Coimbatore: As the first world Tamil conference, after the language was granted a classical status, commences in Coimbatore on Wednesday, the venue has turned into a spectacle.
A whopping three hundred and eighty crore rupees have been pumped in and the event brings together around four thousand Tamil scholars and over a lakh visitors from the Tamil diaspora around the world.
"As a Tamil I'm very proud," said one of them. "It's nice, fantastic, and very good for the people of Coimbatore," added another one.
It is Chief Minister Karunanidhi's dream project and to make sure the historic event draws enough audiences, schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu have been shut. There is a special casual leave for government employees and the entire state machinery is camping in the textile city.
A whopping three hundred and eighty crore rupees have been pumped in and the event brings together around four thousand Tamil scholars and over a lakh visitors from the Tamil diaspora around the world.
"As a Tamil I'm very proud," said one of them. "It's nice, fantastic, and very good for the people of Coimbatore," added another one.
It is Chief Minister Karunanidhi's dream project and to make sure the historic event draws enough audiences, schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu have been shut. There is a special casual leave for government employees and the entire state machinery is camping in the textile city.
Prisoners in the state might get lucky as five hundred of them are likely to be released. But lawyers are keeping their fingers crossed they are demanding the right to argue in Tamil in the Madras High Court.
Expressing his doubts, political commentator Cho Ramaswamy said," Are they going to contribute to the growth of Tamil? Are they going to speak sense? They want a big crowd. CM wants a big crowd, that's all."
While Coimbatore will be in the grip of the world Tamil conference fever over the next few days, political commentators will watch every word of Karunanidhi whether he speaks about his retirement plans as announced last year.
Expressing his doubts, political commentator Cho Ramaswamy said," Are they going to contribute to the growth of Tamil? Are they going to speak sense? They want a big crowd. CM wants a big crowd, that's all."
While Coimbatore will be in the grip of the world Tamil conference fever over the next few days, political commentators will watch every word of Karunanidhi whether he speaks about his retirement plans as announced last year.
Story first published:
June 23, 2010 09:38 IST
