This opening scene of The Legend of Ponnivala story is important for what is NOT seen by the great gods Siva and Parvati as they look down at the earth. Siva starts the conversation by saying “Look at that beautiful forest down there.” Then Parvati responds to his comment. Her words lay out a key

This second instalment of my new blog also features a pretty straight forward question. Who sings the Ponnivala story? But the topic is important for those who do not know the origins of this legend already. This is a traditional oral epic with no written version that is anything like as extensive as is the

I am about to start a new blog featuring themes and insights I have culled from working with The Legend of Ponnivala Video series. This set of short essays will cover everything about the story I find interesting, starting with its ecology and extending to issues of social justice, shifting technologies, economic rivalries, local politics,

Over 750 participants registered for the 43rd Annual Conference on South Asia this year and there were more than 120 scholarly panels organized. The event took place in Madison, Wisconsin October 16th through 19th this year and the work of the Foundation was featured during three separate events. On both Friday and Saturday, during the

The Legend of Ponnivala This key foundation project which we have worked to develop over many years, is now beginning to gain traction in local Toronto-area schools. Our core idea is to introduce students to another time and place in ways will enrich cultural equity in a school’s curriculum offerings. By stressing historical parallels and

Brenda Beck was a guest speaker at a Tamilnadu Cultural Society of Canada. Members of the group gathered in Toronto on September 7th to celebrate the graduation of the first set of students trained in an experimental Tamil language-learning course the organization has recently sponsored. The topic of Dr. Beck’s talk was the beauty of the

Dr. Beck has just received the Prof. V. Chelvanayakan Memorial Award for outstanding Tamil scholarship in Anthropology and Folklore, announced in Toronto this July. The nomination and an associated presentation plaque were sponsored by the Chelvanayakam Trust and given to Dr. Beck in recognition of her eight years of work dedicated to animating the Tamil