You very rightly draw my attention to the treasures that are to be found in Tirukural. Let me inform you that some twenty years ago I began to learn Tamil with the desire and object of studying Tirukural in original. It has been a matter of deep sorrow to me that God never gave me time to finish studying the Tamil language. I am entirely in favour of the agitation for making the vernaculars as medium of instruction. We ought to learn the Tamil language and prefer it to English and place it above all other languages.”
(Speech at Public Meeting , Tuticorin , October 6, 1927, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 40…The Hindu, 8-10-1927)