Tamils,undoubtedly are a ‘unique people’ incomparable to any other’people’in the world ,like the Jews are.They are the only people who are known to have a claim that they are as old as the earth is.Their saying ’Kal thonri mann thondra kaalathe munn thondri mootha kudi’ means’people who appeared much before stones and sand appeared!’ This is not an empty boasting as it is supported by ample collateral evidence. There is also another popular saying ’Tamilan endror inamudu,thaniye atharkkor gunamundu’ which means’There is a race called Tamil,their qualities are quite different and unique’.
Now ,what are those unique good qualities?How have these qualities turned against them and are exploited by others to their advantage?Lets take a look.
Quality 1 :’Let Us Welcome Every One Into Our Land !’
‘Yathum oore!Yavarum kelear! is an age old Tamil adage which means’"To we Tamils, all towns are one, all men our kin'' This policy has led Tamils to welcome foreigners into their land ,with open hands,not just as a guest but for living here,among them.The quote Vandhaarai vazhavaikkum Thamizhagam (Tamil Nadu nurtures those who come to live here) is an off shoot of this policy .While Tamils trying to settle down in other states are either resisted or unwelcome,Tamil Nadu welcomed them with open arms.This resulted in all sort of people moving in and settling down in Tamil Nadu peacefully. TOI says”According to just-released census figures, there are about 35 lakh Telugu-speaking people in Tamil Nadu, constituting almost 5.7% of the state's population. The Kannada-speaking add up to about 10.5 lakh (1.7%) almost double the number of Malayalis who — at 5.55-lakh strong — make up less than 1%.”Apart from these Rajasthanis,Gujaratis,Marwaris,Jains etc.are found throughout the state.
But ,its not the number of non-Tamils living in Tamil Nadu that matters but the wealth and power they have drawn from TN here that actually matters . An average Tamil in Bengaluru may be a labour just barely eking out a living there ,making both ends meet .He does not own a Shopping Mall nor 500 acres of lay out there.At the most,he may own a house or a small business.Compare this with non-Tamils in Tamil Nadu who owns substantial businesses,malls,shops,colleges,hospitals in Tamil Nadu:
· Chennai has colleges/schools owned by Malayalees,Jains,Telegus etc.
· Major hospitals in TN are controlled by non-Tamils
· All bakeries in Coimbatore are owned by Keralites.
· Large layouts/bungalows in all TN towns/hill stations like Ooty, Kodaikanal,are owned by non-Tamils
· 50% of Rubber Plantations in TN are owned by Malayalees.
· 90% Veg/Non-veg restaurants in TN are owned and staffed by non-Tamils
· Almost all Star hotels in TN are owned by non-Tamils .Only roadside eateries are owned by Tamils !
· The Coonoor Tea business is controlled by north Indians and Malayalees.
· TN Bullion business is controlled by non-Tamil Marwaris entirely.
· All major Textile Showrooms across the State do not belong to Tamils.
· The Tamil Chettiars who were in the fore front of global trading centuries ago are no where now.’Murugappa Group’ is the sole survivor now. Look at this image that certifies to this fact.
· Tamil film industry has few Tamils and more of others.The Telegus produce,Malayalees act and its the Tamil fans that pay !Actress like Kajal who cannot speak one word of Tamil can act in so many films!P.Susheela,a Telugu, who sang 1000 Tamil movie songs perfectly can say boldly that she can’t speak proper Tamil,when it comes to answering in Tamil !
However,despite all these,the non-Tamils are not grateful to Tamils for all these privileges they enjoy .On the other hand they think that Tamils are ‘Yemalis’ ஏமாளி not smart enough to know them.They don’t respect Tamils.They do not recruit Tamil workers.They don’t respect Tamil language.They don’t chose Tamil names but christen their layouts with names like ’Kshpta’ which no Tamil can ever pronounce.They hardly mix with Tamils socially.They dominate over Tamils with their own culture like celebrating Holi here. To day,if you enter a restaurant in Coimbatore and ask for ‘Thannee’(water) don’t be surprised,if the server does not understand it,as he may be a north Indian migrant worker!This happened to me.Tamils are losing Tamil Nadu inch by inch,thanks to this policy of welcoming strangers.
Quality 2:No ruling/dominating instinct
There is a little island in Indian Ocean inhabited by around 1000 tribals.No one has dared to enter the island,as they dart out poisoned arrows even if they notice a helicopter flying over them.They know,losing territory means losing home.The dogs do not allow Non-Resident dogs to enter their territory!They bark them off !Tamils,unfortunately do not have this ‘dog’instinct and so they are losing their land to others slowly.They don’t dominate over outsiders but dominate over other Tamils based on caste status.The Caste System has an unwritten rule’If you don’t beat me.I will beat you!’ Beat or get beaten.Tamils don’t offend others,hence,others offend Tamils! The national media keeps offending Tamil,its culture etc.whenever possible.There is a Tamil saying’oorukku ilaichavan pillayar koil andi’ which means ‘The beggar staying in a temple is ill treated for no reason by every one’TN is treated like that’andi’ by every one.
Tamils allow all their symbols/identity to be destroyed systematically by non-Tamils.
· Tamil language,the oldest language surviving ,is the pride of Tamils.This has been diluted by people who entered Tamil Nadu and welcomed with open arms by the Tamils.They changed every Tamil name slowly to non-Tamil names.’Pothigai’ river became ‘Thamraparni’,’Mayiladuthurai’ became’Mayavaram’ etc.Tamils tolerated this change,without much protest.
· An average Tamil is dark in complexion.This colour is made fun of by non-Tamils through all possible ways.Rajini, in one of his films is shown as taking bath in ‘Fair & Lovely Cream’ as the heroine rejects him as he is ‘dark’ in colour.The worst part of it is, Tamils also ,sometimes joining others in making fun of their colour. In this movie,Solomon Pappiah ,well known Tamil speaker,joins the gang and makes fun of the Tamil colour.Mind it,Afro-Americans never make fun of their colour any where.They take pride in their colour.
· The non-Tamils occupy the media positions,reporters and VJs and slowly dilute Tamil with English words which makes it easy for them to speak.Kajal Agarwal,an movie actress, cannot speak a single sentence in Tamil but makes millions through Tamil cinema.The Tamil is diluted to as much as 30% with English words.Tamil language is being destroyed slowly by such people.
· Everything Tamil is called’South Indian’ or’Dravidian’ in the media but ‘Bengali food’ is not ‘north Indian ‘!Maharashtrian food is not called ‘north Indian food’ !There is a spirit of suppression acting when it comes to anything Tamil related.Over the years Tamil identity is either stolen or destroyed slowly.Iddli,Dosa,why ,even ‘Chettinadu cuisine is ‘South Indian’ only ,not Tamil food but Kerala ‘puttu’ is Kerala food only!
· Saree was the Tamil identity.Today ,north Indian dress is common.’The Hindu’ called this as ‘Fall of the saree!’with joy.
· Pavadai-Thavani,the beautiful Tamil dress is no more seen except in films.This dress is now cleverly called’South Indian’ to deny ‘Tamilian’ credit.
· Nathaswaram ,a Tamil music,is almost destroyed.
(Image credit: Pinterest)
· Kolattam,Kummi,Silambattam etc.almost extinct.
(Image credit:Swamisindology)
Quality 3:Law abiding,unfortunately !
Tamils are ,by nature ,law-abiding .During Cauvery disputes TN Govt chose legal redress but Karnataka ,never obeyed SC orders.Even for Jallikattu,people were fighting for lifting the ban than doing Jallikattu illegally.A few aberrations that took place does not represent Tamil ethos. This quality of law abiding is not respected as much as violence is feared by the rulers. So, its easy to ignore Tamils than the violent others.
Quality 4:Not tricky/can’t understand tricks
If you speak truth,you are most likely to trust others believing them but if you are ‘tricky’ you will doubt every one!Tamils are quite innocent.They trust every one on the face of it.They believe every lie.If one leader who has amassed crores for her,comes and tells’I live for you like an ascetic’they believe it innocently.This quality is exploited by non-Tamils to rule over them through lies.
Quality 5:Media/Publicity/Marketing shy
These days even before a business is thought about,marketing starts.But Tamils never think of advertising their wares to the world.They never boast about their language or culture as much as others do.Had they done so,north Indians would have realised the greatness of Tamil,by this time.Taking advantage of this quality,others have slowly misappropriated Tamil stuff and patent it as their own.’Yoga’ is the best example of misappropriation done cleverly.’Yoga’ is marketed as an Indian stuff ,with the word ‘Tamil’ never appearing anywhere.’ Sage Patanjali’ the Yoga exponent is never mentioned as a Tamil.Yoga is a 27 billion dollar industry,with none knowing that its a Tamil art ! That means 1,89,000 crores of money is made using a Tamil art without giving even 10% royalty of 18000 crores to the owners Tamils !“In the past 4 years [2012-2015], the amount spent in the United States on yoga classes, equipment, clothing, and accessories has risen from $10 billion to $16 billion. The total economic impact of the US yoga industry is estimated to be $27 billion annually, according to reporting by the Huffington Post.”
(25 Eye Opening Yoga Industry Trends - BrandonGaille.com)
Actual Tamil Yogi.They don’t make money out of Yoga
Yogi ,as shown in media.They may not know actual Yoga.
Fair in colour,speaks stylish English and flies abroad to teach Yoga!
Another misappropriated Tamil stuff which is sold in the market is Siddha System of medicine.Siddha Medicine & Natural Treatment Hospital is run by Malayalees in Kerala ,giving an impression that it is their art! Varma,Kalaripayitru practised in Kerala are of Tamil roots but claimed to be Kerala arts.Tamils allow every one to claim their stuff as theirs!Tamils never went for commercial exploitation of their valuable arts but others did !Tamils never see money in their arts,only social good.In fact,traditional Siddha doctors do not charge any amount as they believe that charging will rob their power!
Even in the recent Jallikattu protests coverage,national media was dominated by people who are not Tamils,that is ,they are not part of Tamil culture .They would have never seen a Jallikattu,not to talk of catching a bull by its ‘thimil’(hump).The ‘Jallikattu Peravai’Chief(Tamil) was not interviewed at all.
All media chiefs/Editors/Reporters of popular TVs are non-Tamils .National media like NDTV do not have any Tamil staff even to cover TN news.
Quality 6:Allows others to rule over
Many TN CMs are non-Tamils like MGR from Kerala and Jayalalitha from Mysore . But no Tamil can ever become even an MLA in Karnataka or Kerala.
Quality 7:Lack of ambition for territory expansion
When a Malayalee lands in Ooty for a job,he brings all his village men here slowly.Soon he settles down here.Tamils do not expand their territories while allowing others to do so in Tamil Nadu.
Quality 8:Tamil,a large MNC without Marketing Dept !
Celtic language family is a group of minor languages spoken by ,say,4 million people in Europe .But they have a Marketing Dept,yes,a Chair in the famous Harvard University! The 4mn speakers value their language so much as to install a Chair there whereas 80 mn global Tamil speakers have not established a Chair for the great Tamil language yet!The number of people who have declared Sanskrit as mother tongue is just 14135 (2001 census) but they are smart enough to have the most commanding media presence in the world.In addition ,Sanskrit has a Chair in Harvard as well.All text books talk about Sanskrit 100 times more than Tamil !While Tamil does not boast about what they have,some languages boast about what they don’t have !Tamil badly needs Press Meets to showcase its stuff to the world.
If you ask an young boy’Which do you prefer,Coca Cola or coconut water?’ The answer is obvious.Coca Cola scores over ‘coconut water’ easily because it has a marketing department which highlights the virtues of drinking Coca Cola.Though coconut water has better virtues,none knows as it does not propagate it abroad.Well,Tamil is a kind of coconut water ! Natural,nourishing but silent!No one knows its virtues nor does it shout!It has all advanced elements but it allows others to misappropriate them and patent them! If Amerigo Vespucci discovered America,it was Columbus who conducted a Press Meet to claim the award! Its time Tamil lets the world know its greatness.
Let the world know that:
· Tamil is the oldest surviving language and possibly the ‘Mother of ‘Mother-Tongues’
· All major language families in the world have unexplained connection with Tamil language.Greek,Latin,Hebrew,Korean,Chinese are a few of them.
· Tamil presence throughout the world from Australia to Africa is well documented.
· Tamil has the most advanced vocabulary in the world.Eg.Elephant has 60 names and Lion 24 names!
· Tamil has most advanced mathematics with names for ‘number raised to the power of 22’
Quality 9:We will invent but allow others to Patent!
Tamil has advanced literature and science.Its culture is the root of all the following:
· Yoga
· Vaasthu
· Ayurveda
· Sanskrit/Hindi
· Vedas
· Hinduism
But most of the above are never credited to the Tamils but claimed as Indian.Let us remember that there is nothing called Indian before 1947.
Quality 10:Not demanding recognition for greatness!
You have 16 Hindi Prachar Sabhas to spread Hindi in Tamil Nadu.The procedures for obtaining their Certificates are made very simple and people who cannot write their names in Hindi have also got Hindi certificates of qualification! But Tamils never try to spread Tamil or teach it to non-Tamils .So many north Indians do not know the greatness of Tamil language and culture,as we never tell them.The Indian text books do not highlight Tamil’s greatness in any way.
(Originally published in Quora)
