Pictured: (left to right) Art Director Ravichandran Arumugam, Dr. Brenda Beck, Technical Director Eric Harris, and CTC Board Member Kumar Ratnam. On Saturday, January 19, members of the Ponnivala team were honoured to accept Mr. Danton Thurairajah’s invitation to be guests at the Candadian Tamil Congress’ Thai Pongal Dinner in Markham, Ontario. Attended by some

This past Sunday, Dr. Brenda Beck made an appearance on TVI’s “Crossroads” with host Manjula Selvaraja. The topic was teaching and learning the Tamil language abroad, especially in Canada. Joining them were two students from the University of Toronto. In other news, Series One of The Legend of Ponnivala is now available in Tamil from the

Earlier this week, Legend of Ponnivala creator and director Dr. Brenda Beck met with renowned author and literary magnate Mr. Appadurai Muttulingam at his home in Toronto. Mr. Muttulingam is a leader in the Tamil literary community internationally, having won several prestigious awards for his work. He is also a founding member of Toronto’s Tamil Literary Garden.

This past weekend, Dr. Beck represented the Ponnivala legend at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Chicago. Among the highlights for this event were a trip to the museum at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, and of course a screening of The Gates of Heaven (one of our

Dr. Brenda Beck attended the Social Services Network 2nd Annual Fundraising Gala, “Red Carpet Showcase,” on Saturday night. Also in attendance at the Sheraton Hotel event were dignitaries from across the South Asian community, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, and of course Dr. Beck’s host SSN board member Aruna Dorai. Social Services Network provides a wide array

(updated links and trailer: Aug. 10, 2012) Toronto—July 26, 2012 The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada and Soft Science Associates are thrilled to announce the premiere of their new animated feature, Death and the Queen, at the Mosaic South Asian Heritage Festival, Saturday, August 18, 2012, 2:30PM at the Noel Ryan Theatre in Mississauga. Download full

The Legend of Ponnivala (in Tamil) gets a thumbs up from venerable seniors’ group Dr. Brenda Beck spoke in Tamil this morning to about 35 seniors from the Senior Tamils Centre of Ontario at the invitation of its President, Maya Kandiah. The event lasted nearly 90 minutes and took place in the community hall attached

  The Ponnivala team was in Baltimore MD for the 2012 FeTNA Silver Jubilee Convention. Tamils from all over North America converged on the spectacular Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall from July 6-8 for a weekend of music, food, networking, and cultural exchange. At the welcome dinner on Thursday evening, Dr. Brenda Beck was asked (unexpectedly!)

An Ottawa Story Tellers and 2 Women Productions Co-Production NAC Fourth Stage, Ottawa June 16, 2012 By Dr. Brenda Beck I attended a fabulous story telling event in Ottawa on Saturday. It was an all-day telling of Homer’s The Odyssey by a group called the Ottawa StoryTellers. There were no costumes and none of the

Veerashaiva Samaja of North America Meeting in Mississauga, May 14, 2012 Organizer Vijay Aivalli addresses the audience. Dr. Beck gave a presentation to about 30 families at a local Catholic school in Mississauga on Mother’s Day at a meeting of the Veerashaiva Samaja of North America. She decided to show a video version of one