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Our languages unite us: PM

By Our Special Correspondent

Children get a notebook and the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's book of poetry autographed by him in New Delhi on Saturday. — Photo: Anu Pushkarna.

NEW DELHI AUG. 17. ``Ganga and Cauvery have natural affinity.'' This sentiment pervaded the evening at the Prime Minister's residence today when a Tamil translation of Atal Behari Vajpayee's poems was formally released. Entitled, "Vajpayee-31'', the collection has been translated from English to Tamil by K.Venkatasubramanian, a member of the Planning Commission.

The evening turned out to be an occasion for Mr. Vajpayee and others to celebrate the gradual dissipation of mistrust on the language front in various parts of the country. Accepting the first copy from the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, K.C. Pant, the Prime Minister noted: "Our languages, like our rivers, unite us. They do not divide us.''

Mr. Vajpayee recalled how the late C. Annadurai, whom he described as a good friend and a co-parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha, was not opposed to Hindi. He noted: I am happy that the interaction between Hindi and Tamil has been steadily growing in the past few decades. Together with other languages, they are promoting national integration.''

But the most evocative sentiment was expressed by the Tamil poet, Vairamuthu. He said: "We are extremely happy that the Prime Minister's poems will speak in Tamil. We are sure that it will be a bridge of literature, spanning distance between the languages, Tamil and Hindi. Tiruvalluvar, IIango, Kamban, Alwars and Nayanmars, Bharati, Bharatidasan, Aringar Anna, Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Kannadasan are all pillars in the hall of fame of Tamil literature. The most ancient Tamil maxim says, "the whole world is my native place. All the people are my relatives.''

Dr. Venkatasubramanian sought to suggest that India was better off insofar as a poet was the Prime Minister, and pointedly addressed himself to Mr. Vajpayee: "If you so choose, you can become an ex-Prime Minister, but you cannot become an ex-poet.''

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