A verse on the anguish of separation.
From chapter 116, “Unbearable Absence.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
Tamil Featurette on Mediacorp Tamil News in Singapore
Mediacrop Tamil News in Singapore came to film the premiere of my new show, Riches of the Ear: A Celebration of Words and Wonder at the Singapore Writers Festival on Sunday, November 20, 2022. Here’s what they ran on the news later that evening.
Click on the picture below or visit https://seithi.mediacorp.sg/watch/tairaukakauralaai-maolaipaeyaratata-japapaanaiyara-629286.
Kural 671: The Kural on Debate, Resolve and Discipline
A verse on true leadership and good governance.
From chapter 68, “Ways of Action.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
Kural 140: The Kural on Knowledge and Flowing with Nature
A verse on acting in accordance with the world.
From chapter 14, “The Possession of Conduct.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
Kural 999: The Kural on Being Kind and Smiling
A verse on the light that a smile brings to the world.
From chapter 100, “Having Kindness.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
Kural 421: The Kural on the Nature of Knowledge
A verse on what knowledge really is.
From chapter 43, “The Possession of Knowledge.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
Kural 93: The Kural on Sweet Speech and Good Deeds
A verse on the power of speaking kindly and looking gently.
From chapter 10, “Sweet Speech.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
The New York Review of Books on The Kural
I’m humbled and delighted and honored by David Shulman’s recent review of THE KURAL in the New York Review of Books, “Cosmic Oceans Squeezed into Atoms.”
Along with Archana Venkatesan’s wonderful introduction, Shulman’s essay does a beautiful job of introducing the Kural to an English-speaking audience and of showing what makes it the extraordinary work that it is.
As Shulman writes, “The idiosyncratic wisdom of the Tirukkural’s poetry is about aliveness, perhaps the most elusive of human goals.”
You can read the entire review on the New York Review of Books website by creating a free account.
You can also read or download a PDF of the review below.