Vanakkam,
> Rajam Krishnan - It has not descended from the heavens as a
blessing.
Well, Governance is not one particular coterie but encompassing the public. The present government at least reassures that it is aware of its public concern by heeding to the request. The irony is the
addition to the list is not considered a fulfilment but a sense of aggrievement! One need to realise that the word "influential" should be of assistance in highlighting certain people to the government. Rather than criticising as an "oversight", one or group of people need to have the magnanimity to recommend the services of certain people. There have been governments in the past which had turned a blind eye to these requests, one need not appreciate the particular acknowledgement but concur that "requests" are heard in the "fort"!
> The whole list reeks of the miasma that exudes from a feudal mind that
seeks self-glorification, acts impulsively,
> randomly, without an
informed well thought out policy backing it.
If some prefer to continue in their stuporous state and not live in a lucid environment and keep accusing of impulsivity - reminds me of the ageless kuraL as a better explanation.
பிறன்பழி கூறுவான்; தன்பழியுள்ளும்,
திறன் தெரிந்து கூறப்படும்! -
186
> It is an individual act of arbitrary selection and rejection.
A person who has seen & continues to visualise the Thamizh literary field with a panoramic view has been selecting Thamizh literary savants according to the time and rather than arbitrariness or political hue being painted by some, the deserving will achieve what is destined. Until then, unfortunately some in the Thamizh community due to their ingrained ideologies continue to lack in patience & jump to conclusions about rejections due to their insecure dejection's on certain individuals or political parties.
> Were those in that feudal authority aware of the presence of literary figures such as Sundara Ramaswami?
Even to address in a democratic topography of feudal authority either reeks of ignorance or arrogance. If the question had been directed to Amarar Sundara Ramaswami's heirs or browsed the archives to check to the reactions of Amarar Sundara Ramaswami's families to the Tamilnadu Govt's request, then the necessity of this question wouldn't have arisen!
> What unites M.S. Poornalingam Pillai Parithimaarkalaignar, Al
Valliappaa, Vaduvur Dorai swami Iyengar
> Kodainayagi ammaal, Kannadasan,
Sundara Ramaswami and Rajam Krishnan.
It is an interesting question,which I wondered as well. As we know the first 2 are age -old Thamizh scholars, A.L.Valliappa - devoted his writings for children, whilst Vaduvuraar & Kothainayagi Ammaal were famed detective story writers. The latter 3 were (are) well known and I don't need to describe about them in detail. Rathet then finding an unison amongst these Thamizh savants, its the applications that the Tamilnadu Government receives for processing the honorarium at the given time. Like in other awards for fine arts - any organisation or government tends to categorise awardees according to the period, especially if there are many recipients. One hopes that is the case with the Tamilnadu government's selection for the honorarium too.
> Who are the third generation descedents of MSP or Parthimar kalaignar, etc. who asked the authorities for this grant?
The Tamilnadu Government has been vetting out the the descendants of the selected Thamizh scholars by police verification & other governmental monitoring process following the applications for the honorarium by some descendants & whilst for the other descendants of certain Thamizh scholars the Tamilnadu government has been identifying with the assistance of birth & death registration records, village or town council records et al. With regards to M.S.Poornalingam Pillai - one of his 3rd/4th generation descendant by the same name as the grandfather was a Finance Secretary. Likewise, Parthimaar Kalaignar's descendents have been tracked via Mr.V.S.Natarajan and continue in teaching Thamizh in the southern districts of Tamilnadu.
> What is the point of doling out grants to the present day descendents
of Vallalar, Kumarakurupara and Ilango Adigal.
> How are these different
from M.S.P. Mu.Raghava Iengar, or any of those of 19th century.
As a matter of fact, with the former 3 Thamizh savants - the Tamilnadu Government has not identified their descendants and one would hope Thiru Venkat Swaminathan's query could result in an active search for them. Though it is a pertinent point of why to dole out grants to these Thamizh savants. The agenda is to make their literary works universal soon and no claimants by the descendants or heirs or publishing houses in future should restrict these literary works for easy access.
> The works of Periyar are still in private hands who are not
even his descendants. A systematic collection of the
> speeches and
writings of Periyar should have been the first engagement of this
government right from the day
> Why this thought does not seem to have crossed their mind even once?
Pray, enlighten me.
Patience Thiru Venkat Swaminathan. Like Kannadasan, Sundara Ramaswamy's descendants - Dravidar Kazhagam which has copyright control over Periyar's writings,speeches are reaping the benefit of the royalty revenue is an "open secret". A day will come when Periyar's writings & speeches will be available to all, probably in the time of Kalaignar. Everything will evolve in the "give & take policy" - similar to meeting out the medical treatment to Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal:-)
> It only shows those feudal minds steeped in narcissism in
authority, are possessed of only authority,
> and not a system of
governance by studied and informed policies, or even a sense of
aesthetic sensibility.
Despite a systematic process of selecting the applications filed by some heirs and the eagerness to award even the disparaging descendants through consultation & enrolling the Tamil Development department in contacting the concerned heirs & descendants of Thamizh savants - the criticisms of feudal mentality or narcissistic tendencies - have not diminished the Tamilnadu Government's resolve of continuing to honour the Thamizh savants.
A legacy that was started in 2008 - the International Language Year - will continue. Private institutions like Project Madurai, Tamil Heritage Foundation, Tamil Wikipedia which are digitising & e-archiving the literary texts will enrich due to this process by the Tamilnadu Government, not to forget the numerous online Thamizh webs which are able to access significant number of Thamizh books. It is ironical that NONE of these beneficiary groups have come forward to either appreciate the ease at which Thamizh digitisation can progress nor comment about the steps taken by the Tamilnadu Government!
Thiru Venkat Swaminathan's writing have a sense of aestheticism, though one would feel that his emotions have tended to display an unaesthetic moment in his response:-)
போற்றுவார் போற்றட்டும்
புழுதிவாரி தூற்றுவார் தூற்றட்டும்
ஏற்றதொரு கருத்தினை எடுத்துரைப்பேன்
எவர் வரினும் நில்லேன்,அஞ்சேன் (
கவியரசு கண்ணதாசன்)
நம் பணி தமிழ்ச்சான்றோர்களின் படைப்புகளைப் பாதுகாப்பதே.