Tamil ‘beautiful’, I failed to learn it: PM
Just weeks ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed his inability to learn the Tamil language so far as a “shortcoming”, while describing the language as “beautiful” and the world’s “oldest”. The remark, during his monthly “Mann ki Baat” address in Hindi, was in response to a query from Hyderabad resident Aparna Reddy.
Mr Modi said: “Friends, sometimes even a very small and simple question rankles the mind. These questions are not very long; they are very simple, yet they make us think. A few days ago, Aparna Reddyji of Hyderabad asked me one such question. She said: ‘You have been PM for so many years and were CM for so many years. Do you ever feel that something is missing?’ Aparnaji's question seems simple but is equally difficult. I pondered this over and told myself that one of my shortcomings was that I could not make much effort to learn Tamil, the oldest language in the world; I could not make myself learn Tamil!”
Praising the Tamil language, Mr Modi added: “It is such a beautiful language, which is popular all over the world. Many people have told me a lot about the quality of Tamil literature and the depth of the poems written in it. India is a land of many languages, which symbolises our culture and pride.”
Terming the quest for a self-reliant India as not just an economic campaign but rather a “national spirit”, Mr Modi added: “When we see fighter plane Tejas made in our own country doing acrobatics in the sky, when Made in India tanks, Made in India missiles increase
our pride, when we see Made in India coaches in Metro trains in wealthyadvanced nations, when we see Made in India corona vaccines reaching dozens of countries, then our heads rise higher.”
In a boost to water conservation, Mr Modi also announced the launch of a 100-day campaign for “cleaning up water sources around us and conserving rainwater”, adding: “We shall get existing rainwater harvesting systems repaired, clean up lakes and ponds in villages, remove impediments in the way of water flowing into water sources”. The PM also paid tribute to the memory of sage Ravidas, who lived in the 15th and 16th centuries AD.