During my recent appearance at the 6th International Thirukkural Conference in Toronto, a large and important question hung heavily in the air: How do we pass along the wisdom of the Kural to younger generations?
Even with community-run Tamil schools flourishing across North America, young Tamils don't always reach the point of being able to read the Kural directly and often turn their attention elsewhere by the time they reach high school. More than a few people I met expressed the fear that their children might lose their connection to Tamil culture altogether.
And for people in the younger generations, there’s the equally pressing question of learning how to discover what’s meaningful to them in a tradition that can seem large, complex, and overwhelming, not to mention apparently far removed from the more immediate worlds of school, work, and friends.
My life has taught me the most hopeful way to face these difficult questions is to do so together, in a spirit of mutual discovery and surprise.
Let’s Explore Together
I am thus particularly excited to invite you to a special free webinar. At that same conference, I was honored to meet a young Tamil-Canadian researcher, cultural practitioner, and content creator named Kasthuree Thiyakalingam. Her work explores this very situation from the perspective of a younger generation itself.
I’ve been impressed by the platform she’s created, WHAT YOU MISSED IN TAMIL CLASS, and by her initiatives to help diaspora Tamils discover, engage with, and cultivate their own connections to the riches of Tamil heritage.
