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Journey Down Memory Lane To Reach 'tamiz Izam'
R.Shanmugalingam

Chapter 38

I am appending below a copy of an E Mail from Professor Peter Schalk.

"Good things still happen, even to an Ilattuttamilan on the run, away from annihilation.  Professor Veluppillai was conferred the degree of Dr. h.c. by Uppsala University for his academic merits. On May 31, 1996, he will get his apicekam in a solemn ceremony in the aula that only those can enter who think freely and correctly. You rememberr: we had the Manimekalai show there. All new PhDs, honorary and jubilee PhDs will get their apicekam faculty-wise. All speeches are in Latin, even the ritual language of the apicekam-ritual is Latin. Each faculty has an apicekar. I shall try to introduce some Sanskrit and Tamil.

Velu's e-mail number is [email protected].

With kind regards, Peter S.

• A Veluppillai, "Religions in Yalppanam up to the Thirteenth Century". Lanka 5 (1990), pp. 10-43.
• A Veluppillai, "Religious Traditions of the Tamils." Studies in the Tamil Cultural Heritage of Yalppanam, Ilam (Lanka). Uppsala Studies in the History of Religions 2 (1995), pp. 11-20.
• A Veluppillai, "The Encounter of Religions in the History of Tamil Culture".Studies in the Tamil Cultural Heritage of Yalppanam, Ilam(Lanka). Uppsala Studies in the History of Religions 2(1995), pp. 21-25.
• A Veluppillai, "The Place of Tamil in the Dravidian Languages". Studies in the Tamil Cultural Heritage of Yalppanam, Ilam (Lanka). Uppsala Studies in the History of Religions 2(1995), pp. 1-3.

"For his building up a unique competence in Tamil philology, the degree of   Dr. honoris causa, "honorary doctor", has been conferred to Dr. (Peradeniya), Dr. (Oxford), Dr. h.c. (Uppsala) Tiru Alvapillai Veluppillai, pProfessor of Tamil, Head, Yalppanappalkalaikkalakam, by Uppsala University, Sweden, in January 1996."

As I mentioned earlier, my being born a ‘tamizan’ in Ceylon under a foreign rule could be identified as an encounter. The confrontation continued until I became a US citizen. Nevertheless, it is hard and not good to forget our roots. There is no compulsion now, but a matter of conviction. Under the conditions that existed, an English education, if one had the means, was more or less a necessary evil. Naturally scant regard for ‘tamiz’ studies existed. Within that limited environment, some of us persevered to learn ‘tamiz’ at least to appreciate the beauty and richness of the language. This was not enough to enjoy the vast compendium of ‘muttamiz’ mountain. Scholars the like of Professor Veluppillai, have come to our rescue to give us in precis form authentic artticles that help us to understand ‘tamiz.’ This is no substitutte for the real McCoy as they say. But, these articles serve as travel brochures for my journey into ‘muttamiz’ land the exquisite. But for scholars and serious students of ‘tamiz’ they are the ‘guide books’ to the land of ‘muttamiz.’ ....

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