"Beyond politics, Karunanidhi gave a lot of importance to the language Tamil. One only true tamilian, whom we can call as our grandfather, with all rights, is Kalaignar Ayya. My body is still trembling about the fact that he is no more.

'Even if you throw me into the sea, I’ll float and come back to you like a catamaran.'

Only Kalaignar can say these words, and the words surely came from his heart. His strength was the pen and the ink in it. That is immortal. It is only the body that has left us, and not his contributions to Tamil. My condolences to his family."