Great after-hours workshop event for teachers at the Cedarwood Public School

We had a great after-hours workshop event for teachers at the Cedarwood Public School here in Toronto last Wednesday. There is a lot of enthusiasm building for using the Legend of Ponnivala story in Ontario classrooms…. at all grade levels. Some, like Renuka DeSilva, have done a great job linking the story to teaching concepts
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receiveing a moment of recognition last night for my work in promoting the power and beauty of Tamil oral literature.

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a moment of recognition last night for my work in promoting the power and beauty of Tamil oral literature. This important Markham, Toronto event was sponsored by Tamil Chair Inc., a group raising funds for the establishment of the first Sangam Professorship in Tamil Studies at Harvard University. A
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A Human Rights ceremony in Toronto

A Human Rights ceremony in Toronto yesterday with a wonderful award for my good friend, school Vice Principal Padmani Padiyachy.
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storytelling and social justice

  On October 14th and 15th, 2015 a conference was held in Prague entitled “Making Anthropology Matter.” The discussion centered around European professional anthropologists’ ongoing concerns about how to best apply their largely-academic research efforts. Many anthropologists hope to usefully relate their findings to contemporary social concerns. With this in mind, most conference participants spoke about the tension they
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The Boar’s Tale

Dr. Beck in Prague The President of the Sophia Hilton Foundation spoke in Prague (capital of the Czech Republic) on October 13, 2015. She was dressed to represent the night sky, wearing a crescent-shaped white necklace made from a pair of wild boar tusks sourced from South India. Furthermore, she balanced this remarkable crescent moon
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WHAT LAND GRANT PROPOSAL IS THE KING DISCUSSING?

This particular scene conveys just one key message: the king has had a very prosperous growing season. The harvest has been abundant. The fields are lush and green. The king’s explanation for all this beauty and wealth around him is straight forward. He attributes it all to the skills and hard work of the nine
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WHO IS THE MAN IN RED?

WHY IS HE ACTING AS A SPOKESPERSON FOR OTHERS? Here is another very simple Legend of Ponnivala video clip. Again I have inserted it into my blog for teachers to use. The scene does not need much comment. As the story unfolds, the Chola king’s attendant goes to find Kolatta. He then brings him into
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WHAT ARE THESE EIGHT MEN ASKING OF THE CHOLA KING?

This is a simple question based on one scene in the Legend of Ponnivala animated story. Again for this blog post, I have chosen something simple. Here too, my comments should be well-suited to classroom teaching for the early grades. My query has a simple answer. These men are asking the king if he has
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WHY IS THIS LANDSCAPE SO LUSH AND GREEN?

This Legend of Ponnivala video clip is representative of the song refrains the bards used to lend extra emotional feeling to the story. You can hear the words of the original song (and tune) in the background. An English translation has been superimposed to aid a non-Tamil speaker in understanding what is being said. It
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short two minute taste of The Legend of Ponnivala

A short two minute taste of The Legend of Ponnivala, our South Asian banner project, being performed at a Toronto 2015 Tamil street festival. Watch Ramaneekaran’s Teru Kuttu story-telling troupe in action! What a terrific show it was. And there was an audience of about 3,000 watching!  
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