Prime Minister Modi today again said not learning the Tamil language was one of his long-standing regrets in a long political career.
Calling Tamil the “world’s oldest language”, Prime Minister Modi today again said not learning the Tamil language was one of his long-standing regrets in a long political career. PM Modi, in his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio talk today, praised Tamil literature and poetry. His praise of the language comes ahead of the southern state going to polls on April 6.
PM Modi, addressing his radio show, today said that in its run-up, one listener Aparna Reddy had asked him if there was something he missed out on during these long years as Chief Minister and Prime Minister.
“I thought about the question and felt that – it is a regret of sorts that I could not learn the world’s oldest language, Tamil. It is a beautiful language and popular across the world. Many people told me about the qualities of Tamil literature and the depths of Tamil poetry,” PM Modi said.
In the recent past, PM Modi has used Tamil in his speeches and quoted Tamil verses in Parliament.
The Prime Minister, in 2018, had publicly regretted not being able to speak Tamil. PM Modi, in an address to the United Nations in 2019, had quoted Tamil philosopher-poet Kaniyan Pungundranar to convey his message on India’s civilizational instinct to always look beyond its borders.
“Three thousand years ago, a great poet of India, Kaniyan Pungundranar, wrote in Tamil, the most ancient language of the world, ‘Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir’, which means, ‘We belong to all places and to everyone’. This sense of belonging beyond borders is unique to India,” PM Modi had told the 74th UN General Assembly in New York.
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