Felicitation of Tamil Greats at Bharathi Tamil Sangam Kolkata on 05.02.223

Felicitation of Tamil Greats at Bharathi Tamil Sangam Kolkata on 05.02.2023
The Bharati Tamil Sangam was established in 1941 and is the oldest Tamil Literary association outside Tamil Nadu. As part of our core activities, Bharati Tamil Sangam, Kolkata, regularly felicitates Tamil scholars and dignitaries, either by inviting them or while they visit Kolkata.
Two important persons paid a visit to Sangam on 05.02.2023, one being Dr. V.G. Santhosham, the Chairman and Doyen of the VGP Group, well-known in Tamil Nadu. Starting from very humble beginnings, with their family members together running a tea shop. A small sum of Rs. 2 collected from each participant every week was exchanged for quality merchandise, diversifying and growing their business. Later, it introduced the concept of the Chit Fund System and promoted it to the poor and slum-dwellers, which became a hit.
VGP soon had their own "mall," perhaps a first conceptualization. They bought over a wild, bush-infested seafront property and converted it into a resort, now famously known as the "Golden Beach."
Dr. V.G. Santhosham is a writer and a poet and has penned several books. He is a philanthropist and has helped many youths properly strategise their futures.
The second person to be honoured was Kasi Anandan, a Tamil poet who arrived in Tamil Nadu as a refugee from war-torn Sri Lanka. Kasi Anandan was in the city to release a Bengali translation of his anthology and would be lecturing about his poems in Shanti Niketan tomorrow.
The 75-year-old, Anandan, spoke mostly in monotone and missed the high political frequency of any political leader. The calm tone, however, revealed the deep anguish of the sufferings of the Tamils at the hands of the Sinhalese army and people. There was a pin drop silence among audience, who all were hearing the first-hand version of the atrocities of a war, three generations of Tamils were fighting, to preserve their identity and culture.
Everyone, like me, was speechless with a lump in the throat and was teary-eyed after listening to Anandan. There was no remorse, no revenge, or any anger in Anandan’s heart or words, but he had the resolve and grit to find an honourable solution for the Tamils and ensure their safety in Sri Lanka.
Bharati Tamil Sangam was privileged to honour the two Tamil greats, in their respective fields, from the sub-continent.