Re: [WMASTERS] The Grantha alphabet and South-Indian culture

["C.R. Selvakumar" <selvakum@valluvar.uwaterloo.ca>]

________________________________________________

This week's sponsors -The Asia Pacific Internet Company (APIC)
  @  Nothing Less Than A Tamil Digital Renaissance Now   @
<http://www.apic.net> Click now<mailto:info@apic.net> for instant info
________________________________________________


@Reply to Selvaa.  No, Selvaa, I don't think Tamil needs grantha.  But, no
@matter what you say, I cannot but feel that the present climate towards
@learning in the Tamil areas is extremely negative, not only for Tamil, but
@for knowledge in general.  In this forum, I have seen people inveigh
@against grantha as if it were the very instrument of the Devil -- a
                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@diabolical plot, all sorts of nonsense.  Many want to identify with a
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Surely there is much doubt in the minds of quite a few. Majority of
    Tamils don't feel this way.

@"pure" Tamil that is "untainted" by anything Northern.  They don't seem to
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      There is no such thing. The reason why some people have such
      aversion is because everything in Tamil had been claimed to be
      derived from Sanskrit. Tamil had been denigrated in so many
      ways and by so many people while claiming that Sanskrit is
      a Devabasha. You yourself had mentioned several times about
      such silly claims. 

 
@realize that Sanskrit and Tamil have been intertwined for millenia, and
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Very true and it is something to feel proud about and
        one can learn much from this.

@that you just cannot separate the two, no matter how much you try.  The
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       No, I don't think anyone is trying to 'separate the two'.
       I don't think many Tamils try to do this. Afterall a significant
       part of Sanskrit tradition is very much part of tamil tradition and
       the southern sanskrit was nurtured by Tamils.  
          
@Ramayana and Mahabharata, for example, are both mentioned in Sangam

       I don't think reasonable people will  deny these. 
       For all I know it might as well
       be a pan-indian story but people pay attention to only
       the Sanskrit version or it is a story originally composed only in
       sanskrit. Recently there was a fire in Tamil Nadu, people reported
       in various languages and would we have to accept that everyone
       copied from the Hindu paper written in English ?
       Can't there be some tamil versions, telugu versions ?

       Lots of things in Vedas, Upanishads and
       other Sanskrit literature are revered by tamils knowledgeable
       in those. Tamils' contributions to Sanskrit is not trivial I think.
       Tamils are not against sanskrit, but only against the
       sanskrit-centric views and belittling the tamil and dravidian 
       contributions. 
       
@literature.  On the other hand, I have tried to show that Kalidasa's
@conventions are largely of southern provenance.

       Thats great and very fascinating indeed.
@
@What I find sad is that so Tamils few seem to realize that grantha is part
@of their heritage.  It is not some diabolical, evil imperialistic plot; it
@is simply a writing system that has been used for thousands of years in
@Tamil Nadu (and nowhere else) by Brahmins and non-Brahmins alike.  I
@frankly don't care whether a few grantha letters are used in the Tamil
@alphabet or not.  But I find it sad that people want to excise and destroy
@(by neglect and misplaced hostility) a vital and beautiful part of their
@heritage.  George Hart

     It is also my wish that a significant fraction of tamils should learn 
     Sanskrit well and be experts in it ( also at least some of them 
     to be similarly experts in greek, latin, sumerian and some of the modern
     languages like German, English, French, Japanese..).
     I think these things will happen, but for that we need to attain
     a higher level of economic affluence and socio-political liberation.

     Hating Sanskrit is like hating oneself. It has undoubtedly one of
     the finest literatures and there is much in it that an aspiring soul 
     can benefit from. The sad fact is Tamils don't know about Tamil
     and its wealth and this should change first.

     anbduan selvaa
      
   


________________________________________________

Sponsors/Advertisers  needed -  please email bala@tamil.net
Check out the tamil.net web site on <http://tamil.net>
Postings to <webmasters@tamil.net>. To unsubscribe send
the text - unsubscribe webmasters - to majordomo@tamil.net
________________________________________________