Shillong: VIT Chennai organised the International Mother Language Day and Indian Cultural Festival as a joint venture with DesiyaChinthanaiKazhagam on Thursday at the campus. Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit was the Chief Guest. The event started with the invocation of Tamil Thai Vazthu, lighting of the traditional Kuthuvilakku, and paying floral tribute to the portraits of Tamil Thai, Goddess Saraswathi, and Poet Thiruvalluvar. In his address to the students Purohit quoted Nelson Mandela: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language it goes to his heart.” The event was celebrated to highlight and spread the awareness of the nationwide intellectual movement which was rooted in Bharatiya ethos and traditions.