new patriotic alphabets in Siberian School and Tamil way of learning !!

Crimea and its annexation by the Russian Federation have occupied much of the news….. the  process caused much controversy and is viewed by NATO  leaders as illegal annexation that began following Russian intervention in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Russia strongly opposes the aforementioned view as "offensive towards the inhabitants of the peninsula. First, Russia sent in troops to reclaim the Crimean peninsula. Now, it’s dispatching tens of thousands of school kids to help boost Crimea’s struggling tourism industry. Faced with the prospect of a disastrous tourist season this summer in Crimea — just months after it invaded — Moscow has come up with a way to help its newly annexed territory. It is encouraging parents to send school kids for a holiday vacation on the shores of the Black Sea. Well, that is not the subject matter of this post. 

The Russian alphabet uses letters from the Cyrillic script. The modern Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters.  The Cyrillic script  is an alphabetic writing system employed across Eurasia.Children of the  Commonwealth Nations learnt language through the nursery rhyme ……………’ A for apple; B for ball; C for Cat, D for dog; E for elephant; F for frog; G for goat’ …………..,  in someways, the alphabets were taught with reference to material things – that is their way of life. 

Back home in Tamil land, there lived a great poetess Avvaiyar (some suggest that there were more than one with that title which would mean ‘respectable woman’)… the first of them lived in Sangam period and was patronized by Athiyaman. Her contributions find a place in Purananuru too.  More important is  the Aathichoodi ( ஆத்திச்சூடி),  a collection of single-liners  which teach  good habits, discipline and good works for the humanity. 

Alphabetically :

அறம் செய விரும்பு            ~ develop desire to do good things

ஆறுவது சினம்        ~  Anger is to be controlled

இயல்வது கரவேல்  ~  render help to others at all possible time

ஈவது விலக்கேல்    ~  never keep away from being charitable

உடையது விளம்பேல் ~ never be boastful of what you possess

ஊக்கமது கைவிடேல் ~ never give up effort

எண் எழுத்து இகழேல் ~ always respect learning

ஏற்பது இகழ்ச்சி     Begging is despicable

ஐயமிட்டு உண்      Give alms before eating..........

~ then there is ‘Kondrai Venthan’ – again beautiful advices for living :

1. அன்னையும் பிதாவும் முன்னறி தெய்வம் (the primordial deities are the mother and father)

2. ஆலயம் தொழுவது சாலவும் நன்று (it is very good to worship in temples)

3. இல் அறம் அல்லது நல் அறம் அன்று (life other than family life is not good for the society)

4. ஈயார் தேட்டை தீயார் கொள்வர் (the money which is not donated to deserving might be taken away by evil elements) …….. and so on……

It was not simple language skills – it was imparting things that are needed for a civilised society…… that is the greatness of Tamil culture. Now read this newsitem from ‘The Siberian Times reporter’ titled ‘New patriotic alphabet unveiled in Siberian schools’

The report states that in a sign of the times, children are taught the 'to love the motherland' after the return of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia. A new meaning for the 33 letters in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet has been unveiled to children in an Irkutsk school.  With letters like С (S) for Sevastopol, Я (Ya) for Yalta, and П (P) for Putin, the educational tool emphases the current wave of patriotism in the country. Other letters are Д (D) for Donetsk, Г (G) - for Granitsa meaning 'border', E for Edineniye or Unity, И (I) for Istoriya or History, and Л (L) for Lyubov, or Love. A is for Anti-Maidan - opponents of the forces which overthrew the government of President Viktor Yanukovych, and Б (B) is for Berkut, the special forces in pre-revolutionary Ukraine.

The alphabet, unveiled to students at School Number 11 in Irkutsk region, is the brainchild of a new all-Russian youth project called Set' (Network). It is named the 'polite alphabet' in honour of the so-called 'polite' forces deployed in Crimea. 'By the end of spring all city schools will be provided with such alphabets,' explained the group's website.  Set' (Network) is a youth education project working in 11 regions of Russia from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. They describe themselves as an 'association of young people around the new Russia'.  As they say, 'we understand changes taking place in Russia',  which are 'the sign of accumulated forces, the sign of reviving state, our right to a share of the world and the world’s rules’.

So, it is not simply sounds or scripts that children should learn … more of heritage and culture that shapes the society

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

3rd June 2014.