author, poet, teacher, and performer
For Teacher Appreciation Week, I was honored to write about my Tamil teacher, the late Dr. K. V. Ramakoti, in the award-winning blog of Beacon Press, Beacon Broadside.
Without Dr. Ramakoti, I would never have dared to translate the Kural, let alone to teach about it and introduce it to English-speaking readers and leaders.
You can read the essay on the Beacon Broadside website: https://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2023/05/life-and-learning-in-harmony-a-tribute-to-dr-k-v-ramakoti.html
I was delighted to speak about the beauty in and of the Kural for the first anniversary of the National Library Board’s Tamil Cholai in Singapore.
Here are a few pictures! Click on the images to see them at full size.
I was delighted to get to visit the Umar Pulavar Tamil Language Centre and speak with students about the Kural during my recent stay in Singapore for the 2023 Tamil Language Festival.
Here are a few pictures! Click on the images to see them at full size.
For people who know Tamil, here’s a 2-minute glimpse into my recent appearance in Singapore for the 2023 Tamil Language Festival.
Click on the image below or visit: https://seithi.mediacorp.sg/singapore/japanese-american-speaks-tamil-660941
I’m very excited to announce my upcoming online course on the Kural, Taller Than A Mountain.
It starts May 18, with a bonus class on May 4 for people who register early.
Among my guest teachers I’m honored to include Andrew Harvey, Bob Thurman, and Perumal Murugan.
The course is being offered at a price that you set yourself as a way to practice one of the Kural’s key teachings: honoring what fits each person, place, and situation.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll answer this question from a few different angles.
One of the groups it’s most definitely for are people who want to enjoy and learn from the poetry of a great teacher such as Tiruvalluvar but who sometimes find poetry intimidating, complicated, or just plain confusing.
For instance, I was having coffee the other day with a friend, and he said to me:
“I’ve been reading the Kural, and enjoying it, too. But while there are some verses that make so much sense to me immediately, there are others that I’m not sure what to make of. I never felt comfortable with poetry in school, but I know it’s something that people sometimes find deeply meaningful. I’d love to be able to see that for myself.”
As I said to my friend, not only is the course for people who are uncertain about poetry, I myself was like that for a very long time.
That’s why I’m all the more excited to share some of things that have helped me personally to experience poetry with greater ease, understanding, and delight.
If this sounds at all intriguing, please do take a peek!
The last kural of the Tirukkural, on turning back to love.
From chapter 133, “Sulking and Bliss.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
A verse on enemies, kindness, and friends.
From chapter 88, “Knowing an Enemy.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
A verse on the sea of love and the agony of separation.
From chapter 117, “Pining Away.”
Translated from the Tamil by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma
THE KURAL: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
Beacon Press, Boston
