Tamizh or Tamil?

This idiotic pompous-ass moron was trying to enlighten me on the virtues of speaking Tamil. He claimed that its because of Indians like me that all the Indians in general are going down the drain. It all started when the so-called idiot was chatting me up in Tamil. All I said was that I preferred to chat in English on webchat because its easier, and he immediately felt it was his responsibility to start lecturing on my 'ignorance'.

What Tamil means to me is that it is the language my mom sang songs to me to put me to sleep when I was small. I remember those books that my mom used to buy me to practise writing my alphabets. She used to tell me stories in Tamil. In school, when it became compulsory for me to read and summarise Tamil books, my initial feelings of dread turned to interest as I soon found out that the stories had something in common with me. English stories portrayed a world different from my own. Tamil stories had the power of a common factor for me to relate with i.e. the festivals, the customs, the food etc.

Even now, I still need my daily quota of Tamil songs to keep me going through the day.

Keeping a language alive is important. Just as it is to keep the language from its demise. Quantity is less important than quality. Even if I speak less Tamil nowadays than I used to before, I try to speak either fully in Tamil or fully in English. I am not the kind of person who speaks half of each language and then piece it together. More importantly, I pride myself in being Indian; I dont have to blatantly showcase my love for Tamil in chat. And one thing is for sure Mr Pompous Ass - I don't say Tamil. I say Tamizh.