Interesting Tamil Television Channel

I am not a Tamil fanatic and I do not have any political association with any of the existing political party in the world, yet I still like the programs at Makkal Tholaikaatchi (மக்கள் தொலைக்காட்சி). When I first viewed the channel, especially the news, I thought the channel could be politically biased. Later I enjoyed every program in Makkal Tholaikaatchi.

The Tamil spoken by every program anchor is so natural and beautiful and one would hardly feel the difference from any other (un)popular Tamil TV channels. The program at 8:00am in the morning is Tamilkkoodal (தமிழ்க்கூடல்). The concept is really good with introducing quote of the day narrated by school children. They keep us learn a Tamil word a day for popularly used foreign language; the Tamil word will be informed at the closure of the program. Examples of words are, Lorry – Sumaiunthu (சுமையுந்து) or Passport – kadavuchieetu (கடவுச்சீட்டு). There will be an analysis on the root of the Tamil word which is currently in use by Tamil scholars.

Everyday they give two Tamil names for the new-born boy and girl child each. Writer Prapanjan introduces a book a day. Whether one likes the book or not, Prapanjan gives positive feedback for each of the books he introduces. There is also an introduction to a Tamil website everyday. Some days, poet reads out their poetry (most of the poem are nostalgic). The closure of the program is with a Tamilnahi (தமிழ்நகை). Mostly the narrator gives a serious thought through some funny incident; the reality is it is not fun. The narrator Ramalingam selects interesting topics for each day.

The highlight of the forty five minutes program is Chevvie (செவ்வி). I must thank Manushyaputhran for giving me the English word for Chevvie through an offline message at Yahoo IM as Interview. The knowledge and homework by the interviewer Gajendran must be appreciated. The interview is on different topic based on the field of the interviewee. They may be a writer, researcher, painter, poet, social worker or from any related to Tamil and Tamil culture. The personality (ஆளுமை) of Gajendran and the way he frames the question brings out more information out of the interviewee than what they would have informed in their works. Sometimes I feel that the interview should not come to an end; this is the success of Gajendran’s probing and stimulating interviewing pattern.

Sneha introduces every program in beautiful Tamil.