‘Tamil is bound to change, but its identity remains'

Interview with Sri Lankan Tamil scholar K. Sivathambi.

Renowned Sri Lankan Tamil scholar K. Sivathambi discusses in this interview a wide range of issues including the secular nature of the Tamil language, its antiquity and continuity, streamlining of post-doctoral research, and the post-war priorities in Sri Lanka. Excerpts:

As chairman of the Academic Committee of the World Classical Tamil Conference, how do you assess the importance of the meet?
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. So, it is important to know what is going to be the aftermath; what is going to flow out of this; how we are going to institutionalise the whole thing; and how we are going to maintain internationalism – the all-world character – and the Tamil character.

You have suggested greater coordination among universities with regard to research activities.
In Tamil Nadu, you have six or seven universities and many colleges affiliated to each of them. In the Tamil Department of the universities and in some of the famous colleges, PhD programmes are taken up.

We need not say that certain specialisation should be given exclusively to a particular university but there should be a common body to go through at least the PhD titles in order to ensure that there is no duplication of work. This can be achieved through a consortium of the graduate schools of various universities and colleges. It is very easily done. I know in American universities, there is a tradition by which one knows who is working in which area. In Tamil Nadu or in India, especially with relation to Tamil studies, quite often we find overlapping of research.

There is also another aspect that has to be looked into. Without minimising anyone's ability, I would like to suggest that post-doctoral promotions should take into account the number of research papers and books the scholars have published. I think we should give a chance to every student, especially to those who are involved in academic duties, to take up post-doctoral research programmes. There should be a deposit system of the theses and publications by the scholars at the Connemara Library [in Chennai].

Post-doctoral research should be streamlined and we should work on areas that demand attention. There can be international scholars. Today, there is no coordination between the work that is being done in Tamil studies at the South Asian Department of the European universities and what we are doing here. I would also suggest that these institutions meet once in three or five years and decide the type of specialisation and the type of work they are doing. This is also vital.

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