History repeats itself in Tikkana's home town

Use of pure Telugu language in official transactions is the order of the day

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Tikkana translated the Mahabharatam into pure Telugu sans Sanskrit words

Official Language Commission makes it mandatory to use Telugu in State offices

English terms seem inevitable in official parlance, say officials

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NELLORE: History might repeat albeit in a different way. Famous poet Tikkana, the second in the కవిత్రయం (Kavitrayam) (Trinity of poets) who translated the Mahabharatam into Telugu over a period of several centuries, has used purely Telugu words for very difficult Sanskrit expressions and ideas in his work to make it more popular.

Eight centuries later, a similar kind of effort, though indifferent in context has begun in the home town of the great poet with officials in the district making a sincere effort to use Telugu language in all official transactions.

In the past, Tikkana made an effort to put a full stop to the practice of substituting Sanskrit words while translating the epic into Telugu. Now, many Government departments in the district have been doing likewise. Official Language Commission has made the use of Telugu in State departments imperative.

To begin with, officials have started relying on English-Telugu dictionaries besides some other books published by the Telugu Akademi such as పరిభాశక పదకోసం (Paribhasaka Padakosam) and ప్రభుత్వ పాలనశాస్త్ర నిఘంతువు (Prabhutva Palanasastra Nighantuvu), District Revenue Officer B L Chennakesava Rao told The Hindu .

"But in some cases, we have no choice but translate English words as the kind of influence English has on Telugu is next only to that of Sanskrit, the mother of all Indian languages. Many English words have become an integral part of Telugu. Therefore we have to use English words such as collector, bus and several such terms."

Courtesy: The Hindu