Vijayawada: Mother tongue plays a vital role in life, says Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad

Vijayawada: As part of the International Language Day, as many as 40 poets and writers were felicitated on Thursday.

The event was organised by the International Philanthropic Society in which former minister Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad and Padma Shri Kolakaluri Enoch were the chief guests..

Addressing the gathering, Mr Vara Prasad said that true freedom of speech is possible only in the mother tongue as it will be understood by all the people who belong to the area.

“When we speak in another language, our mind itself translates the words from our mother tongue and we then say the sentences. An unfamiliar language puts more pressure on the mind as it has to understand what is being said and then translate it,” the former minister said.

He opined that one should know and follow their mother tongue and should fight to preserve it.

Sahitya Akademy chairman and Padma Shri Enoch said that the sweetness of the language can be felt only when one speaks in his or her mother tongue.

Mr Enoch praised Philanthropic Society founder Addanki Raja Yona for felicitating Telugu language poets from across the state and bringing them on to one stage.

The programme was presided over by Sahitya Academy member Dr Kattimanda Pratap, MLC Dr Ammineni Sri Ramakrishna, Padma Shri Turlapati Kutumbarao, Global Creative Arts Academy, USA, CEO Seetha Madabhusi, poets and writers were among those present.