India’s power push presents openings for M’sian firms

India's growing power generation, transmissions and distribution sector presents many business opportunities and Malaysian companies should use the zero tariff or low tariff rates under the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement to sell to or source products from there, say industry players.


"India's power sector is growing rapidly and it requires a lot of new generation capacity, equipment, substations, etc, for Malaysian electronic and electrical players to tap. The country can also be a source of supply for many products in the transmission and distribution sector as it has the same standards and power specifications used in Malaysia now," Suresh Kumar Gorasia, managing director of Amalgamated Engineering & Communication Co (KL) Sdn Bhd told The Malaysian Reserve recently.


India is in a hurry to develop its power sector. The country plans to add 82,000MW of installed power by 2017 to meet demand from its booming industrial and urbanising economy.


As it stands, total installed capacity at the end of March 2011 stood at 173,626MW as compared to 132,329MW in 2007. Some 21.17% of current capacity was held by the private sector.


India now has plans to generate up to 35GW of power through renewable energy sources by 2015 that will require some US$55 billion (RM164.77 billion) in investments.


The Indian government is targeting rural electrification of 110,000 villages during the 12th five-year plan (2013-2018). The country has liberalised the sector, allow 100% foreign direct investment in generation and transmission and distribution.


Malaysian companies like Eversendai Corp Bhd and Mudajaya Group Bhd are involved in the development of new generation assets while in the transmission and distribution side, Malaysian suppliers have been importing and using products like switchgears and transformers from the country.


Part of the reason is that India's transmission and distribution sector has kept pace with global technology and industry developments and is now positioning itself as a global hub with its "right technology at the right price" approach.


The country is targeting growing energy markets like Africa, Latin America, Asean, Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States via annual exhibitions such as the 10th addition of the International exhibition of electrical and industrial electronic industry or ELECRAMA 2012 that was held in Mumbai in January.


The exhibition, one of the largest of its kind in the world, attracted a large delegation from Africa where the power sector is expanding to meet the growing economies of the continent much like in the case of India.

MALAYSIA'S INDIAN COMMUNITY

The Indian community in Malaysia is the smallest of the three main ethnic groups, accounting for about 10% of the country's population. Tamils, Malayalees and Telegu-speaking people make up over 85% of the people of Indian origin in the country. The Punjabis (mostly Sikhs) are also substantial in number and the people of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan origin are included in the "Indian" category for statistical purposes. Indians first came to Malaya for barter trade, especially in the former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and Penang.
However, when India came under British rule, Indian labourers were sent to Malaya to work on sugar cane and coffee plantations and later in the rubber and oil palm estates. Some of them also came to work on the construction of buildings, roads and bridges. These labourers were mostly Hindu Tamils from Southern India and they were supervised by kanganis (overseers) and mandurs (foreman) who were from the upper caste Tamils. Sri Lankan Tamils came to Malaya as white-collar workers, holding jobs like clerks and hospital assistants. As for the Punjabis from Punjab (North India), most of them joined the army in Malaya while some handled the bullock-cart services in the country. One of the main reasons the Indians willingly left their homeland for Malaya was because of the caste system being practiced in their country. Under the system, those who are born into the lower castes can never improve their standing in society.
The Indians who came to Malaysia brought with them the Hindu culture - its unique temples, delicious cuisine and colourful garments. Hindu tradition remains strong until today in the Indian community of Malaysia. There's also the Chitty community in Malacca - similar to the Babas and Nyonyas, it is the result of the assimilation between the Indian immigrants and local culture. Though they remain Hindu, the Chitties speak Bahasa Malaysia and their women dress in sarong kebayas instead of sarees. However other Indian Hindus retain their vernacular languages and dialects. The community celebrates two main festivals - Deepavali and Thaipusam - and many other smaller religious events each year. Indians in Malaysia mainly speak Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu and some Hindi.
Malaysia

13 steps in hindu marriage Hindu Indian Weddings indian couples in their wedding dress

HINDU INDIAN WEDDING

Hindu Indian marriages are performed by priests who chant Sanskrit hymns and mantras in front of the sacred fire, while special Indian wedding music - Shehnai in the North Indian weddings and Nadaswaram in the South Indian weddings - are played.

A typical Hindu Indian marriage begins with the selection of an auspicious day, and time to perform the wedding. A day before the wedding, the bride's palm and feet are decorated with henna or mehendi. The Indian wedding ceremony is conducted in a mandap, a special dias decorated with flowers for the occasion.

The Indian wedding procession of the groom, the Baraat, is a main event on the groom's side. The baraat headed by a display of fireworks, accompanied by the rhythm of the dholak or melam, reaches the meeting point, where the elders of both the families meet and welcome the groom with garlands and aarati.

After this the bride, decked with the finest of jewelry, and the groom sit in the mandap in front of the sacred fire, where the kanyadaan is performed. Kanyadaan is the ritual where the bride is given to the groom by her father, symbolizing giving of the bride to Vishnu. Next, the groom ties the knot. The ritual of pradakshina follows, where the bride and the groom walk seven times around the sacrificial fire. The last stage of the Indian marriage ceremony is the saptapadi, where the bride and the groom take seven steps together facing the north, after which the bride shifts to the groom's left. The couple is now declared married.

Hindu Wedding Rituals

13 Steps of a Vedic Marriage Ceremony

While various regional steps are followed by different sects of Hindus across India, the following 13 steps form the core of a Vedic wedding ceremony:

Vara Satkaarah - Reception of the bridegroom and his kinsmen at the entrance gate of the wedding hall where the officiating priest chants a few mantras and the bride's mother blesses the groom with rice and trefoil and applies tilak of vermilion and turmeric powder.

Madhuparka Ceremony - Reception of the bridegroom at the altar and bestowing of presents by the bride's father.

Kanya Dan - The bride's father gives away his daughter to the groom amidst the chanting of sacred mantras.

Vivah-Homa - The sacred fire ceremony ascertaining that all auspicious undertakings are begun in an atmosphere of purity and spirituality.

Pani-Grahan - The groom takes the right hand of the bride in his left hand and accepts her as his lawfully wedded wife.

Pratigna-Karan - The couple walk round the fire, the bride leading, and take solemn vows of loyalty, steadfast love and life-long fidelity to each other.

Shila Arohan- The mother of the bride assists her to step onto a stone slab and counsels her to prepare herself for a new life.

Laja-Homah - Puffed rice offered as oblations into the sacred fire by the bride while keeping the palms of her hands over those of the groom.

Parikrama or Pradakshina or Mangal Fera- The couple circles the sacred fire seven times. This aspect of the ceremony legalizes the marriage according to the Hindu Marriage Act as well custom.

Saptapadi - Marriage knot symbolized by tying one end of the groom's scarf with the bride's dress. Then they take seven steps representing nourishment, strength, prosperity, happiness, progeny, long life and harmony and understanding, respectively.

Abhishek - Sprinkling of water, meditating on the sun and the pole star.

Anna Praashan- The couple make food offerings into the fire then feed a morsel of food to each other expressing mutual love and affection.

Aashirvadah - Benediction by the elders.

A short Hindu wedding ceremony

Traditional Hindu wedding ceremonies can last for days and involve much ritual in Sanskrit which may be understood only by the priest conducting the service. This ceremony is considerably shorter and is intended to be understandable even to a non-Indian audience, making it suitable for intercultural or mixed Hindu/non-Hindu marriages. The couple for whom it was originally written based it on the Gujarati Brahmin traditions of the bride's family with a few touches from Unitarian and secular wedding services familiar to the groom's family. It includes three spots to insert optional readings and musical performances of your choosing.

The priest in this ceremony need not be formally trained as a Hindu priest. He or she should be familiar with Hindu weddings and comfortable acting as a master of ceremonies, guiding the participants through their parts and explaining the meaning of the service to the audience. It's okay if the priest keeps the script in hand during the ceremony.

Roles

Bride

Groom

Priest (who in this ceremony also serves as the MC)

Bride's parents

Groom's parents

Bride's maternal uncle (maamaa)

Bride's brother (or cousin or male friend)

Best man

Chorus: a few women who know how to sing traditional Indian slokas

Flower girls (optional)

Set

Hindu weddings are supposed to take place outside, on the earth, under a canopy known as a mandap. If that's not possible, you can build a mandap inside and pretend you're outdoors. Seating under the mandap can be on the ground (carpets or mats would be a good idea) or on chairs.

Front and center under the mandap is the sacred fire. The fire can be small and confined to a brazier or dish for safety.

The groom's party is supposed to arrive at the wedding spot in a procession, so it's good to have a convenient assembly location nearby.

Props

Coconut

Garlands to be exchanged by bride and groom

Rings to be exchanged by bride and groom

Wedding necklace (mangalsutra)

Gift from groom to bride's brother

Gift from bride's mother to groom

Sacred fire

Sacred rope (varamala), tied in a loop large enough to go easily around bride and groom

Pots of water for washing hands and feet

Kumkum or red paste applied to forehead

Rice

Flowers

Wardrobe

Traditionally, the bride wears a red or red and white sari. The sari should be draped modestly over her hair. The groom wears a kafni (long shirt extending to the knees) with pijamo (leggings) or dhoti (sort of an overgrown loincloth). The groom might also wear a turban.

Of course, in an adapted ceremony like this one great liberties can be taken with wardrobe. One rule which shouldn't be broken is that anyone who enters the mandap or wedding canopy must have on sandals or slip-on shoes which can be easily removed (no shoes in the mandap!). In addition, it's a good idea to avoid much black.

One feature of the bride's wardrobe which has become popular abroad is the use of henna or mehndi to decorate her hands and feet. It's said that you can tell how well a new bride is being treated by her in-laws from how long it takes for the mehndi to wear off. Mehndi treatments are increasingly available in salons or you can get mehndi mix at any Indian grocery store for a do-it-yourself job. (But be sure to practice on paper first! Mehndi doesn't wash off.)


Script

Groom's party assembles a few minutes before scheduled ceremony time at a convenient spot near ceremony location. (E.g., a neighbor's house or a parking lot around the corner.) Older members of the party may go on to the ceremony location to be seated. Groom is holding a coconut and bride's garland.

Groom's party walks in a procession to ceremony location. (For extra credit, groom rides on a horse or better yet an elephant!) Groom is received by bride's mother who applies kumkum to his forehead. Groom bows to bride's mother and gives her coconut.

Bride's parents escort groom and best man to the mandap. Groom's party is seated nearby.

After groom is in position in the mandap, bride comes out carrying groom's garland, escorted by maternal uncle, optionally preceded by flower girls.

Priest says:

We have come together to wed (bride), daughter of (bride's parents), to (groom), son of (groom's parents). Today they build together the foundation of their marriage upon the earth, in the presence of the sacred fire and the radiant sun, among their family and friends.

Bride and groom are seated facing one another under the mandap. Chorus sings the slokas:

Invocation to Lord Ganesha: Vignesh varaia varadaia sukhapriyaya...

Invocation to Saraswati: Yakundendutusharahara dhawala...

Prayer for harmony: Om sahana vavatu...

Bride garlands groom. Groom garlands bride.

Reading #1.

Bride's parents wash bride's and groom's hands and feet, apply kumkum and give flowers. (Bride's mother does this to bride, bride's father to groom.)

Bride's parents address audience:

I, (name), son/daughter of (grandparents' names), approve the wedding of my daughter, (bride's name), to (groom's name).

Groom says:

I, (groom's name), take you, (bride's name), into my heart as my wife.

Bride says:

I, (bride's name), take you, (groom's name), into my heart as my husband.

Priest says:

A circle is the symbol of the sun and the earth and the universe. It is a symbol of holiness and of perfection and of peace. In these rings it is the symbol of unity, in which your lives are now joined in one unbroken circle, in which, wherever you go, you will always return to one another and to your togetherness.

Bride and groom exchange rings.

Priest puts varamala (sacred rope) around bride's and groom's necks. They're now married!

The couple, who had been sitting facing one another, now sit down side by side. Bride's father puts bride's hand in groom's.

Song or musical performance. (Traditionally this is the time to sing a mangalashtak, a poem composed specially for the occasion.)

Bride cups her hands and places them in groom's cupped hands. Bride's brother puts rice in bride's hands. Together bride and groom pour the mixture into the fire.

Bride and groom walk around the fire four times, alternating in who leads. Priest says:

Om Svaha! With the first turn, we pray for happiness in the union of the couple. 

Om Svaha! With the second turn, we pray for the long life of the couple. 

Om Svaha! With the third turn, we pray for the healthy life of the couple. 

Om Svaha! With the fourth turn, we pray for the happiness and health of the couple.

The bride and groom sit down. (Here's a fun part: whoever sits down first will be the boss in the marriage!) Groom presents a gift to the bride's brother.

Priest says:

Now is the time to confirm the marriage with the seven final steps.

Bride and groom rise and prepare to take seven steps. Priest continues:

I ask you, (bride) and (groom), to concentrate upon these seven vows as you take the seven steps:

May the couple be blessed with an abundance of food.

May the couple be strong and complement one another.

May the couple be blessed with prosperity.

May the couple be eternally happy.

May the couple be blessed with children. 

Idea: one "blended family" we know of changed this to "May the couple be blessed with obedient children." :-)

May the couple live in perfect harmony.

May (bride) and (groom) always be the best of friends.

Optional step to shock the traditional Hindus: bride and groom steal a kiss!

Bride and groom feed each other sweets four times. Bride's mother gives groom a gift. Groom's mother comes to the mandap and puts the mangalsutra necklace around the bride's neck.

Reading #2.

Chorus sings the sloka:

Blessing for Everlasting Love: Advaitam...

...as bride and groom bow to all their seniors in both parties in rough order according to age (eldest first).

Adjourn to refreshments and photo ops. Mob scene ensues!

Post-Marriage Ceremonies

The marriage is not over, just because the main ceremony is over.

The bride and bridegroom go to their new home, and begin their new lives with the following ceremonies :

Grahapravesha - Entering the Home

The couple depart from the girl’s house after the vidai , for the groom’s house.

They carry behind the couple the sacred fire in a vessel. They should keep the re constantly alight.

When they reach his house, he says:

"Enter with your right foot. Do not remain outside."

The bride enters the home placing the right foot - considered auspicious, first.

When the bride and the groom enter the groom's house, the mother of the groom welcomes the bride by doing an aarati.

Talambra

In many South Indian marriages the rice mixed with the turmeric is poured over the heads of groom and bride by bride and groom. After this there are ceremonies of name calling singing and other games aimed at the bringing the bride and the groom closer.

Arundhati Darshan

Arundhathi Darshana is the showing of the Saptha Rishi Mandala and the small star Arundhathi underneath the star of Vashistha.

These seven sages and their families are the originators of the Vedic Lore of the Hindus. In memoriam of these great sages the seven stars in the Great Bear constellation are named after them.

The significance of this ritual is to remind the couple of the cosmic responsibilities they have to fulfill.

Darshan of these Great Sages is intended to remind the couple the heritage they have to carry and the debt to the sages they have to pay.

They sit in silence until the stars are visible.

Dhruva Darshan - Looking at the Polestar

After sunset he shows her the polar star, saying:

"You are firm and I see you. Be rm with me, O ourishing one! Brhaspati has given you to me, so live with me a hundred years bearing children by me, your husband."

imitation jewelry

Very Important If you are Purchasing Dimond Jewelry In diamonds, fakes are also forever

Go for imitation ones as real and fake stones are almost impossible to tell apart

"These days people are too fond of fashion jewellery instead of gold, I hear," a proud mother remarked while asking her daughter whether she was regularly wearing the ornaments she got in her wedding a few years ago.

The mother was shocked when the daughter said, "Mine has been mostly lying in the bank locker. I wore one of them at a marriage some time back."

The mother asked, "Which one did you wear, the diamonds which we gifted during your wedding?"

"Yeah, at least they are fashionable. But tell me how much had you paid for them? Rs 25,000 or something," the daughter asked.

But the mother got angry. "You kids don't know how to value anything. You need to add another digit to that number," she snapped.

This time it was the daughter's chance to be startled. "What! You paid lakhs for those! At the wedding people couldn't distinguish between the real diamonds that I wore and what the aunt who came down from US wore. She bought those fake diamonds after landing here. I went with her to shop and don't think they cost more than Rs 3,300. She got as many compliments as I got."

"Yes, but you don't understand that there is no resale value for that Rs 3,300 that she spent. I bought that other diamond pendant for Rs 25,000 to wear at your cousin's marriage few years before yours. I just revalued it. The jeweller told me he will pay Rs 25,000. So at least my money is coming back to me," the mother said.

"Ma, but he is paying you for the rise in the gold that is holding the diamond in the pendant. It was at Rs 4,000 per 10 gram when you bought the pendant, while today it is at Rs 18,000 plus. Which means the resale price of the diamonds hasn't gone up much."

Mother was silenced by the argument. "My jeweller told me that small diamonds have no resale value. And we can't afford the ones with high carats. So what's the point of buying real diamonds when the similar looking artificial variants can be owned in few thousands," the daughter went on.

This is not a debate in just this family alone. Many face a dilemma whether to go for fake or real diamonds.

It’s slated to be one of the biggest weddings in Mumbai this season. Well-known industrialist Champalal Vardhan’s eldest daughter Neelam will tie the knot with Tushar Parekh, who owns a KPO, on May 21. Ten different events comprising sangeet, mehendi, dinner parties, DJ nights, Bingo nights, mela party etc. have been organised as part of the pre-marriage celebrations. Out of these, the Bingo night that took place on Saturday and the mela party that takes place tonight are the most talked-about.

A source who attended the Bingo night says, “The prizes for the winners were high-end mobile phones, exotic holiday packages abroad and luxury cars.”

And tonight a portion of the Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel will be transformed into a live mela. Finally on May 21 — the wedding day — the venue Turf Club is expected to host about 5,000 people.

Champalal Vardhan says, “It’s an arranged marriage. I am happy that I have found a good son-in-law in Tushar. Attending the wedding will be the likes of Chhagan Bhujbal, Uddhav Thackeray, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Ashok Chavan, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Gurudas Kamat, Pradeep Jain, etc."

Tamil Language ( by Prof. M. Varadarajan)

Old Dravidian

In the historical past Proto-Dravidian was spoken throughout India. When the Turanians and the Aryans came to India through the Khyber and the Bolan Passes respectively, and mingled with the local population of the North, the North Indian languages of Proto-Dravidian origin changed to a great extent. As a consequence Praakrit and Paali emerged as the languages of the masses in the northern part of India. Despite the commingling of local and foreign ethnic elements, a section of Proto-Dravidians maintained their ethnic and cultural identity in some isolated areas, spoke corrupt forms of Proto-Dravidian languages and these have survived, to this day, as living examples of ancient Dravidian languages. Languages such as Kolami, Parji, Naiki, Gondi, Ku, Kuvi, Konda, Malta, Oroan, Gadba, Khurukh, and Brahui are examples of Dravidian languages prevalent in the North. Today Proto-Dravidian speakers are increasingly mingling with other linguistic groups and learning their languages. Therefore, their numerical strength is on the decline. People living in the Rajmahal mountains in Bengal and in the areas adjacent to Chota Nagpur are good examples of the intermingling. A section of people living in Baluchistan speak Brahui, which has many linguistic features similar to the Dravidian languages spoken in South India. Scholars are surprised today to note many linguistic similarities between Tamil and Brahui, especially in numerals, personal pronouns, syntax and in other linguistic features. The Indian Census report of 1911 classified Brahui as a language belonging to the Dravidian family. It was then spoken by about 170, 000 people, although this number over the years dwindled to a couple of thousands. Whatever be their numerical strength now, they are proof of the fact that the Dravidians in some age of the historical past were spread in the region between Baluchistan and Bengal and spoke the Proto-Dravidian idiom. 

North Indian Languages

Since the Dravidians lived throughout the Indian subcontinent at some historical past, certain syntactical affinities are noticeable even today between the South and a large number of North Indian languages.

When Praakrit and Paali became popular in the North, the Proto-Dravidian language lost its ground there, and confined itself entirely to the South. Even in South India it did not remain as one single language for a long time. Dialectical differences arose partly due to the political division of the Tamil country into three distinct Tamil kingdoms and partly due to the natural barriers created by rivers and mountains. The absence of proper land communication among the three Tamil kingdoms also accentuated this process of dialectal differences. As a result the Dravidian language spoken by the people. who lived in the regions north and south of the Tirupati mountains, varied to such an extent as to become two independent languages, Tamil and Telugu. The language spoken in the region of Mysore came to be known as Kannada. Malayalam emerged as yet another distinct language in Kerala. All these far-reaching changes occurred at different periods of time in the history of the Dravidian languages. Among these four languages, it is only the Tamil language which has a long literary tradition.

The term Dravidian, which refers to the language of South India, is of a later origin. Originally it was derived from the word tamil /tamiz> . This word in course of time changed into dravida after undergoing a series of changes like tamiza, tramiza, tramiTa, trapida and travida. At one time the languages spoken in the regions of Karnataka, Kongu and Malabar were respectively known as Karunaattut-tamil, Tulunattut-tamil and Malainattut-tamil. Today however, these regional languages are classified under the blanket term "Dravidian family of languages".

South Indian Languages

Many common linguistic features are still discernible among these Dravidian languages. Some five thousand words are common to these languages. Many grammatical forms are common. The overwhelming influence of Sanskrit scholars and the indiscriminate borrowing of Sanskrit words resulted in the emergence of Kannada and Telugu as distinct languages from Tamil some fifteen hundred years ago. The influence of Sanskrit on Malayalam language came to be felt only about eight centuries ago, and therefore, the areas of difference between Tamil and Malayalam are not many. Tamil was the language of bureaucracy, of literati and of culture for several centuries in Kerala. In fact, fifteen centuries ago the rulers of Kerala were all Tamils. Up to the tenth century the Pandya kings ruled Kerala with royal titles such as 'Perumaankal and 'Perumaankanar'. It was a Tamil poet from Trivandrum who in fact presided over the academy of Tamil scholars, when they met to evaluate the famous Tamil grammatical work Tolkappiyam. From the third century 13.C. to the first century A.D., many poets from Kerala composed poems in Tamil and their compositions are included in Tamil anthologies such as Akananaru and Purananaru. All the one hundred poems in the anthology PatiRRuppattuextol the greatness of the kings of the Kerala region. The author of the famous Tamil epic Cilappatikaram was a poet from Kerala. The shrine in honor of KaNNaki, the heroine of Cilappatikaram, was built at Tiruvancikkulam in Kerala. Among the Saiva and Vaisnava composers, CEramAn PerumAl Nayanaar and KulacEkara Alvaar respectively, belong to the Kerala region. AiyanEritanaar, the author of the tenth century grammatical work PuRapporul VeNpaamaalai, hailed from Kerala. Many scholars and pundits from Kerala contributed much to the Tamil language and literature and the historical evidence shows that the region now known as the State of Kerala was once an integral part of Tamil Nadu at some period of time. Because of these reasons there is greater affinity between Tamil and Malayalam than between Tamil and Kannada or Telugu.


Tamil Scripts

The earlier Tamil inscriptions were written in braahmi, grantha and vaTTezuttu scripts.* Inscriptions after the seventh century A.D. contain Tamil characters similar to the one now in vogue. This prompted some scholars to argue that vatteluttu and Tamil scripts originated from braahmi scripts. This view has no solid base, for one can see a copious description of Tamil scripts in Tolkaappiyam, which belongs to third century B.C. It is obvious therefore, that Tamil language had a distinct script of its own even at that early period. In fact vaTTezuttu is none other than the old Tamil script. Even the southern braahmi was a corrupt form of vaTTezuttu . Distinct differences exist between the southern and the northern braahmi script, for the southern one had its genesis in vaTTezuttu . Much before brahmi scripts could become popular the Tamils possessed a script of their own which they put to use in their commercial transactions and in their writings.

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* According to Professor M. Varadarajan, vaTTezuttu was nothing but the scripts inscribed on stones. They had been known as veTTezuttu or letters inscribed on stones. But in course of time and by usage it was transformed into vaTTezuttu . For an in-depth study of Tamil scripts refer, M. Varadarajan. Moli Varalaaru (The History of Tamil Language), Madras, 1954, pp. 425~37. The view of a historian on the same subject is as follows: "What the vaTTezuttu is and how it came into being and how it was practiced we cannot say definitely. But we can say almost with some definiteness that it represents a very ancient cursive alphabet, perhaps the primitive South Indian alphabet which existed long, long before the inscriptions of Asoka." V.R.R. Dikshitar, Pre-Historic South India, Madras, 1951, p. 218. Yet for another view of the origins of Tamil scripts refer, John R. Marr, "The Early Dravidians" in A.L. Basham (ed.), A Cultural History of India, London. 1975, pp. 32-34.
--

The Tamii characters which are in use today also can be deemed to have originated from vatteluttu. There are twelve vowels in Tamil consisting of five short vowels, a, i, u, e, and o («, ­, ¯, ±, ´); their corresponding five long vowels, aa, ii, uu, ee and oo (¬, ®, °, ², µ) and two letters ai and au (³, ´Ç) for the prevention of hiatus. There are eighteen consonants made up of six surds k. c, T, t, p, and R (ì, î, ð, ò, ô, ü) and their corresponding six sonants g, j, N, n, m, n2 (í, ï, ñ, ó, õ, ý) and six medials y, r, l, v, z and L ( ö, ÷, ø, ù, ú, û) . The two short vowels e and o (±, ´) which are not in Devanagari are essential to Tamil and other languages of the Dravidian family. There is a world of difference in meaning between the words eTu and ETu (±Î, ²Î); koTu and kOTu (¦¸¡Î, §¸¡Î), teL and tEL (¦¾û, §¾û ); as well as koL and kOl (¦¸¡û, §¸¡ø). It is therefore, needless to emphasise the importance of short and long vowels like e and ee/E (±, ²); as well as o and O (´, µ ) in Tamil. There are no aspirated consonants like gha or cha in Tamil. Likewise the letter h ( † ) is also absent in Tamil. But a corresponding leter k (· ), known as aytam is used to soften the surds in Tamil. The trilled consonant R (ü) is quite different from r (÷).The consonant n (ý ) has a nasal sound and it is different from other dentals. The consonant l ( ø ) is equally essential like that of the consonant L ( û ). These two different l's exist both in Telugu and in Kannada. The consonant z (ú) is found only in Tamil and Malayalam. It had existed in old Kannada but not now. The two vowels ru ( Õ ) and lu ( Ö), which are there in Devanagari, are not there in Tarr.ih The short-nature u (¯) and i ( ­ ) sounds are in Tamil, but there are no letters to indicate them.

If the letters ka, ca, Ta, ta, pa (¸, º, ¼, ¾, À) appear at the beginning of a word, after hard vowel consonants. and after doubling they will be pronounced like surds. In other places they will be pronounced like sonants. Although there are no distinct letters for surds and sonants in Tamil, the vowel consonants themselves are pronounced like surds and sonants depending on the place in which they appear. Therefore the one Tamil consonant ka (k) is pronounced like gha depending upon its placement in a word. Likewise other hard vowel consonants ta (¾ ), ca (º), Ta (¼) and pa (À) are pronounced differently like ( dha, cha, tha, bha) respectively according to the place where they appear in a word. There are no sibilants like sa, sha, Sa in Tamil.

There are distinct letters in Tamil to indicate numerals and fractions. There are evidences to show that the present roman numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 originated from Tamil.

Two Different Types of Tamil Style

Though the efforts to Sanskritise Tamil no longer exist, the repercussions of those earlier efforts are still felt in society. One effect, of course, was the virulent opposition to the use of Sanskrit words in Tamil, and this opposition has not subsided even today. At a time when all merit and greatness were attributed to Sanskrit alone, Tamil scholars like cUriyanarayana Sastriar and CuvAmi Vetaacalam preferred to use only the Tamil equivalents of their Sanskrit names, Paritimarkalainjar and MaRaimalaiyaTikal respectively. Despite their stance, their earlier Tamil prose works contained many words of Sanskrit origin. When the Sanskritists claimed that Tamil could not exist without Sanskrit, the two Tamil scholars addressed themselves to the task of writing Tamil without borrowing from Sanskrit. Curiyanarayana Sastriyar, the pioneer of this style of writing died at a very young age. His contemporary, MaTaimalaiyaTikal lived longer and crystallized this attitude into a movement in 1916. Since then the movement has been popularly known as the Tanit-Tamil lyakkam or the Pure Tamil Movement among the Tamil scholars. Its impact still persists among the Tamils. Those who have interest in m ai n tai n ing the purity of Tamil language even now prefer to substitute a Tamil equivalent for Sanskrit names given by their parents. With vengeance they totally reject borrowines from Sanskrit. Instead they prefer to borrow from English. The Tamil scholars consider it their duty to write in chaste Tamil free from Sanskrit and have been writing like this since the inception of the Pure Tamil Movement. The virulence of the movement was due to the past pride of the Sanskritists in their knowledge of Sanskrit language. The blunders committed by them have given rise to two different views as well as controversies in the use of Tamil. One group preferred to use as far as possible a pure Tamil without the admixture of Sanskrit words; others preferred to write in a hybrid language. Even now many writers to daily newspapers, weeklies and monthlies write in a hybrid language. Therefore the Tamil scholars denounce their writing as faulty. The writings of the Tamil scholars are criticised as too difficult to read, lifeless and artificial. Thus the effect of the old controversy still exists, although in a different form.In the historic past, Sanskrit played the role of a communication language among the scholars, who lived in different parts of the Indian sub-continent. Therefore it was learnt avidly by scholars at Kanchipuram as well as at Banaras. The sum-total of human knowledge available from Kaveri to the Gangetic plains was written in the Sanskrit language. Ideas relating to literature, religion and theories of art were found elaborately set forth in Sanskrit. Many forget that quite a lot of authors of these Sanskrit works were scholars from South India. For example Dandin the author of the Kavyadarga in Sanskrit, was a scholar from Kanchipuram in the Tamil country. Sankara the exponent of Advaita philosophy, was again a South Indian. He mentioned in his works Saint Njanacampantar, the crusader against Jainism in South India. Raamanujar, the originator of Visishtaadvaita philosophy was a Tamillian and he lived every close to Kanchipuram. Scholars who analysed the life-style and arts of the people of the Tamil country, wrote many works on the Bharata Naatyasastra, the Carnatic music and on astrology. Therefore, if one considers these facts dispassionately, it was unrealistic on the part of later day Sanskrit scholars to denigrate Tamil language and literature. It is equally true in the case of Tamil scholars to think that theories and ideas found in Sanskrit were alien to Tamil.
The Tamil scholars took the cue from the old commentators for writing prose. The commentators including Parimelazakar and others, who were known for their scholarship in Sanskrit, wrote in pure Tamil with the least borrowing from Sanskrit. Their style of writing was similar to the one now in vogue, for the present-day Tamil scholars adopted only their style.
The journalists' style has been based on the spoken language of the Tarnils. In spoken language, foreign loan words are mixed freely and syntax corresponds to emotional situations. Poet Paaratiyaar composed pooms largely in pure Tamil. He followed the same method while writing essays too.
Tiru. Vi. Kaliyanacuntaraar moved very closely with Tamil scholars and journalists. He was himself a distinguished scholar and a seasoned journalist. He wrore many literary works and also edited a number of daily newspapers and weeklies. He was a link between the Tamil schoiars and the journalist of his day. His earlier writings abound in Sanskrit words. With the advent of the Pure Tamil Movement, he began to write without the admixture of Sanskrit words. He used foreign words only when there were no suitable Tamil words to express a particular idea. He gave up long and stilted sentences and largely used emotionally charged short sentences common to spokon language. Thus his writings and speeches, tried to bridge the chasm that existed between the scholars and journalists. Even now two different types of styles exist: one adoptod by the scholars and the other followed by the journalists.