Chennai: Language and culture go together and we need to preserve them, said Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu today speaking at the annual convocation ceremony of the Presidency College at University of Madras Campus here.
Venkaiah’s speech that was punctuated with pun and humour touched mostly upon importance of Indian culture, tradition and current affairs of the country.
He started his speech in Tamil saying ‘Thamizhum Tamilnaadum en manadhirku nerukamaanavai’, amidst cheer from students.
Talking about the importance of mother tongue, Venkaiah said, “Mother tongue is like your eye. The other language is your spectacle. If you don’t have good eyesight, than even wearing Rayban glasses is not enough. Never forget Tamil which came from your mother. Whatever is your mother tongue, propagate it and speak at home.”
Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Vice-President said that north Indian people should learn one of south Indian languages and south Indian people should learn a north Indian language. He said that learning Hindi is important as it is one of the widely spoken languages in the country.
“Nothing is forced, but we must have the aptitude to learn many languages,” he said.
Venkaiah said, “I am happy to be part of the occasion. I am from your neighbouring State. From my student days, I used to hear about Presidency College. It is one of the oldest, finest and most prestigious college of south India. The graduation cap, the gown and the scroll places a great responsibility on you. It places a daunting and important task of nation buillding. It is your devotion that will bring a billion dreams of our nation to fruition.”
“What is more heartening about the institution is that more than 90 per cent students come from socially and economically weaker sections and are first generation graduates studying with the help of State Government schemes. The first gold medalist today was a differently-abled person. Education should be a mission, it should not have any commission,” he added.
Talking about Indian traditional practices such as Yoga, the Vice- President said, “Yoga has nothing to do with religion. Yoga is not for Modi, it is for the body. Today, 172 nations across the globe are following yoga. I have visited Peru, Panama, Serbia, Malta and people there are talking about yoga. It brings unity of mind and body.”
Tamilnadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the students are lucky to receive their graduation certificate from the Vice President of India.
Jayakumar praised Venkaiah for rising from a humble beginnings to become the Vice President of India. “He came from an agricultural family in Nellore. He is a brilliant orator and vigorously championed cause of farmers in rural areas during his college days. He is known for pushing reforms in rural development as a Union Minister,” the Minister said.
Minister of Higher Education K P Anbalagan, Higher Education Principal Secretary Mangat Ram Sharma, University of Madras Vice Chancellor P Duraisamy, Presidency College principal R Ravana were among those present at the convocation.