar in Tamil, have been brought out as a monograph to highlight the value of “perennial culture,” which is true for all times although it may have originated as the “culture” of a particular group of people.
Antiquity
Panneerselvam has given the pride of place to Tirukkural, which he finds to be “the cultural paradigm of the life-world of the Tamils.” When he sees ‘Dravidian' as ‘Tiruvidam' (a land of shrines), all is said at once about the Tamil culture. The Tamil language has antiquity and richness that are brought out by Tiruvalluvar with the hardness of a diamond. He does not deal with the fourth ‘Purushartha' (aim of life), as he seems to have felt that the right practice/pursuit of the other three — namely ‘dharma' (righteousness), ‘artha' (material welfare), and ‘kama' (love) — would automatically lead to the fourth, ‘moksha' (liberation).
Did the Tamils follow the advice set up in the work? Certainly Tiruvalluvar's couplets helped keep the moral climate at a satisfactory level. At least they have helped people beware, even today, of injustices perpetrated by those in power. One example would do: “They [the ministers] are judged by their actions, and their programmes of action should not be disapproved by the great men and should not bring tears from the suppressed. Is this not applicable to the democratic government of the present century?”
The author constantly makes use of western dialecticians to place Tiruvalluvar in a global background, an attempt that is very much needed today to take Tamil wisdom beyond India's borders. Despite chaotic grammar that plays havoc with the definite article, the essay, ‘Tamil Journals: A Social Critique' offers plentiful information and points out how even the small magazines have played a big part in helping form public opinion. These journals, before Independence, were generally dealing with the “Vande Mataram' and Gandhian movements.
After 1947, they shifted gear and devoted themselves to highlighting development issues and creating social awareness and political consciousness. The punditry-ridden Tamil prose was transformed by eminent journalists like Tiru. Vi. Kalyanasundara Mudaliar, Subramania Bharati and ‘Kalki' Krishnamoorthy.
Panneerselvam casts his net wide to show how the Tamil journals served in disseminating information about administration, agriculture, business, and culture. Astrology too! If some magazines were exclusively for religion, there were others inspired by E.V. Ramasami that were anti-Hindi and anti-religion and pro-Dravidastan. The phenomenal success of Ananda Vikatan (S.S. Vasan) and Dina Thanthi (Si.Pa. Adithan) is noted, while the priceless work for the Tamil cause by eminent journalists like V.V.S. Iyer, T.N. Seshachalam, Sangu Subramaniam and M.P. Sivagnanam gets recorded too.
Vital role
Indeed, from a perusal of this contribution it becomes clear that the Tamil journals have played a vital part in creating a Tamil identity for the people during the last 100 years without making the people narrow-minded. Thanks to the commendable freedom the press has been enjoying, an amazing variety of views could reach the public through the periodicals.
If Tirukkural shines as the cultural paradigm for the Tamils, presenting them a pattern to work out excellence in every facet of their everyday living, the Tamil journals have been helpful critics, guiding them to achieve that state of distinction. By setting the two essays side by side, Cultural Paradigm and Social Critique skilfully stimulates our intellect.
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