aanaa
1st March 2011, 04:33 AM
http://truthdive.com/2009/12/17/tamils-following-an-identity-crisis.html
Tamils are one among the most ancient civilizations of the world. In the history of the world, Tamil population are the few among the world communities which named it’s people with title of their own language. For example the names like ‘Tamilarasi’, ‘Tamilselvan’, ‘Tamilmani’, ‘Tamilvendhan’ carries the title of the language. This indicates their immense love towards their language and culture. But this trend is not practiced anymore by the Tamils in India. Sadly, Tamils are gradually and steadily losing their identity. This is very evident if we make a research into the names of the people belonging to Tamil Nadu. Yes, this article is all about today’s trend in the names of the wide Tamil community.
I personally made a venture in interviewing a few Tamils in the urban areas. The results were just shocking when I came to know that out of 20 people I interviewed, none of them were carrying Tamil names. One of the couple I interviewed was from Erode. They recently gave birth to a girl baby and they named the girl as ‘Shamitha’. The first question I asked them was ‘who named the baby?’ Reply was immediate. They said that an astrologer named the baby. Second question I asked was, ‘do you know the meaning of this name and from which language this name was originated?’. The couple admitted that they don’t know the meaning and they are not really bothered to know that.
When I interviewed few more families, more or less I received the same reply. Hardly people realize that they are losing their identity. Names are the real identity of a community. A name can easily tell you from where you are coming. The names give a strong feeling of togetherness and integrity. It is an identity of a civilization, generation and clan. Names are not merely meant for calling. It promotes the essence of meaning which it carries along with. When I was working as a receptionist in a hotel in London, an American businessman saw my name badge which read ‘Raj Palaniswamy’. He immediately recognized that I was a Tamil and spoke to me in Tamil. We all know that ‘Palaniswamy’ is a name kept only by Tamils. If I myself happen to come across the names like ‘Senthil’, ‘Murugan,’ or ‘Sunderapandiyan’, I will certainly speak to them in Tamil without even asking them whether they are Tamil or not. That is to say that the names are the real address or identity for a person. I have never seen a North Indian or a person belonging to any other state other than Tamil Nadu having a Tamil name. But I wonder why Tamils have a fascination to have Hindi or Sanskrit names to their sons and daughters.
Well, this is not the case only in the urban areas. Even in the villages, Tamils are fancied to have non-Tamil names. I was taken aback when I came to know that my distant relatives in a village named their daughter as ‘Monica’. This name was neither a Hindi nor a Sanskrit name. They went a step ahead in having a European name. Another city couple named their daughter as ‘Chaya Sree’. Again this couple blinked when I asked about the meaning for the name. Ironically most of the parents have Tamil names like ‘Arivazhagan, ‘Poongkodi’, Muniappan or ‘Kalaiselvi’. But their sons and daughters have names like ‘Rahul’, ‘Sachin’, ‘Rohit’, ‘Sanjana’, ‘Akshay’, ‘Abishek’ or ‘Diya’ . These parents rarely know the meaning of these names. Even if they knew the meaning, they could rarely speak the language from which these names originated. Chinese and Japanese still they stick on to their indigenous names no matter how much they are exposed to fashion and modernism. Then why Tamils don’t stick on to their names?
If this trend continues, in another 20 years, we cannot find a single Tamil name inside the Tamil families. For name sake, people of Tamil Nadu can claim to be Tamils, but in reality they will be losing their identity in this global village. Late Czech scholar Kamil Zvebil said “There is no doubt that the culture of the Tamils belongs to the great and immortal treasures of the world’s civilisation’ . Further he adds that the Tamils are only surviving classical civilization on earth. But this classical civilization is slowing getting diluted in the waters of Indian Ocean. Yes they are diluted by the adverse effects of North Indians flooding into the state and mingling with the Tamil society. However, the losers are not North Indians as they stick to their names, but Tamils are indeed losing their identity.
Now I am wondering about the cause. What made Tamils to think that their Tamil names are not good enough to suit their kids? One thing I realized that most of them, who have non-Tamil names for their kids, have hardly read Tamil literature or Tamil history. In this post-modern society, Tamils have least time in researching about their own culture and language. This led to the decline of Tamil names inside Tamil Nadu. For example T.Rajendran, a prominent personality of Tamil Nadu named his son as Silambarasan as opposed to actor Vijay who named his son as Sanjay. This was probably because T. Rajendran is a person who has read Tamil literature in-depth and has awareness about the history and culture of Tamils. Obviously actor Vijay would not have gone through Tamil literature or history and the end result was naming his son with a Sanskrit name.
In a contrast, my non –Tamil friend belonging to this generation who is a follower of a Tamil Saint Vallalar, named his boy baby as ‘Thooyavan’ which means ‘Man of Purity’. I asked him why he was not fascinated by Hindi names. He immediately replied that he wanted to his son to have a name with divine meaning and power of pure Tamil language. This was mainly because my friend was well versed in Thirukkural and Thiruvarutpa. To some extent, unlike the Western society, the knowledge of literature and history plays an important role in naming the kids. I feel that Tamils are lacking this knowledge and are not taking enough steps to know about the unique qualities of their own language and culture. This makes them lose pride in having Tamil names. Instead they take pride in having names of foreign origin.
Though this situation in Tamil Nadu is disappointing, I was relieved by a good news announced by the TN government. It said that the TN government would give one gold coin free per couple who names their child with a proper Tamil name. At least in the government hospitals, we could expect people to name their progeny in Tamil language for the sake of gold coin. Another achievement can be attributed to the TV channels like Makkal TV which continuously supports the revival of Tamil language. It holds Tamil language competition to give away gold coins if somebody wins. Also it constantly (every day) inform people about new Tamil names with meaning therefore encouraging Tamil people to name their kids in Tamil language. I end up with a small note. A scholar quoted that a nation can easily be defeated and captured without weapons, if the language of the nation is destroyed. Though language destruction is at the rapid pace in Tamil Nadu, but my concern is with names of the Tamils who have already lost their identity as Tamils. This is a wake-up call for all Tamils around the world. If Tamils don’t name their kids in their language, then who else would name their kids in Tamil? This beautiful Tamil language has got immense meaning and glory within itself. Tamils don’t need to borrow a foreign language for naming their kids.
Tamils are one among the most ancient civilizations of the world. In the history of the world, Tamil population are the few among the world communities which named it’s people with title of their own language. For example the names like ‘Tamilarasi’, ‘Tamilselvan’, ‘Tamilmani’, ‘Tamilvendhan’ carries the title of the language. This indicates their immense love towards their language and culture. But this trend is not practiced anymore by the Tamils in India. Sadly, Tamils are gradually and steadily losing their identity. This is very evident if we make a research into the names of the people belonging to Tamil Nadu. Yes, this article is all about today’s trend in the names of the wide Tamil community.
I personally made a venture in interviewing a few Tamils in the urban areas. The results were just shocking when I came to know that out of 20 people I interviewed, none of them were carrying Tamil names. One of the couple I interviewed was from Erode. They recently gave birth to a girl baby and they named the girl as ‘Shamitha’. The first question I asked them was ‘who named the baby?’ Reply was immediate. They said that an astrologer named the baby. Second question I asked was, ‘do you know the meaning of this name and from which language this name was originated?’. The couple admitted that they don’t know the meaning and they are not really bothered to know that.
When I interviewed few more families, more or less I received the same reply. Hardly people realize that they are losing their identity. Names are the real identity of a community. A name can easily tell you from where you are coming. The names give a strong feeling of togetherness and integrity. It is an identity of a civilization, generation and clan. Names are not merely meant for calling. It promotes the essence of meaning which it carries along with. When I was working as a receptionist in a hotel in London, an American businessman saw my name badge which read ‘Raj Palaniswamy’. He immediately recognized that I was a Tamil and spoke to me in Tamil. We all know that ‘Palaniswamy’ is a name kept only by Tamils. If I myself happen to come across the names like ‘Senthil’, ‘Murugan,’ or ‘Sunderapandiyan’, I will certainly speak to them in Tamil without even asking them whether they are Tamil or not. That is to say that the names are the real address or identity for a person. I have never seen a North Indian or a person belonging to any other state other than Tamil Nadu having a Tamil name. But I wonder why Tamils have a fascination to have Hindi or Sanskrit names to their sons and daughters.
Well, this is not the case only in the urban areas. Even in the villages, Tamils are fancied to have non-Tamil names. I was taken aback when I came to know that my distant relatives in a village named their daughter as ‘Monica’. This name was neither a Hindi nor a Sanskrit name. They went a step ahead in having a European name. Another city couple named their daughter as ‘Chaya Sree’. Again this couple blinked when I asked about the meaning for the name. Ironically most of the parents have Tamil names like ‘Arivazhagan, ‘Poongkodi’, Muniappan or ‘Kalaiselvi’. But their sons and daughters have names like ‘Rahul’, ‘Sachin’, ‘Rohit’, ‘Sanjana’, ‘Akshay’, ‘Abishek’ or ‘Diya’ . These parents rarely know the meaning of these names. Even if they knew the meaning, they could rarely speak the language from which these names originated. Chinese and Japanese still they stick on to their indigenous names no matter how much they are exposed to fashion and modernism. Then why Tamils don’t stick on to their names?
If this trend continues, in another 20 years, we cannot find a single Tamil name inside the Tamil families. For name sake, people of Tamil Nadu can claim to be Tamils, but in reality they will be losing their identity in this global village. Late Czech scholar Kamil Zvebil said “There is no doubt that the culture of the Tamils belongs to the great and immortal treasures of the world’s civilisation’ . Further he adds that the Tamils are only surviving classical civilization on earth. But this classical civilization is slowing getting diluted in the waters of Indian Ocean. Yes they are diluted by the adverse effects of North Indians flooding into the state and mingling with the Tamil society. However, the losers are not North Indians as they stick to their names, but Tamils are indeed losing their identity.
Now I am wondering about the cause. What made Tamils to think that their Tamil names are not good enough to suit their kids? One thing I realized that most of them, who have non-Tamil names for their kids, have hardly read Tamil literature or Tamil history. In this post-modern society, Tamils have least time in researching about their own culture and language. This led to the decline of Tamil names inside Tamil Nadu. For example T.Rajendran, a prominent personality of Tamil Nadu named his son as Silambarasan as opposed to actor Vijay who named his son as Sanjay. This was probably because T. Rajendran is a person who has read Tamil literature in-depth and has awareness about the history and culture of Tamils. Obviously actor Vijay would not have gone through Tamil literature or history and the end result was naming his son with a Sanskrit name.
In a contrast, my non –Tamil friend belonging to this generation who is a follower of a Tamil Saint Vallalar, named his boy baby as ‘Thooyavan’ which means ‘Man of Purity’. I asked him why he was not fascinated by Hindi names. He immediately replied that he wanted to his son to have a name with divine meaning and power of pure Tamil language. This was mainly because my friend was well versed in Thirukkural and Thiruvarutpa. To some extent, unlike the Western society, the knowledge of literature and history plays an important role in naming the kids. I feel that Tamils are lacking this knowledge and are not taking enough steps to know about the unique qualities of their own language and culture. This makes them lose pride in having Tamil names. Instead they take pride in having names of foreign origin.
Though this situation in Tamil Nadu is disappointing, I was relieved by a good news announced by the TN government. It said that the TN government would give one gold coin free per couple who names their child with a proper Tamil name. At least in the government hospitals, we could expect people to name their progeny in Tamil language for the sake of gold coin. Another achievement can be attributed to the TV channels like Makkal TV which continuously supports the revival of Tamil language. It holds Tamil language competition to give away gold coins if somebody wins. Also it constantly (every day) inform people about new Tamil names with meaning therefore encouraging Tamil people to name their kids in Tamil language. I end up with a small note. A scholar quoted that a nation can easily be defeated and captured without weapons, if the language of the nation is destroyed. Though language destruction is at the rapid pace in Tamil Nadu, but my concern is with names of the Tamils who have already lost their identity as Tamils. This is a wake-up call for all Tamils around the world. If Tamils don’t name their kids in their language, then who else would name their kids in Tamil? This beautiful Tamil language has got immense meaning and glory within itself. Tamils don’t need to borrow a foreign language for naming their kids.