Tamil Ini...(short film)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufvA_VNj--M

So I watched this short film again. Here is my take…ahem…well… in English. I believe this will be the case for most Indian languages, not only our own ancient, rich, literature dense Tamil. I am always amazed at the zeal with which people from all parts of the world living in America tend to speak in their mother tongue among themselves and within their circle of friends. And I also am amazed that we, people from the Indian sub-continent, tend to do the opposite with the same zeal. We feel ‘kind of proud’ that our kids cannot speak Tamil, do not like Indian food, do not like to go to India, do not like to wear Indian cloths etc. etc. Whoever coined the term ABCD, hats off. But it should mean not just those born here but those who immigrated here as well. Why? This movie too had captured that in one brief scene where the mother and child talk in Chinese and our ‘grandpa’ hero expresses it with one look. Very powerful moment indeed.

Well here we are, many of us, living far away from our roots, spreading our branches in multiple directions, trying to reach what our ancestor could not. So how far can we stretch our branches? As far as our roots can hold them or even further and disengage the branches from the roots? In this strange case of disengagement, it’s the root that is slotted for death and not the branches. Sadly. Root, our language, culture and so on. What makes us speak in English at home? Why do we do it? I am as guilty as any of you and this short film was a strong slap on the face. Yes, we do send our kids to the language school. They learn to read and write. I intend to introduce the books I enjoyed in Tamil to my kids one day, in Tamil. I want them to read and enjoy the beauty and nuances of Tamil expression in native Tamil. But would my kids do the same to their kids? I have a feeling they might not. But I strongly wish they do.

What’s happening Tamilnadu is even more painful to watch. I know a lot of people from Tamilnadu, people of Tamil origin, don’t flinch before saying “I can’t read Tamil” or “I can’t write, understand, speak Tamil” etc. Well speaking in Tamil was/is still “considered” not very fashionable in Tamilnadu as well…not just by those living elsewhere. And current generation takes pride in taking French, Sanskrit and Hindi as second and third languages in school as opposed to learning Tamil. We need to learn other languages of course. I understand it is important to learn Hindi and other languages. But that does not mean giving up Tamil to learn the others. We can assimilate other languages while still nurturing our language. Literature, life and culture lives only through languages.

Will this be the generation that is going to witness the demise of a language with thousands of years of history? What is bad about speaking, learning and sustaining a language? We don’t know what we are giving up when we start aping the popular culture. Just like the popular movie music, fashion, food etc…is the language going away? Scary….

I enjoyed that one dialog where the girl says “he really likes my ravioli”. That statement is so packed and meaningful, I can’t but write about it here, today. Watch short film people. And do a little, speak in Tamil at home with children and with friends who speak Tamil.