Tamil will forever remain my breath, says Kamal Haasan

Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan said Tamil is an inseparable part of his identity and existence as he marked International Mother Language Day, observed annually on February 21.

In a post on X, he wrote that his mother tongue “is formed in my genes, nourished through mother’s milk, heard as sound in the ears and lives within the body as life itself.” He added that Tamil is the language that comes naturally to him in moments of pain, sleep and reflection, and that “each person’s mother tongue is their life, and mine will forever remain my breath.” 

He noted, “I was shaped by language and I live through language,” and extended greetings to Tamils on the occasion.

In another tweet, Mr. Haasan highlighted the civilisational depth of Tamil, referencing Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions discovered as far as Egypt and the archaeological findings at Keeladi. 

“Our ancestors did not merely live; they inscribed, imagined, sailed and built,” he wrote, adding that across oceans and millennia, “one voice continues to endure.”