Couple of days back I was watching Agatha Disney series. My mother could not understand my fascination for the same.
Witches are not exclusive to west, but the name witch, and the costume of black is synonymous with witch. In all the pagan cultures, we can trace witches. Powerful women, knowledgable, who had deep connections with nature and living organisms, whom men could not understand, were considered abnormal, mad, lunatic, and their association with nature, their ability to cure ailments, their communication with divine, their spirituality was misconstrued as evil.
History, culture, religion and most importantly patriarchy classified women as witches; burnt them at stake.
Today, we come across numerous revisionist literature and media representation.
And it simply is impossible, as a woman to be fascinated by Witches.
For I connect them to my ancestral roots. My great grandmothers with their tattooed bodies, shriveled skins, ever punishing attitude, and most importantly their abundance of knowledge in various fields, their mad love for Art, literature, Songs and Storytelling!
“Down, down, down the road
Down the witches’ road
Down, down, down the road
Down the witches’ road
Down, down, down the road
Down the witches’ road”
Sing it out loud and proud! Sing it in the night from your terrace when you are alone under the moon. Sing it when you walk through the forest! Be a witch and be proud of being the strongest woman force on earth!
Few Years ago when I read Vegetarian by Han Kang I felt a personal connection with it. Here was a writer who equated violence against women in parallel to violence on animals. She drew similarities through her subtlety. No animal is asked permission before harming it, it works out for women as well.
Han Kang again came to my consciousness with her The White Book. I can easily say that, it was the toughest book I have read, yet the book wrung my soul in such a tranquil way.
I feel that madness can be caused only by tranquility. The book, the colour, the texture, the font everything was serene. Yet the book overpowered me.
Then two years back, vegetarian came to my consciousness again. This time through a publication house that I have never heard of. This publication did not even have a proper website then, it shocked me to see someone read, then pursue and buy rights for it. That was not it. It was the title of the book that stunned me. In Tamil, the word used generally to represent Vegetarianism is சைவம். This is the common word that we hear around in restaurants, or even generally at households.
As a vegetarian whole my life, my perception of vegetarianism was singular and simple. I simply thought that I would never eat meat. I should rather say, that it was passed on by family and traditions.
At the same time, I am an artist, I travel a lot, I have friends from all walks of life and I know not to disrespect food. Hence when someone offers me, or sometimes forces me to share meal with them.
I have learnt to decline politely without hurting anyone’s feelings.
I have come across questions, “So why don’t you try once?” My answer would simply be a smile.
If someone convinces me, I would ask them if they will eat every kind of animal meat. No everyone has a choice and preference. “And I would say, being a vegetarian is my choice.”
Slowly, my vegetarianism ceased being a simple tradition that was passed on by family. And it became a choice.
But the moment I set foot inside Tamil Nadu, my knowledge and readings became vast and I realised that caste and class dictate what you eat.
This whole concept of choice and preference shows that I belong to a privileged class where I have choice.
I had an opportunity to see Selvaraghavan’s ‘Ayirathil Oruvan’ with a meat eating friend of mine. I asked her why would they show a revolting and graphic imagery of someone wanting to eat rat meat. She was offended. She shared that during colonisation when there was man made shortage of food. The farmers who grew rice had no choice but to catch the field mouse and eat the same.
Life is a learning curve. And the learning is perpetual. Categorising vegetarianism in Tamil as merely, a translation is heresy.
The translator, (whom I had the privilege of talking to him yesterday) has not merely translated the words and contexts. But he has made sure that he has left his own values and belief systems inside his translation.
I think, that is why the title is not simply ‘சைவம்’ the most obvious word, yet associated with religion, caste and class. Instead he had used the word, ‘மரக்கறி’ a word that I don’t remember hearing at all. Then he clarified, that Tamils in Malaysia, Singapore and Srilanka use this word in their common parlance.
I was taken aback. I remembered searching and eating ‘மரக்கறி’ in Malaysia. I also remembered that the small eatery served me the food that was kept aside for the owner’s daughter to eat.
If you haven’t read Han Kang yet, if you can read Tamil, then the starting point would be ‘மரக்கறி’
A poignant tale of feminism, choice and most importantly being one with nature and then becoming the nature.
I have always fallen for narratives of madness. Particularly mad woman tales and I remember a situation in the novel, where she would go and stand by a tree when it is pouring. It reminded me of my own madness and exploration of nature. For some reason it also brought back to me Surfacing of Margaret Atwood!
Can we think of our regional languages as our heritage and soft power. Can the oldest living language in the world, Tamil, be thought of as world heritage. Learn Curve for Girls examines Tamil as our living heritage in this conversation with Dr R Lakshmi Priya, Tamil Translator and well-known Tamil publisher.
Can you tell us how the Tamil language is a world heritage?
Tamil is a most ancient language. It is called as Sem Mozhi and is listed as a classical language in 2004. Before Tamil got this status, only Greek and Latin were considered as classical languages. After the Sem Mozhi status many youngsters became interested in Tamil.
Tamil is believed to be the oldest living language in the world, some 5000 years old. Like Chinese and English, Tamil is also one of the largest spoken languages. Tamil is world heritage. Tamil is our heritage, having been passed down from one generation to the next.
How do languages grow? Can you explain this with context to Tamil?
For a language to grow, people should use the language. English keeps growing, its vocabulary keeps expanding. Tamil is a fluid language. It does not have a rigid structure. When the use of computers spread Tamil developed its own vocabulary of computer and internet based words. This Tamil is called Kanini Tamil. The Tamil which consists of a unique vocabulary of scientific terms is called Arivial Tamil and that which has a unique vocabulary of mathematical terms is called Kanidam Tamil.
Languages should have a fluid structures. They will not grow if you don’t invent words and if you don’t allow others to include words. Tamil is ever energetic and ever youthful. If you take the English word dating, even for that we have a word in Tamil.
Imagine if we don’t invent words for new gen talk. The language will not have words and we have to borrow from other languages.
Can you tell us a little about Tamil grammar and Tamil Literature?
Tamil developed its own grammar 3000 years ago in a book called Tolkappiyam written by Tolkappiyar. It is not very complex. It can be used by anyone to learn Tamil. There is, for instance, no striling and puling.
We have five great epics in Sanskrit. We also have five minor epics. That is ten epics in total. We also have another 8 books that are important in Tamil. We have our own version of the Ramayana – the Kamban Ramayana.
Can you talk about the international appeal of Tamil?
Tamil has always attracted people from different, places, civilizations and religions. They have imbibed the culture and started writing in the language.
The first writing in the language were Shaivite and Vaishnavite, soon Tamil attracted Christian writers, Muslim writers and Jain writers. One famous Tamil writer from a few centuries ago, Veeramamunivar is an Italian Jesuit priest. He learnt Tamil and even changed his name. GU Pope is another very famous name in Tamil Nadu. He translated the Thirukural from Tamil to English. He came to South India in 1839. There are thousands of such people, foreigners who have learnt the language and written in it.
Can you talk about the close relationship between Tamil language and Tamil culture?
Tamil language does not exist without Tamil history, art, architecture, Bharatnatyam, temple architecture, and Carnatic music. Everything connects with the larger language.
In temples in Tamil Nadu, you can find engravings written in Tamil words.
So many people are fascinated by one aspect of Tamil culture – be it food, history, architecture, language and through this lens they understand all of Tamil culture.
For us it is not Tamil Mozhi, it is Tamil Marabh, it is not Tamil language, it is Tamil culture. Tamil language does not exist in isolation. Tamil culture is very parochial – games we play, products we use, all this shapes the language we speak.
To give an illustration of how Tamil culture and Tamil language are linked – in Tamil culture it is understood that every guest must be served water, this makes Tamil culture very respectful, the language too is thus shaped. The Tamil language has inviting words like Vango Vango, Vargo Vargo – inviting words, respectful words.
The Tamil culture resonates in every part of the language – you should not say No, (Vendan), you should say Porum (enough). The language is structured around the culture.
The Tamil culture preserves itself. If we are asked to speak some language other than Tamil, we resist it. We have fought here for our language, even court communication is in Tamil. We don’t communicate in English or Hindi. We insist on this. We don’t want our children to forget Tamil that is why we insist on this.
How can the study of regional languages like Tamil become a part of India’s soft power?
We are talking about multiculturalism. We are saying glocalisation is important. We are reviving older traditions. There is no one western ideology guiding us. There is no one single ideology we all follow. Understanding regional language, regional culture is very important in this context.
Could you talk about intellectual theory in Tamil and if it already had equivalents to contemporary western theory like post modernism etc.?
Postmodernism is incredulous towards the meta narrative. It is questioning the metanarrative and all institutions. We can date post modernism to around 1988. In Tamil, we had similar thinking that originated, before, during and after this date. We have formed our own mini narratives. In Tamil, we have our own philosophers, writers and authors, who have formed their own mini narratives.
Mahakavi Subramaniyam Bharati questions the metanarrative. Periyar has questioned institutions long before post modernism came into existence. We have this statement in Tamil, “If we are not able to provide a morsel of food for one person, let the whole world cease to exist.” This quotation in Tamil predates Marxism. We are also a very maternal society. The Tamil language has produced many women poets and authors, like Aviyar and Avudel Ammal. All this predates feminism as a movement.
We Tamilians are proud of our intelligence – we are more inclined towards education than anything else.
In Tamil literature given to us before 1000 years, questions like ‘what is education?’, ‘what is moral value’, ‘what is truth’ have been raised and answered.
There are today millions of writers in the Tamil language. In every house there is a scholar and a writer.
Can you discuss the relationship between language and land?
There is a deep and intimate relationship between the land of the Tamils and our language. In Tamil language there are five divisions of Tamil land – Kurunji (mountain and mountainous terrain), Mullai (forest and forest regions), Maradam (agricultural land), Neidhal (sea and sea related regions), and Palai (desert and desert related regions). There are deities for each of the regions, distinct food and distinct poetic language.
Can you cite any examples of Tamil literature as being accessible to an international audience?
The Thirukural does not have any cultural representation in it. Anyone in the world can read it and understand it in relationship to them.
Can you talk about the Tamil Siddhar culture with specific reference to their representations in the Tamil language?
For us the word Siddhar means an intellectual. Siddhars were cultural intellectuals, intellectuals in astronomy, geniuses in mathematics and science. Tamil is one culture which has an ancient tradition where humans had dialogues with god. Agastyar was famous Siddhar who has asked god many questions. Interesting stories abound in Tamil about conversations between god and humans.
The story of Lord Murugan and the poet and siddhar Avvaiyar is a good instance. As the story goes, Lord Murugan feels that the poetess Avvaiyar has become egoistic and he wants to test her usage of the Tamil language. He also wants to play with her taking a child form. He comes to Earth where Avvaiyar is walking near a cranberry tree. She feels like eating some berries. She sees the small child and asks him to shake the tree and procure for her some berries. He asks her, “do you want hot fruit or cold fruit.” She is not able to understand the meaning here. Lord Murugan nonetheless shakes the tree and cranberries drop down. Avvaiyar bends down and picks them up. Because the fruits are coated in dust she blows on them as if they were hot fruit. Then finally she understands the child’s meaning and his word play.
In the Tamil culture, the understanding is that the concept of god and human are interchangeable. The common understanding is that anyone can become a god if they are knowledgeable.
There is this story of the Tamil poet Nakkeran that is very interesting. Once a King announced a writing contest. Lord Shiva himself participates in this contest. Nakkeran sees an error in Lord Shiva’s poem and gets angry. Lord Shiva says, “Was the grammar wrong or the structure, or is it how I have formed the words, what could be possibly wrong with my poem?”
In rage Lord Shiva says, “I will burn you up with my third eye,”
Nakkeran says, “Even if you do it will not correct the error in the poem.”
Lord Shiva turns him to ashes. Then in compassion brings him back to life.
This story is illustration of the sort of passion and debate that the Tamil language sparked in humans and in the Gods.
Can you talk about the need for cultural exchange in different languages?
The Tamil culture and language believes in cultural exchange. Getting ideas and concepts in other languages has made Tamil what it is. Our poet Subramaniam Bharati was proficient in six languages. He has famously said, “If you can go a different country, learn the language, understand it and make it your own.”
Can you talk about your own experience in Tamil translations and as a publisher of Tamil books?
I have added to the vast pool of people translating to and from Tamil. I have translated Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami into Tamil. The book will be out soon.
I do believe everyone has a story to tell. I have so far published 320 Tamil language books. This includes books by child authors, books by women, geriatric writing (with writers aged 65 and 85).
Your experiences as the Founder of the Storytelling Movement in India and in many parts internationally too?
This is my feeling and thought that there is nothing new in what I am doing. It is like reinventing the wheel. Storytelling is as ancient as human time itself. We have always said at Kathalaya that the world is made up of stories not just atoms. Right from the time the first atom appeared, stories appeared. Human beings are social animals from the very beginning, sitting around the fire, where they shared food and along with the food stories. We must thank fire. All around the world, people have been moving in 18th and 19th centuries with the beginning of industrialization from small towns and villages to big cities. Historically in India, approximately from 1945 to 1990 there was nothing happening with storytelling – all due to nuclear families, the search of jobs, the moving away from traditional roots, Macaulayan education, there was no time to listen to stories! There were no grandmothers being heard as they narrated stories, no time for community gatherings. The only way children listened to a story was by reading them. Originally in India, we had listening, retelling of stories along with a discussion on them – that was the guruvul. All this got converted to reading and writing. When I was growing up, it was a mixture of tales that is a mixture of heard and read stories – my parents were from the old times from villages in Tanjore and Nagercoil – I both listened to stories and read them. There was both the oriental input and the western input. Curiosity is very important for learning, for growing up, if you didn’t wonder, if you are not curious you can’t learn. Stories became a diet and this diet was very nourishing for my soul. I became a teacher and a librarian – wherein I found that 45 minutes was all that was allotted to each class, it was all very divided. I figured out that the best way to teach concepts was through a story. I didn’t know I was starting a movement, it was like climbing a ladder quickly – teachers called, NGOs called – storytelling was tool that could be used everywhere. Teachers called to get help with concepts, NGOs on how to use stories for special education and for teaching the deaf mute. This waterbody of stories had many tributaries. And at that time, there was no competition as people did not know ‘what was storytelling?’. People didn’t challenge us much because they thought storytelling was not a ‘real business’. I wanted to give storytelling a genuine pedestal by professionalising it. I wanted it to have goodwill. It was the right time and the right thing happened – to be able to do all this without obstacles and to be able to build the whole universe of storytelling. I was one of the facilitators to make storytelling happen.
You used the symbol of the fire, could you elaborate on this key Indian metaphor?
What we call learning is rooted in our civilisation and its fondness for storytelling. Gypsies had it. So, it bards. This culture of learning through stories. If you look at the ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Indian civilisation, they were very ahead of modern western education and societies. Much of the learning was integrated with healing and therapy based. Of the therapy based traditions, India has strong storytelling roots. One of the earliest art based civilisations was the Indus valley or Harappan Civilisation. So many things we were doing ahead of its time. Our rishis were true seers and had the power of foresight. The Chinese, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, civilisations were all gifted with seers. The seers in the Indian civilisation were the rishis. These Rishis foresaw the universal values, that is the basis of all storytelling. They also heard sounds from the cosmos, its vibratory patterns, these were converted to chants.
The elements – eternal and universal, have a way of syncing up with and helping human beings. In times of old, people wandered around and sat around trees waiting for ideas. One day, while sitting under a tree, early man heard a voice – this voice informed him that by bringing out the fire from the stone he will prosper. In those days early man used to eat raw meat. Once early man became a settler, he heard the sound from the stone and fire came out. Now he could cook his food.
There are these stories of Nachiketus in the Upanishads, who as a littleboy, who questioned whatever his father offered as sacrifice. His father, when a cow became old, would offer that as the danam. As a consequence of an altercation with his father, Nachiketus goes looking for Yama. The god of Death, Yama, is fascinated by the questions the boy has for him. Yama tells the boy the secrets of death and gives fire the name the Nachiketa Yagna. This is also known as the agni vidya. It is through the vidyas that people learn and the vidyas had stories behind them. Fire helped man settle down. Fire and flames were powerful in that they let man know that everything can’t be conquered. Water and fire became very important. Pranayama is done for wind. That’s why in human life the elements are so important. The rishis could perceive the elements – they could see the tree in the seed.
How would you describe the potency of storytelling as a form?
The power of storytelling lies in that you sit near a person, when you listen to a story. The west has been very good with documentation. In storytelling, everything had to be told from the heart. It has to be felt and told. It comes from the heart. There had not been too much reasoning. Storytelling as a form looked like it was a very rote process and retentions helped. Because of retentions it helped in rethinking the story. Today, the same thing is converted to a digital form. When you see an animation the effect is not the same as person telling the story. In a telling, the energy of the person reaches the student.
In India the tradition we have come into is that the purpose of living was to live in service of others for the rishis. In the world this can be seen as well – In Egypt’s desert areas there were learned fakirs and Sufi ascetics, in China there was Confucious and then there was influence of the Buddha. They were role models and seers for who life had to be lived.
On storytelling in Adivasi communities?
In the Adivasi communication they have a lot more oral traditions, lots of music and a lot of folklore. They will sing the story so beautifully. Santali tribals don’t have a written script. They still tell stories to impart knowledge to children, stories to impart knowledge to children – the stories of the first Diwali, the story of how a woman married a peacock, the story of why the lizard’s tail keep growing back. There is humour in the stories, music and songs. In Mangalore, there is a story for why two types of fish are not cooked together.
Could you talk about your experiences in setting up storytelling internationally?
I was asked to build a culture of storytelling. In Sweden, they had their culture and their teachers. They wanted to bring storytelling as a concept of learning. Before this storytelling was for performance and entertainment. They did not know that storytelling could be integrated with the classroom to set up a cultural curriculum. I helped them integrate storytelling with lifeskills and values. I trained them in the art of communication through storytelling. In Scotland, Sweden, Brazil – storytelling was all about building the bridge.
You have won many awards for teaching could you talk about these?
I was awarded the “Best District Teacher” award by the Olympiad foundation for the year 2014-15. I have won the “Shiksha Gaurav” – “National Teachers Award” 2018 from CED Foundation New Delhi. I have won the top performing school educator award and the progressive school educator award 2019 from the CED Foundation. I have won the Asian Educational Award 2020 virtually on September 5th 2020 for contribution to Educational Community.
Can you take us through your teaching career?
I started as a Lecturer in Stella Maris College in 1988. I was a Teacher in G. D. Matriculation School, Coimbatore from 1992-1996. I worked in Euro-Kids international pre-school, Chennai from August 2004 to April 2006. I then worked in Vales Billabong High International School, Chennai from June 2006 to 2008 and 2009- 2011. I worked at Dr. C.L. Metha Sishya Omr School from 2011 as senior teacher handling Physics, chemistry, Biology and EVS
for grades 6, 7, 8 and 9. I handled CHEMISTRY from grades 6 to 10 at DR.C.L. Mehta Sishya OMR School. I was the School Olympiad Co-ordinator for NSO, NCO, IMO, and IEO Examinations at Sishya Omr School from 2011. I worked in Dr. C.L. Metha Sishya Omr School from June 2011 to September 7th 2016. Worked as senior co-ordinator and Head of the Department of Chemistry. I worked as the Centre Head at Babaji Vidhyashram OMR managing the Kindergarten section and acting vice principal taking care of academics and teacher related matters and documentation from November 14th 2016 to March 2018. I was in charge of managing teacher observations, checking teacher lesson plans and teacher comments from grade 1 to grade 10. I was in charge of the Academic Documentation for the affiliation process. I was organising all the events of kindergarten and also reviewing all the major events of grade 1 to grade I worked as “PRIMARY HEAD” at AKG Public School from June 2018 to December 2018. I was in charge of checking question papers, comments of teachers in report cards, teacher observations, reviewing school events, conducting PTMs, whole school general administration. Joined VELS INTERNATIONAL School from February 2019 as Admin in charge and Science Subject Matrix Expert of the R and D divison of VELS GROUP OF SCHOOLS. I have enriched the Primary Science Curriculum based on the learning outcomes of Cambridge which is currently followed by kindle kids’ international school at Singapore. I am currently working as content developer for Science at TVS Educational Society from December 13th 2021
Would you tell us about other career highlights?
I participated in the “Teachers Conference” 2013 conducted by Jane Good all International network and U.S. consulate General, Chennai on teacher’s involvement for Biodiversity conservation awareness. I participated and submitted a project in the workshop” I Can Make a Difference” conducted by Kuruvilla Jacob Foundation for promoting excellence in education in 2016. It was a proud moment when out of the 12 students sent from Dr. C. L. Metha Sishya OMR School for ICSE board examination in the year 2016 four of my students secured A grade in Chemistry.
Could you talk about your own education?
I hold a B.Ed. and Cambridge International diploma for teachers and trainers. [CIDTT]. I have a M.Phil. in Bio-Chemistry from the University of Madras. I also hold an M.Sc. in Bio-Chemistry from the University of Madras and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Stella Maris College, Madras.
Could you talk about your teaching journey?
I have worked as a teacher for 23 years with the last three years in curriculum development. It has been very enriching for me to work as a teacher. It has been a very exciting journey. It has been very refreshing. I have been surrounded by youngsters full of enthusiasm and fresh, novel ideas. I typically research a lot for my teaching. I find it very refreshing to talk to the young with fresh and varied ideas. I had a lot of students who would come with a lot of interesting questions. This has helped improve my personal knowledge. It has helped me evolve into a better person.
Could you talk about the importance of keeping yourself up to date as a teacher through continuous reading?
Newspaper reading is very important for teaching. I am a science teacher. I teach biology and chemistry, also physics and environmental sciences. My basic degree is in biochemistry. The newspapers carry a lot of articles on fresh developments in the sciences. Google searches also yield a lot of science related articles. For a teacher today it is very important to stay upto date with newspaper and internet reading.
Could you talk about the technologies you use in the classroom?
The development of technology has helped the teachers. For instance, in the classroom when I talk of diverse organisms, I find it useful to show videos and PPTs on the subject to enhance the learning of students. How we use technology depends on the subject in concern. For Chemistry we need to work in the lab, for EVS you need local projects and case studies. In India, dissection is banned and I use a virtual lab to show students the internal structure of organisms. Technology is very useful in this instance.
How do you ensure students are not burdened by the information overload that the internet has become?
I first teach and explain the basic concept to the student. Then, I use technology to reinforce what I have already taught. At this second level I show students examples of the concept through videos, PPTs and give references of articles to read. I essentially use technology to recapitulate the concept I have already taught. For me the use and power of technology aids to teaching is that they help in recapitulating that which has been taught in the classroom.
As I explain a complex concept, I show an appropriate video side by side. This helps instil the concept in the class.
How do you locate videos to show to students?
I look for videos in biology and chemistry sites. I look for videos based on the grade level and also the concept I am teaching. The videos may not exactly correspond to the grade level and may have higher level information. But since I use science videos to supplement the information that I have already taught, even if the videos contain a little additional information it only stimulates the imagination of the child. Students learn more this way and the additional information fascinates them.
How do you keep abreast of new technologies?
When I completed my studies there was no computer. As I was completing my Mphil the first computer entered India. I took a MS office course to learn computers. I learnt PPT for use in the classroom. In the pandemic time, use of zoom meetings became imperative. When I was designing the curriculum for a Singapore based school, I learnt to design google forms. I had used google forms extensively for this project.
What educational theories do you find useful?
Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism and Humanism are some theories I use in the classroom. Connectivism is the theory of our times, the 21st century theory. It teaches us to use technology effectively to do our research and to teach. I do believe in student led learning and self-learning. The LAAN theory or Learning As A Network Theory is useful in teaching about knowledge management with technology enabled learning, with learner centric knowledge involvement. Learning theories can be an effective way to get through to the learner.
How do you learn new educational theories?
Going in for professional development is the best way to pick up learning theories. I have completed the Cambridge CIDTT where I learnt the latest educational theories. The schools I have worked in have conducted various workshops which cover new educational theories. Once you get a understanding of the educational theories at courses and workshops you can take them to the classroom to see what works.
Your message for other teachers?
Reading is very essential for teachers and google has made accessing knowledge very easy. It is imperative for teachers to do research on their subject.
Anthony J. D’Angelo has said, “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”
Enter the classroom with E cubed – Energy, enthusiasm, and engagement with learners. It helps the students learn, and teaching helps keep the process of learning alive. Never think of teaching as a chore. It is important to learn, unlearn and relearn.
J Krishnamurti has said, “There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.”
Learn Curve for Girls 