LANGUAGE IN INDIA

AMAZING SURVIVAL, GREAT GROWTH - DIASPORA LITERATURE IN INDIAN TONGUES
Sri Lakshmi's Record of Singapore Tamil Literature
M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF DIASPORA LITERARY WORKS

This article reviews a seminal contribution, documenting the origin, development and growth of Indian Diaspora Tamil Literature in Singapore. This is an excellent work by Dr. Sri Lakshmi, written in lucid Tamil based on her deep research and understanding of the processes of literature creation in Diaspora lands.

We have just begun to record, preserve, think over and admire the sagacity of the Indian pioneers in foreign lands who labored hard for their livelihood and struggled endlessly to maintain their identity in some form or the other.

MODERN INDIAN DIASPORA AND LITERATURE

In recent decades, many writers of Indian origin, writing fiction in English with Indian themes, have received much acclaim in the West. Their focus relates, in some manner, to the life and times of the Indian Diaspora of the twentieth century. They go back in their reminiscences to their roots and try their best to relate themselves to that identity. But, hardly any one of these talented writers has written in their Indian tongues.

PROSPERITY AND RETENTION OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

That prosperity has nothing to do with the desire and determination to preserve one’s own language is daily proved in the growing lack of interest among the modern Indian Diaspora in retaining Indian tongues even in their daily conversations. In fact, prosperity has blunted any desire or need to use their tongues!

A UNIQUE HISTORY OF MALAYA AND SINGAPORE TAMILS

Tamils in Malaysia and Singapore, for more than a century, have not only preserved their identity through the retention of their language, culture and religion, but also have successfully developed written literature of their own. Their Tamil roots have been nurtured by the political, literary and media developments in Tamilnadu and Tamil Eelam, but the original initiative was born of a belief that their language, culture and religions are an integral part of their very being. Literates among these early migrants were conscious of the distinct Tamil heritage, a heritage that they all understood as not depending upon Sanskrit for its growth, continuation and dissemination.

REPRESENTING THE ENTIRE TAMIL COMMUNITY

Despite the fact that early Singapore Tamil migrants predominantly came from one or two Tamil castes, the entire population was well represented by a variety of castes, and had a substantial number of Tamil Muslims. They came largely from a non-Brahmin background with a history of deep traditional Tamil learning and were cemented together by the common medium of Tamil. A good number of them came also from bilingual non- Brahmin Tamil castes whose contribution to the growth and spread of Tamil Bhakti literature has been stupendous. Significantly, Tamil castes including Muslims did not ever believe that it was against their religion or culture to cross the seas and earn their livelihood. In fact, their literature clearly encouraged them to cross the seas and make a living!

THE ORIGINS OF INDIAN DIASPORA IN “FOREIGN” LANDS

When did the movement of Indians as groups of people to foreign lands begin?

Modern movements may be related to the expansion of the British Colonial power beyond India. However, we should really look at the founding or the roots of Indian Diaspora in the historic conversion of Emperor Asoka to Buddhism. Asoka’s missionary zeal encouraged daring and dedicated Buddhists to travel to many nations, establish their own community of monks and believers. It is not clear whether this missionary movement really enabled the movement of ordinary Indian people to foreign lands. However, political patronage must have resulted in a good number of families and professionals to travel as migrants to other nations.

EARLY TRENDS IN MALAYA-SINGAPORE TAMIL LITERATURE

Dr. Sri Lakshmi’s book under review is an excellent compilation of her articles presented in various international seminars. The book is divided into 12 well written chapters. The first chapter is on a great Tamil scholar, considered to be a pioneer of Tamil literature in Malaya-Singapore: C. N. Sadasiva Pandit. The word Pandit here does not refer to any caste affiliation. It simply means a vidwan, in particular a Tamil vidwan, a person of great knowledge and understanding of Tamil.

Early Tamil writers in Malaya and Singapore, following the trends in Tamilnadu and Tamil Eelam, chose to compose poetry, and not use prose for their literary composition. By the time Sadasasiva Pandit wrote his poetry, Tamils have already settled down in Malaya and Singapore, and have built impressive places of worship for the gods, and Masjids for Islamic worship. His early Tamil work was on a Hindu god Murugan, typically described as the god of Tamils, with a tradition of worship and adoration for at least 1800 years among the Tamils. The poet did not fail to notice that they were worshipping this god in a land away from their traditional homeland, but at the same time he had enormous appreciation for Singapore and its multi-ethnic population. The book was printed in a print shop owned by a Tamil Muslim.

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