Disanayake keeps things ‘simple’
Ishara Jayawardane
J B Disanayake launched his book Simple Tamil recently before a
gathering comprising of the academia Colombo. The occasion was well
attended with guests thronging the SLFI auditorium.
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Professor Disanayake hands over the first copy of his book.
Picture by Prabodhi Lanka |
“This book is for those who cannot afford to cash in a lot of money
to learn the subject. There is no catch in this. This is for little
Tamil children. It is presented for them to know their own language. It
teaches them how to write in Tamil. This is not solely for Tamil
Children but for the Sinhalese children to learn Tamil as well,” said
Professor Disanayake.
He said that anybody who wants to learn Tamil can do so and he or she
can learn to write in Tamil even if he or she is a Tamil, Muslim or
Sinhalese.
“I am giving 10,000 copies free to children in the North and the
East.
The ideologies of this book can be absorbed in a short space of time.
You will be able to understand, speak and read in Tamil soon,” he added.
Professor Disanayake posed a question: “How suitable am I to write
this book? I am a linguist. A doctor knows the anatomy of a human body.
He knows the structure. Likewise I know the structure of the language.
Peace prevails partly through the understanding of language. My hope is
that those of you who have this book will start to learn Tamil.”
One of the guests who attended the occasion was Professor Carlo
Fonseka. He dubbed Disanayake as a ‘linguist par excellence’.
“The difference between the evolution of man and beast is simply
language,” Professor Fonseka noted.
Professor Disanayake had first learnt Tamil in grade 6 while at
Ananda College. He says that he his act of publishing a book on the
language embodies good intentions. Language bridges barriers. He hopes
to bridge the ethnic differences via language. |
