The fate of Tamil language is no different from that of Sanskrit …. Both are dying languages .
Sanskrit has a glimmer of hope of surviving…. Since , it is the language of the religious life of all Hindus all over the country.
Tamil has no hope because even native speakers no longer are interested in learning its vast and rich literature . Modern Tamil is hardly “shuddha Tamizh” in any real sense. Today’s literature , art , cinema, journalism and even day to day parlance in the streets in Tamil language have all become highly corrupted and wholly pidgin in quality and usage . Even Tamils don’t really know how to read and write in chaste , elegant Tamil. Today’s Tamil is largely bastardised version of “Madras bhaashai” or else only of Tamil regional stylised manners or affectations of speaking…. e.g. Madurai, Tirunelveli , Coimbatore “bhaashai”…
Sanskrit is not, thank God, a political issue anywhere across India whereas Tamil has always been nurtured as an ever simmering one in Tamil Nadu. That’s another precise reason why Tamil has less chance of reviving than Sanskrit.
Sudarshan Madabushi