Dr. Sarkar said that the word “mOriya” denotes a people from the Konkan region, and that the meaning of the word “nOtrukkaNNavar” must be inferred from the context in which it was used.



This didn’t go down well with both the “pure” Tamils and the “warrior” Tamils. They rudely interrupted Dr. Sarkar’s lecture and displayed their protest by yelling and jeering.



“The speaker is an Aryan. His habit is to always look down upon us,” they raised slogans of this sort.



Not a single Tamilian clapped after the lecture was over. Nor did they show respect for the speaker’s scholarship. Half the audience left the lecture midway screaming curses in chaste Tamil. The other half sat there ignoring the speaker completely and conferred among themselves.

Although the “pure” Tamilian who had assumed charge as the Chief Organizer of the programme shared the same feelings as his compatriots in the audience, he didn’t express them owing to the inevitability of decency that his position demanded of him. Therefore, feigning extreme courtesy, he said, “The Esteemed Scholar must visit us once again and deliver more such lectures.”



The lecture hall resonated with the cacophony of dog-barks and catcalls.