[WMASTERS] Re:On Sanskrit...."The issue"

["Ram S. Ravindran" <rravindr@INDYVAX.IUPUI.EDU>]

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>I have often wondered about this Sanskrit "enemy". At the risk of causing a
>flame-war - Couldn't it be put to one main cause - "purist" Tamils reaction
>(defensiveness)  to a deep-seated inferiority complex?
>
>../bala
>bala@tamil.net

No Bala, that is too much simplification of "The issue" 

Language
Sanskrit
Grantha script
religion
Social order as it was practiced about 30 years ago or how  well it is
remembered
One's association with members of various caste groups and even marrying into
feeling toward historical injunction against learning a language
religious interpretation of the status of birth and in life in Tamil Nadu
one's past experience in growing up in Tamil Nadu
One's exposure to the rest of the world
one's exposure to learning other languages in general
whether a person lives in Tamil Nadu now or not
One's understanding of Sanskrit as a language
One's belief in the tenets of Hindu religion 
One's belief in the divine powers of a particular language
One's desire to question age-old attitudes and wanting to shift that
thoughts in the light of expanded knowledge and experience
One's identity with a language

all these factors color the discussion of "The issue"

To integrate all these and to express it cogently, it can be done only as a
research article and not in a few lines sent out as an e-mail

I would welcome list members write several page articles on why they think
this way or that way. Let them express whatever they want. If it is written
as an article it forces you to review your presentation and decide for
yourself whether it makes sense or not. We need ed and op-ed. It maybe a
wasted effort but at least it will have the potential to enlighten a person

Some topics can be argued out in the form of an e-mail letter and some
can't be. This issue is not one of them. If it is attempted, it will
unnecessarily generate more heat than light. It will not bridge the gap and
lead to greater understanding of "The issue"

Here are my comments on this, for whatever it is worth

1. Language is a means of communication

2. We have a particular attachment to Tamil ( with all its pluses and
minuses) because we grew up in Tamil Nadu or born to partents who identify
themselves with that language and learnt to speak that language as a child.

3. Tamil, not only is a language, but it contains the culture that we
belong to ( a Tamil scholar having lived outside of Tamil Nadu can't
appreciate it, This is true for almost any language example French or Spanish)

For example,  words like an elephant, banana plant conjure up millions of
things and make a informationa link to many things to me than simply words
used to denote  a large animal or a green plant!  

4.As many have pointed out the current worry is the use of so many ��ݑ��� 
בѴ���� in everyday Tamil

5. We have to realize this can't be arrested and one doesn't have to either.

6. Like no one can stop the penetration of western (particularly American )
culture in India. It goes hand in hand with computers, technology,
entertainment, travel and mass communication. You can't pick and choose to
adopt or reject one component.

7. We NEED Grantha letters to write as well as to pronounce those thousands
of transliterated English words or else we may not be able to fully, and
EASILY  express our feelings, thoughts, ideas, and life  experiences.

That, in a nutshell (???), is my point

Indy Ram
 



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