Why do I love to read scientific books on Astrophysics?

I love reading these books because they are thought-provoking. Two of my favorite writers in this field are Michio Kaku and Brian Greene.

The problem lies in our limited perception of the universe. Even though we cannot comprehend how billions of transistors exist within a chip, their invisibility to our naked eyes does not negate their existence; they are real.

Mathematical models depict parallel universes and wormholes, and I believe in their potential existence. I also believe in teleportation, although it remains in its early stages.

The selection process for Ph.D. programs in Canadian universities seems like a joke.

I recently met a student who completed  their  bachelor's and master's degrees while maintaining a position on the dean's list. During the pandemic, this student applied for Ph.D. programs at the University of Toronto, McGill University, and Western University. The student received admission offers with entrance scholarships from all these universities. However, the irony lies in the fact that the student couldn't continue their  studies because they couldn't find a supervisor. Supervisors, who are professors employed at the universities, are funded by the government for their research.

In my opinion, all admitted students should be matched with suitable supervisors by the universities for their PhD programs. These students are highly capable; that's why they were admitted in the first place. I believe the current placement procedure, which requires admitted students to find their own supervisors, is not right. It violates their fundamental rights and grants unnecessary power to the professors, which some may misuse.

My Thoughts on Current Housing Affordability in Canada

This is my viewpoint on housing affordability in Canada. In my opinion, the primary reasons for the current housing situation are as follows:

    The Bank of Canada maintained the interest rate at very low levels for an extended period. This resulted in increased accessibility to housing for individuals with limited funds, thereby boosting demand.

    Concurrently, emerging technologies like Airbnb provide homeowners with a convenient tool to rent their properties, generating a reasonable income. This encourages property owners to retain their properties instead of selling when acquiring new ones.

    Increased immigration has also contributed to the unaffordability of housing, escalating demand from newcomers for both renting and owning properties.

Nallur Rajadhani’s city layout in the fifteenth century – A research paper written in Tamil by Navaratnam Giritharan (V.N.Giritharan) B.Sc (B.E) in Architecture. The English translation from Tamil is done by Latha Ramakrishnan.

Forward: Nallurt Rajadhani City Layout

None seems to have evinced any interest so far in the ancient city layout of Srilankan Tamil. It is unfortunate that those who are engaged in the research and investigation work about the historical facts pertaining to the kings and kingdoms have turned a blind eye to the architectural style and expertise of Tamil. Because of this indifference and black-out when research work about cities like Anuradhapuram, Yaappahuva that were capitals hundreds of years prior to the time when Nallur was Rajdhani, or, were to be, it proves a herculean task together information about Nallur Rajdhani city layout. In such a situation I have undertaken the research work on Nallur city layout to the best of my ability. My desire to study the city layout of Nallur Rajdhani was not something accidental. In my young age when I would be reading the novels of Kalki, Jagasirpian and such others I used to always wonder why it always remained a rarity to come across historical evidences about Nallur which was as famous a city as Tanjore, Madurai and Kanchipuram. When I grew in age and knowledge I could realize that the foreign rule and our people’s bent of mind which spends its time and energy in singing the past glory but remains indifferent to the need for preserving our rare historical symbols and monuments are reasons for this blackout.

The Dark Night of the Soul: A Study of the Existential Crisis of the Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees as depicted in the novel An Immigrant by the Canadian Tamil Writer V.N. Giritharan By Dr. R. Dharani M.A.,M.Phil., M.Ed., PGDCA., Ph.D. Assistant Professor in English, LRG Government Arts College for Women –

Abstract

Any journey in life is blissfully ever sought by human travelers across the globe. However, there are certain migrations by specific ethnic groups who are left with not much choice except for a disagreeable movement, sometimes hazardous ones too. Life and journey go hand in hand in a pleasant manner for any human being with comfortable existence. Crisis occurs only when life becomes uncertain in the homeland and to enter an alien land. Srilankan Tamil people is one such ethnic group who have been going through the crisis of existence for having born in a land that coerces cruelty upon them. The writer V.N. Giritharan was born as a blessed being like others in a Tamil family in Sri Lanka. He grew up as a writer as well as an Architecture graduate with great sensitivity towards the land and people around him. However, his state of affairs did not remain the same, as there were the chaos and brutalities of the ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil. The only way to survive was to leave the homeland with a heavy heart and to move towards an asylum. This journey is the most pathetic one in any man’s life. His sufferings have been portrayed vividly in the novel An immigrant in which the protagonist named Ilango lives as the replica of the writer V.N. Giritharan himself.

The paper attempts to explore the existential predicament of the protagonist of the novel An Immigrant whose personal experiences demonstrate the physical, psychological multicultural, ethnic, political and socio-economic issues of such immigrants across the globe.

Void Within – The Migration of an Albatross into an Unsolicited Province – A Study on the Writings of the Canadian Tamil Writer V.N. Giritharan By Dr. R. Dharani M.A.,M.Phil., M.Ed., PGDCA., Ph.D. Assistant Professor in English, LRG Government Arts College for Women –

[March 1, 2013- Recently, a conference on canadian writing was held in the National college , Trichy. Called ‘Canada:A Multitude of Spaces’, the conference was spearheaded by the Indian Association of Canadian Studies. The following paper on V.N.Giritharan’s writings was submitted to the conference by Dr R Dharani.]

Literature, in a way, is a manifestation of an individual’s or a community’s elusive experiences. A grand procession of happy episodes alone in a life is highly impracticable and astonishing, as life itself is, and in most cases, akin to the tragi-comedies of Shakespeare. However, in the history of literature across the globe, catastrophe gained more attention than romance, chivalry and happy endings. The misfortunes of African- American writers have ever earned them the proper justice. The sorrow-stricken lives of a community who had been intimidated simply because of their ethnic background have been the cause of many social changes in western countries. Of all the complexities of life, the crisis of a survival stands first in the life of any human being. This is not the case with any other living creature in any part of the world. In any piece of literature, it is not uncommon to unearth such a theme intertwined with many other themes. Man struggles to locate a place of his own on this planet to ascertain a sense of identity of his life. Nationality, nativity, society, family, tradition, culture, language are such things endorsing the survival impulse of a man. Depending on the needs, man sets the priority for concepts like nationality, family and other matters.

Literature, being the replica of reality, has been communicating the indispensable impulse of human survival in various forms for ages. The predominant theme of many writings is of life and how to live it. There always appears to be an empty space in the psychic sphere of human beings, specifically in the modern ages. Waging war made the ancients lose their stability in the earlier times. There are no explicit wars today. Nevertheless, the same kind of callousness makes modern men desperate with the loss of their identity. In the name of Globalization, the entire world shrinks into the palm of a human. However, there is a giant void within the human heart. Such a void shall be discussed here.

Poem: A message for Stallion-Stealers! – V.N. Giritharan – Translation in English by Latha Ramakrishnan

Hey you, the Stallion-Stealers!
Here is a message for you.
I am a caretaker of horses.
Not a trader.
A genuine, straightforward caretaker.
I have so many sturdy stallions with me.
Indeed all of them are real good.
They are not lame ones.
I have great affection for
all the horses in my possession
I treat them with no discrimination.
I am not one to rear or sell crippled horses
Still – Hei you, the Stallion-Stealers!
You’ve become more troublesome.

Hey you, the Stallion-Stealers!
You have great expertise in stealthily jumbling
the stolen stallions, into the herd.
The horses that you’ve stolen from me
or out to steal from me
are not at all crippled.
They are real good ones;
strong and sturdy also.
But they’re real frenzied ones
which won’t falter but fight to the finish.