Kamal Haasan. File | Photo credit: B. Thamodharan
Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan said that Tamil is an integral part of his identity and existence while recalling the International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated on February 21 every year.
In a post on X, he wrote that his mother tongue “is formed in my genes, nourished by mother’s milk, heard as a sound in the ears, and lives in the body as life itself.” He added that Tamil is a language that comes naturally to him in moments of pain, sleep and reflection, and that “every man’s mother tongue is his life and mine will forever remain my breath”.
He remarked, “I was shaped by the language and I live by the language,” and saluted the Tamil people on the occasion.
In another tweet, Mr. Haasan highlighted the civilizational depth of Tamil, referring to Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions discovered as far away as Egypt and archaeological finds in Keeladi.
“Our ancestors not only lived, but wrote, imagined, sailed and built,” he wrote, adding that across oceans and millennia, “one voice still endures.”
Published – 21 Feb 2026 14:26 IST
