File photo: PM Modi
PM Modi on Sunday spotlighted a quiet but telling cultural push unfolding far beyond India’s borders – a Kannada Pathshala in Dubai – as he underlined how regional languages remain central to India’s identity, even among its global diaspora. In the 129th edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, he said the initiative began with a simple but unsettling question among Kannada families in UAE: while their children were excelling in tech-driven world, were they losing touch with their mother tongue? “This is where Kannada Pathshala was born,” he said.From the Gulf, the PM’s message travelled to the Pacific. He lauded celebration of Tamil Day in Fiji’s Rakiraki, where a school organised its first such event. Students, he said, recited poems, delivered speeches and showcased Tamil culture on stage, signalling a growing attachment to the language among Indian-origin community there. Calling Tamil “the oldest language in the world”, Modi said efforts to promote it were also gaining momentum within India, and cited example of Kashi Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi. “This is Bharat’s unity,” the PM said. He suggested, India’s linguistic heritage continues to travel, and thrive, well beyond its shores.
