It is time to listen to an everlasting Tamil film song: 'Netru Varai Nee Yaro"

Poet Kannadaasan

The late Kannathasan, a Tamil writer, poet, and film lyricist, adeptly utilized his knowledge of ancient Tamil literature in crafting lyrics. Many of his popular songs were composed in this manner, including one of my personal favorites from the movie 'Vazkaip Padagu' (Life Boat or Life as a Boat), produced by the famous Gemini studio. Listening to this song allows one to feel his profound understanding of ancient Tamil literature.

My English Journey!

When I think about English, I think about the late A.S. Kanagaratnam, known as 'ASK.' His house was located at Senior Lane, Jaffna. In fact, I attended his tuition classes during my G.S.E (A/L) studies while I was attending Jaffna Hindu College to enhance my English knowledge. I learned English grammar clearly from his classes.

After that, I pursued Architecture at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. The curriculum was in English medium. There was no choice but to immerse myself in reading all the  theoretical books related to Architecture. Books like Banister Fletcher's 'A History of Architecture' were voluminous. They contained numerous new words related to building, Architecture, Urban Planning, and Art. Immersing myself in reading these books indeed helped me improve my English proficiency.

Oviyar Maniyam and His Famous Film Cutouts in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

In our childhood and teenage years, one of our entertainments was watching film cutouts erected in front of the Jaffna movie theatres. Many artists drew cutouts for the then-superstars MGR and Sivaji Ganeshan. MGR (Maruthuur Gopalamenon Ramachandran) was known for his stunts, songs, and the social justice themes in movies and songs, while Sivaji Ganeshan was known for his acting, portraying various characters.

Mikhail Sholokhov's 'And Quiet Flows The Don': A Book and a Movie

"And Quiet Flows The Don" is Mikhail Sholokhov's famous novel that received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1965. The book consists of four volumes. The first volume was translated into Tamil by A.L. Nadarajan and published by New Century Book House (Chennai, India). The novel describes how the Cossacks' lives were affected during the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and Russia's social revolution. Literary critics consider this novel one of the best twentieth-century novels and compare it with Tolstoy's famous "War and Peace."

Lasting Memories of the Manohara Movie Theatre (Jaffna, Sri Lanka)

This is the current situation of the Manohara Theater located in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. During my childhood, I watched many English Hollywood movies in the theatre. Many of my dad's favorite Hollywood actors' movies were screened here. Some of them I still remember are: Anthony Quinn's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', Christopher Lee's 'Taste the Blood of Dracula', Kirk Douglas' 'There Was a Crooked Man', John Wayne's 'Hatari', John Phillip Law's 'Danger Diabolik',  Spencer Bonaventure Tracy's 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World', "Michael Caine's 'The Italian Job', Jean-Paul Belmondo's 'The Brain', and many more movies, mostly English, included some Tamil movies such as the late charismatic MGR's 'Ithayk Kani', 'Ithaya Veenai', and 'Ulagam Sutrum Valipan'.

Toronto Public Library's Multilingual Sections vs. Canadian Multilingual Authors

Toronto Public Library branches have a large collection of multilingual books. Staff members work to curate these selections in various languages. As a Tamil writer living in Canada, I can discuss my issues here as I am familiar with them.

The main issue is that Tamil writers living here in Canada don't know how to sell their books to the library branches' multilingual sections. The staff members who select the multilingual books never inform the writers living here about how to submit their books for consideration. Many years ago, I sent a letter to the library board regarding this issue. I was told that a mechanism is in place to select books from Tamil authors. However, the major problem is that the library board doesn't know about each language spoken here; they depend on staff members who select these multilingual collections. These staff members, responsible for the selection process, purchase books from various bookshops in Tamil Nadu, India, and Sri Lanka. Additionally, they buy Tamil books from authors with whom they have personal connections.

Global Security vs. National Security

 "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion." - Thomas Paine

The first time I learned about this quote was from my father's notebook. When my father passed away, I was in my teen years. After his death, I found his small notebook. The first page contained Thomas Paine's quote. That was when I first learned about this quote.

This quote reminds me of an ancient Tamil poet from the Sangam age, approximately between the 3rd century BCE and the 4th century CE,  named Kaniyan Poongunranar. His famous poetic lines are '
yaadhum ure yavarum kelir'  ('யாதும் ஊரே1 யாவரும் கேளிர்!") ,' which means 'Every town is my town, all the people are my kin'.