Re: [WMASTERS] Tamil Inferiority Complex

[Bala Pillai <bala@apic.net>]

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Dear Mani,

At 11:54 PM 10/1/97, Mani M. Manivannan wrote:

>Dear Dr. Bala,

Oops :-) I'm not a "Dr" but thanks for the compliment :-)


>At 09:11 AM 9/28/97 +1000, you wrote:
>>With due respect to your viewpoints Mani, I am afraid that your reply's
>>tone only goes to satisfy the key criteria for "manifest attributes of
>>inferiority complex", validity of specific arguments or lack thereof,
>>notwithstanding.
>
>Sorry for not responding quickly.  I had to consult the visiting Dr. Muthu
>to cure me of this "manifest attributes inferiority complex".  

No - you do not suffer any malady. Your last response, which is a totally
different notion from *you*, however was very defensive. I won't say more
on this cause we ain't going to get anywhere with this line of discussion.

>I would like to have some thing clarified.  Assuming that you are an expert
>in mass psycho-analysis

I am not.

> and that you consider Prof. Schifmann to be an
>authority on that as well

I don't.

>Since you consider any Tamil purist
>arguments to be manifestations of inferiority complex

This is an incorrect depiction of my views. I asked the question "is Tamil
'purists' *obsession* (as contrasted to moderation) over grantha, a
reflection of their inferiority complex". You have chosen to extend the
question to an answer. 'Purists' to Purists (yes the quotes do matter).
Obssessed 'purists' to all purists. Obsessed purists to the Thani Thamizh
movement. Etc Etc. 

Lighten up Mani - we both want Tamil to fluorish - we merely differ on
approaches. Reserve your rhetoric for the Ananda Vikatans of the world.
Energise your efforts to the millions of Tamils who are leaving Tamil - yes
*any Tamil*, for English. Let's both join hands and attack that phenomena
first before we put more energy into the disagreements between ourselves.

i.e. metaphorically if my arguments were black, yours is dark grey. Let's
go for the white and off-whites first. Put enough energy there and then
when we make some progress, yes, let's go for each other!! 

> and since you own the
>Tamil.Net, do you want such voices to be silenced?

No. Would be rather oxymoronical to start a forum and silence, don't you
reckon?

>  If not, what is the
>point of starting a flame considering that you strongly discourage
>flame-wars in the tamil net?

I didn't think I was starting one although I did risk starting one. But I
have started one. Apologies, so this will be my last post on this unless it
moves out of flame territory.

>
>>I happen to believe that the No 1 enemy to Tamil is obsession with economic
>>superiority (at the expense of ethos nurturing) and the No 2 enemy of Tamil
>>is English, No 3 is lack of a digital standard. I also happen to think that
>>undue obsessiveness with the "Nth" enemy only serves to distract attention
>>from the No 1 and No 2 and No 3 enemy. And invariably this will leave us in
>>a situation where none of the enemies are taken care of and the enemy takes
>>care of us. 
>
>I have to admit that I don't understand the economic superiority point.

Let me explain. During the ages prior to the Renaissance, the
pre-occupation of man was *not* on the finer things of life. That is the
situation with Tamildom now. There is scant Tamil attention for finer Tamil
things. There is a disproportionate atttention to become the best nuclear
physicist, the richest land baron, the wealthiest computer entrepreneur etc
etc. We need more of our creme-de-la-creme to allocate more mindspace
(whether they make money doing so or not) to the finer, more permanent
things of Tamildom like language, dance, culture, architecture etc.

>But then I still need lot of psychiatric care. ;-)))  I don't know who
>started this enemy list.  Your list is interesting; are we allowed to
>disagree with the concept of the list itself?

Yes.

>>Prof Schiffman's conclusions arising from his analysis of the "politics" of
>>languages dead, alive, roaring and dying are right on the dot. 
>
>Hmmm.  That is a strong statement.

Yes.

> Just how familiar are you with the
>Tamil Nadu politics to make that conclusion Bala?

Enough to have an opinion on the "politics" of Tamil language immemorial.
You are entitled to think that the "politics" of Tamil language has to do
primarily with contemporary Tamilnadu politics. I disagree. I believe it
has to do more with man and media - ancient, recent and future. I also
believe that the future of Tamildom and the Tamil language will be much
less of a Tamilnadu-centric one.

>>Yes, we would prefer where possible to have pure Tamil words used instead
>>of Sanskrit words - that is agreed and been agreed many many times. The
>>issue I'm raising has not to do with the nitty-gritties of implementation.
>>It has to do with strategy. Where should the bulk of our scarce energy be
>>allocated to? Against which enemy?
>
>Yes, Yes and Yes.  Except for Dr. Anu everyone of us who expresses or is
>sympathetic to the Thani Thamizh view has conceded that.  And even Dr. Anu
>does seem to be reconciled to that.  Why then is it necessary to start the
>flame?  I was hoping that it is one of the mail spoofs.  I would have
>ignored it if it had been from anybody else.  I found it chilling that the
>founder of the tamil.net would harbor such notions and express them in
>public.  Yes, you are entitled to your opinions as much as everybody else.
>However, as the founder and moderator of this and other lists you have a
>responsibility to your subscribers;  even if you cannot fake neutrality,
>you can and should avoid asking leading, flaming, hurtful questions.  But
>then again, I suffer from inferiority complex, what do I know? ;-))  (How's
>this mail?  more manifestations of the same complex doctor?).
>
>>Apologies if I have unduely ruffled feathers - it's a tough area where
>>brothers battle :-)
>
>No Bala.  A simple, half-hearted apology won't do.  There's a lot I will
>tolerate from you because you founded the tamil.net in spite of your less
>than full comprehension of Tamil issues.  But here you crossed that fine
>line.  You have enabled people unsympathetic to the Thani Thamizh views to
>belittle and mock those views.  That doesn't stop me.  But it certainly
>will dampen others who may hold these views.  You always claim to encourage
>diverse views in this list. How can you be blind to the effects of your
>flame?  I want to believe that you are not a hypocrite and you simply erred
>in your judgement.

Mani - please take me for my goods and bads. And my humble apologies for
hurting you.
I realised I was asking a sensitive question. I now find that I have
treaded on ids that are even more egg-shell-like than I thought they were.

Let's leave it at that and move on back to the Tamil digital
standardisation, shall we?

take care..../bala



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