Tireless efforts to recognise Tamil in Japan
Muthuji of Omalur
Bhardwaj, a youth from Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu went to Japan in 10th century. To the Japanese he was Baramin. He taught them Buddhism, Ramayana, Sanskrit, Hindu philosophy and passed on them Indian culture, art and music. Today everything with which the Japanese rightly feel proud of as their ancient heritage and culture was given to them by this monk. The Japanese have three scripts and one of them is based on Tamil and Sanskrit. That was given by Baramin Bhardwaj.
A Japanese delegate Shri Shuzo Matsunoga had participated in the Fifth World Tamil Conference held at Thanjavur. He presented a paper on Thirukural and Thiruvalluvar in the eyes of Japan. Muthu, now 91years young, of Omalur off Salem, Tamil Nadu came in contact with Sri Shuzo Matsunoga after the Conference. They discussed at length the Tamil culture and literature. Shuzo translated the English version of GU Popes Thirukuraal (aphorisms) as guided by Muthuji. Shuzo also translated various books of Subramania Bharathi (Kuil Paatu), Naaladiar, Vallalarr poems, Manimegalai and Silapathigaram into Japanese language. Shuzo not only translated the literature but also the culture/rituals of Tamils from birth to death, which was greatly relished by the Japanese. Shuzo also bagged a prize for translation of Tamil work in 1985 organised by the University of Tanjore who also authored a book My India as Seen Through Letters.
Postal Stamp released by the Japanese Government
Now, the Government of Japan has included the Thirukural as a lesson in the textbook at college level. To cap it all, when the Japanese Government proposed to release a postal stamp to honour Shuzo Matsunoga for his works, he humbly refused and said, “To translate this Tamil literature into Japanese language, Muthu from Salem has helped me. So the credit goes to him. On his recommendation the Japanese Government released a postal stamp on Muthu for 80 Yen (Rs 27/-) in 2007. Muthu, a humble and noble person, did nothing for selfish end. It was all for the Tamil literature. He communicated all this over to his friend in Japan only through 200 letters, while, in the Facebook age, individuals transmit info electronically.
Shri Ravikumar of RSS Vishwa Vibhag, during his tour of Tamil Nadu, met Muthuji. He was received well. Muthuji lauded the RSS for its social service and patriotic fervor.
Pasupathi of Salem
Ravikumar also met Pasupathi, a well known writer of Salem, who inspires people by writing telling quotes on the walls of Salem city. His father, a freedom fighter inspired him to do something good to the society and to the nation. On his motivation, Pasupathi spends three hours(on every Thursday) to write good quotations at 20 places which will be displayed for a week. He has been continuously doing this service silently for about 20 years. His quotations have inspired many people. Recently, when his quotations were uploaded in the FaceBook Dr Raghunathan, Brimingham, UK was inspired and compiled the quotations as a book on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding. Thus the good work spreads.
(VSK Chennai)
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