5 months ago
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Illustrator and cartoonist Biswajit Balasubramanian opened his code with a elemental question: “Who are Saurashtrians?” He past traced the migration of the assemblage from the Somnath portion successful coastal Gujarat to Madurai successful confederate Tamil Nadu.
Speaking astatine the motorboat of From Homeland to Heartland: The Story of the Sourashtras, which helium co-authored with Anitha Rajarajan, successful Chennai connected Sunday, Mr. Balasubramanian said the assemblage primitively inhabited the past Saurashtra kingdom successful Kathiawar.
“We spoke an Indo-Aryan connection called Patnauli from the pre-Gujarati period. Our ancestors were known arsenic adept weavers, peculiarly for their mastery implicit delicate, bladed yarn,” helium said.
‘Unique language’
He said that though the assemblage had near its homeland astir a 1000 years ago, it had retained a beardown consciousness of identity. “We inactive proudly telephone ourselves Saurashtras. Our connection is unique, carrying elements of Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada, reflecting the regions we passed done during our migration,” Mr. Balasubramanian added.
Nirmala Lakshman, Chairperson, The Hindu Group Publishing Private Limited, said, “While penning and researching for my book, The Tamils: A Portrait of a Community, I was precise alert of the Saurashtrian community, particularly erstwhile studying weavers and travelling done Madurai and regions beyond. This is simply a assemblage that has contributed greatly to Tamil civilisation. They came present not simply arsenic settlers, but arsenic participants who engaged profoundly with the section colonisation and enriched the beingness and tone of the region.”
She praised Ms. Rajarajan’s probe and penning arsenic a invaluable documentation of the community’s history, and said Mr. Balasubramanian’s illustrations, maps, and photographs complemented the assistance with ocular depth.
Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice-Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group, said the publication captured however tradition, craft, and representation were passed down generations. Congratulating the authors, she said the enactment would basal arsenic a lasting grounds of the community’s legacy.
Author and historiographer V. Sriram participated successful the event.
