Chennai:
The next time Union minister P Chidambaram recites Tirukkural couplets in Parliament, elected members from Punjab need not feel left out. The Tirukkural, a Sangam period collection of more than 1,000 rhyming couplets, will soon find its place in Punjabi book shelves too.
A retired principal of the government college of Faridkot in Punjab, Dr Tarlochan Singh Bedi has translated the ancient classic into Punjabi. It will soon be released by the Chennai-based Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), an autonomous body of the Union ministry of human resources development. The centre, established in 2007 in Chennai to promote classical Tamil, is working to bring out translated versions of 41 Tamil classics, including the Tirukkural.
Bedi said there were similarities between the ideas of Guru Nanak and those in the Tirukkural. “The focal point of the Tirukkural is feelings of love for human beings, which is what Guru Nanak preached too,” he told TOI over phone. Bedi has written many articles on the cultural and linguistic similarities between Tamil and Punjabi. His son is Tamil Nadu agriculture secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, who is well known in Cuddalore for his tsunami rehabilitation work in 2004 when he was district collector.
“I heartily welcome the translation of the Tirukkural into as many languages as possible, for it is a unique contribution of the early Tamil civilization and culture. It is a universal treatise,” said former IGNOU vice-chancellor V C Kulandaisamy. The professor, who is also the former chief of the Tamil Language Promotion Board, said the Tirukkural was relevant even today, given its secular outlook.
The Tirukkural has been translated into English, Latin, German, French, Dutch, Finish, Polish, Russian, Fiji and Malay languages. CICT is on the verge of completing translations into Telugu, Kannada, Manipuri and Nepali with the help of experts from Mysore, Chennai, Madurai and Delhi. Expert committees have been set up to evaluate the quality of the translations.
Meanwhile, Tamil scholars alleged that CICT has been slow to produce major works, including definitive editions of ancient Tamil classics, which were planned years ago. “CICT should have been a powerful academic body by this time,” said former University of Madras vice-chancellor Pon Kothandaraman, better known as Portko. He said his critical edition on Tolkappiam, an ancient literary classic, which was submitted to the institute years ago, has not yet been published. CICT officials said the projects are in various stages of progress.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Chennai / by Julie Mariappan, TNN / October 29th, 2012