A world of books

Tall wooden shelves lined with old books; green stained glass windows; the quietest of halls and heads buried deep inside a labyrinth of words. Standing tall along Cowley Brown Road, the District Central Library is a whole world in itself.

The building was inaugurated in 1987, and the tranquillity inside is disarming – the moment you step in, the buzz of the city recedes.

The reference section is the first to welcome you. Lined with long wooden tables and shelves it has hundreds of books on subjects such as engineering, technology, history, geography, agriculture, law, sociology, biography, religion, etc.

Walking with eyes full of wonder, I pull out a chunky volume of Bharathidasan Padalgal. The book contains a foreword written in 1993 by V. R. Nedunchezhiyan, the then finance minister of Tamil Nadu. Next to it is an unassuming book with a worn out spine. This little book is a treasure – published in 1988, it's a dictionary for the language of the Siddhas. The ‘Descriptive catalogue of the Tamil manuscripts in the Tanjore Maharaja Sarfoji's Saraswathi Mahal library' by L.Olaganatha Pillay is yet another treasure. With yellowing pages, this book bears the scent of history and culture.

Full report here Hindu

Translators award announced

The translation of a Malayalam travelogue on the Himalayan region by M P Veerendra Kumar, Managing Director of Mathrubhoomi Group of publications is one among 12 books chosen for the prestigious 'Nalli-Thisai Ettum' translation award this year.

Announcing the awards for 2010, R Natarajan, Advisor 'Thisai Ettum,' a Tamil quarterly for translated works, told reporters in Coimbatore that Sirpi Balasubramaniam, a Tamil poet and convener of Sathiya Akademi's Tamil Board, had translated the book Hymavathabhoovi into Tamil, titled Vellipanimeethu.

A total of 14 translators have been selected for the award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and a citation, he said. About 150 entries from across India were scrutinized by a bilingual jury and fiction and non-fiction works, translated from Tamil and translated into Tamil from other languages including English, merit the award, he said.

Full report here IBNLive

Literature on common ground

Experts came together at the Tamil conference to further the cause of the language.

Let's take a look at the World Classical Tamil Conference that concluded in Coimbatore recently. This was the first such conference. Previous international events were World Tamil Conferences. And this conference was held after the Government of India granted the classical language status to Tamil.

For a World Tamil Conference to be held, the International Association for Tamil Research has to give a call. The first World Tamil Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1966. The second was two years later in Madras (now Chennai).

The third conference was in 1970 in Paris, France; the fourth was in 1974 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka; the fifth was in 1981 in Madurai; the sixth was in 1987 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the seventh was in 1989 in Port Louis, Mauritius, and the last and eighth was in 1995 in Thanjavur.

Full report here Hindu

'Tamil is mother of all languages in the world'

The Tamil language is older than Sanskrit and is "the mother of all languages in the world," said Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday.

Setting the stage for an academic debate on the antiquity of Tamil language at the World Classical Tamil conference in Coimbatore, the CM said more than 20 Tamil words had been found in Vedas by linguist Robert Caldwell, who coined the term Dravidian languages and first declared Tamil as a classical language.

"From this we learn that Tamil had an existence prior to Sanskrit," the CM said.

"Tamil is not only an international language, it is like a mother of all languages in the world,"' he said. Tamil scholar Devaneya Pavanar had established that Tamil is the primary classical language of the world, he said.

Full report here Times of India 

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Kerala institute willing to translate Tamil literary works

The International Institute of Dravidian Linguistics in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala is willing to translate Tamil literary works into Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam, said Puthusseri Ramachandran, honorary professor of the Institute, here on Friday.

Speaking to TheHindu on the sidelines of the World Classical Tamil Conference (WCTC), he explained: “This is in response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's call on Thursday for translating Tamil literary works into other languages.”

A poet and writer, Mr. Ramachandran has done extensive research on the evolution of the Dravidian languages. “We have the expertise and the infrastructure to carry out the translation. This will be discussed by the institute's board and a formal proposal will be sent to the Tamil Nadu government,” he said.

Translation was important to enable each linguistic section understand the language and culture of the other. As a first step, at least the States in South India, which was the cradle of the Dravidian culture, should know each other through their literary works.

Full report here Hindu

Manipuri scholar translated Thirukural

A Manipuri woman scholar, Devi Soibcon Rebikka Devioted to Tamil has translated the ancient Tamil work Thirukkural in Manipuri language and her work is slated to be released soon.

Ms Devi, who was in Coimbatore to attend the World Classical Tamil Conference (WCTC) said she had the opportunity to hear Tamil stories at an early age from her neighbors, who happened to be Tamilians.

Later, she became interested in learning Tamil language.

When she studied ''Thirukkural'' along with the meaning, she thought of translating the two line couplets into Manipuri.

Full report here Assam Tribune

Attempt to create 8,000 page book on Tamil

Two Coimbatore youths today started writing a Tamil book with 8,000 pages with aim to enter into the Guinness Book of World Record.

The book after completion was scheduled to presented to President Pratibha Patil during her visit to the city for inaugurating World Tamil Classical Conference beginning on June 23. The book would have contents from various Tamil epics, arts and cultural pieces and also poems by eminent writers, Shaktivel, the brain behind the attempt, told reporters.

It would also contain 20 collection of poems written by him and his friend Babu Charles and would provide relevant drawings, with pencil and colour paintings, 32-year old Shaktivel said. Shaktivel, an industrialist, has already entered into the Record Book, by creating a miniscule `Thirukkural,` collection of Tamil verses written by Saint Poet, Thiruvalluvar and one-inch football during the World Football Cup.

Full report here Zeenews