It is with great pride and pleasure that we publish the V.I.S. Commemoration Volume I and Volume II in honour of the late Prof. V.I. Subramoniam. The contributions of Prof. V.I. Subramoniam to Dravidian studies in general and to Dravidian linguistics in particular are invaluable. Being a versatile scholar and innovative researcher, he had a clear vision on the neglected areas of research in linguistics and interrelated disciplines such as cultural studies, folkloristics, anthropology etc.
During the last quarter of the 1950s and in the 1960s, when most of the South Indian universities were not keen on promoting Ph.D. Research, especially in languages, it was Prof. V.I. Subramoniam who enticed young scholars from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to pursue research. He gave them proper guidance and leadership and in addition, even incentives whenever/whomsoever required. Thus the Department of Tamil, University of Kerala and later, the Department of Linguistics, University of Kerala headed by him became the major centres of research in South India.
Prof. V.I. Subramoniam is respected by many and will be remembered for ever as a great builder of academic organizations and institutions. It was he who gave leadership in 1971 for establishing the Dravidian Linguistics Association (DLA). The support received for DLA from young researchers all over India and abroad led to the establishment of the International School of Dravidian Linguistics (ISDL) and also the International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics (IJDL). ISDL, founded by Prof. V.I. Subramoniam is one of the prestigious institutions in the field of Dravidian studies. So also the International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics, a reputed biannual journal in the field of Linguistics started by him in January 1971, is being published without any interruption for the last 44 years. Same is the case with the monthly DLA News.
Many people of the present generation may not be quite aware of Prof. Subramoniam's efforts in establishing separate language universities for Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. From 1972 onwards, due to his initiative, resolutions were passed in the Annual Conferences of DLA for the establishment of universities for each of the four major Dravidian languages and he himself had personally taken up the matter with the respective State Governments. In the beginning, such representations were misunderstood as expressions of parochialism by some of the State Governments. Finally, all the four Governments of the southern states were convinced of its necessity and established universities for the study and research of the official languages of their respective states. The services rendered by Prof. V.I. Subramoniam in this regard need to be gratefully remembered. His efforts in establishing Dravidian University at Kuppam can never be forgotten by anyone who is interested in Dravidian studies. It was he who perceived such an idea of having a separate university solely for the study and research on Dravidian languages and cultures. Having conceived this idea, the proposal for the same was drafted and relentlessly pursued with the Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. His idea was to start the university in Andhra Pradesh at a suitable place, which is not far away from the other three states and to have the involvement of all the four southern states in its academic activities. Thus, the establishment of Dravidian University at Kuppam was the fulfilment of Prof. V.I. Subramoniam's vision. The initiatives taken by him in establishing associations and institutions for promoting study and research on Dravidian languages are in no way indicative of any parochialism or narrow-mindedness. He had great respect for languages like Sanskrit, Prakrit etc, and was much interested in studies on Buddhism and Jainism as well. He was undoubtedly a nationalist, much above petty feelings like regionalism, casteism, linguistic chauvinism etc. Due to the influence of his father, who was an ardent follower of Shri. Chitharanjan Das, Prof. V.I. Subramoniam was very much influenced by Gandhian thoughts and also had some special affection for Bengali language and literature. In short, Prof. V.I. Subramoniam's interest in Dravidian was purely academic and this fact was well understood both in the academic and administrative spheres.
Considering his unparalleled contributions to Indian linguistics in general and to Dravidian linguistics in particular, the Council of Direction of the International School of Dravidian Linguistics decided to bring out a suitable publication in honour of this multifaceted personality. The effort taken by Dr. T.P. Sankarankutty Nair in this regard is remembered with gratitude. Through DLA News and through personal contacts, he could gather some research articles for this purpose. After making a review of the matter, the Council of Direction of ISDL decided to nominate Professors G.K. Panikkar, B. Ramakrishna Reddy, K. Rangan and B.B. Rajapurohit as editors for this ambitious project.
The successful completion of this mission is due to the dedicated cooperation of many individuals. We sincerely thank each and every member of the Council of Direction, ISDL. Special thanks to the members of the advisory committee viz., Professors Puthusseri Ramachandran, M. Rama and V. Syamala. The help and co-operation received from Sri. T. Madhava Menon (I.A.S. Retd.), Dr. K.N. Geethakumari and Dr. Abdul Samed are invaluable. The enthusiastic help and cooperation received from the staff of ISDL in bringing out these two volumes in memory of their former Head and mentor cannot be explained in words. Finally, I have to express my sincere sense of gratitude to the editors of the V.I.S. Commemoration Volumes. They had to come over to Thiruvananthapuram and stay here for many days for completing this work. International School of Dravidian Linguistics and the academic community are indebted to them for their services.
Prof. V. Syamala deserves special thanks for her keen interest in the publication of these two volumes, and for her efforts to make these volumes as perfect as possible by making corrections wherever necessary. On behalf of ISDL, I express my heartfelt thanks to Prof. V. Syamala.
The V.I.S. Commemoration Volume I and Volume II consist of articles from leading linguists of India and abroad. It is felt that most of the articles included are the products of in-depth study and so they are quite valuable to both students and scholars from the field of linguistics and allied disciplines. Hope the researchers and academicians all over the world will receive these two volumes with extreme delight and enthusiasm.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist