Tamil body to set up private radio station for enhanced interaction

Hyderabad: The Tamil diaspora, a global entity across many countries, is a prominent one in major Indian cities too. In Hyderabad, Tamilians have been living for close to a century, having come during the Nizam period and settled across the city over time. Presently, a rough estimate puts their population at around 7- 8 per cent of the city's population of a crore and more.

Having united under an association by name Telangana Tamil Sangam, which has held multifarious activities since it came into being two years ago, an Annual Day was held in the city last weekend. The 250- strong audience was handed over a New Year calendar, membership applications were circulated and filled up fast and the crowd was treated to a potpourri of activities including dance, Tamil poetry and light film music. Not to speak of traditional south Indian food to go along as the function wound to a close.

The office bearers of the association, led by its President M K Bose, a veteran public figure in the trade union circles of the city listed out various steps that had been taken to keep the Tamil spirit high and flying among the population of the twin cities. With Covid and the latest Omicron scare, online interactions had to be the sole option for a majority of the Tamilians whose children were actively participating in Tamil classes and learning the mother tongue effortlessly. The seniors were also part of regular literary interactions and participating in digital meetings across the country and elsewhere to know the latest in the field.

Among the many innovative measures being contemplated, the Association announced that they would soon set up a private radio station to keep the members engaged on multiple fronts. This could be a gamechanger if it comes through as scheduled. Other than this, the Telangana Tamils also are keen on approaching the government to allot land for their Association building and would make attempts to meet the current Governor, Tamilisai Soundarrajan, who has been very receptive to their demands earlier too.