When tribal youth V Elumalai graduated in medicine and became a doctor last year, he was not only the first graduate in his family but also in his entire village. He is from Akkaraipatti in the Kalvarayan Hills, some 30 km from Tiruvannamalai. The village is 6 km away from Bimarapatti and some...
The Tamil Nadu government’s initiative to make a Tamil paper mandatory in the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) examinations is quite welcome, says Ilakkuvanar Thiruvalluvan, president, Tamil Protection Association. But more should be done, he says, suggesting the inclusion of the...
A library is a public facility or a private utility – a storehouse of information. It is a portal to the world of knowledge. Tens and thousands of people, who cannot afford to buy expensive books or who are on the trail of research literature for their professional needs, swarm libraries. The...
Before medical surgery, a patient in Tamil Nadu /Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is asked a few questions regarding allergies to medication and so on. He/she may well be asked about his/ her caste, too. Doctors want to ensure they don't belong to the Arya Vaishya Chetty caste group as researchers...
The pandemic had kept students away from schools. Even after the schools reopened, there were several students, particularly from the marginalized sections of the society, who could not afford to pay fees and hence skipped going to the schools. Vasanthan Library School has been conducting free...
N Tamilselvan is a teacher with a mission accomplished. A Maths teacher at a government high school, nearly all his Tamil medium students have passed in their Class 12 Math exam for the last 15 years. During the pandemic period, he has put out videos of him teaching Class 10, 11 and 12 Math...
Sexual violence against children is still a taboo subject for conversation. It is a vicious circle where the child is victimized twice. Parents don’t want to talk about it. Perpetrators go unpunished. Professor A Mangai’s new play Ulluram (strength within) talks about sexual violence against...
A girl student from Suresh Sudha Azhagan Memorial Government Hr Sec School in Thirupullani in Ramanathapuram district has stumbled on three Eelam coins (Eela karunkasu) recently. The Eelam coins were issued during the reign of Raja Raja Chola I in Sri Lanka. After Raja Raja Chola invaded Sri...
Pandarampatti villagers take out processions for weddings and temple festivals. This time they took a green carpet in a procession on the streets of the village. It was a proud moment and they wanted to celebrate the new carpet being put in the classrooms of their village primary school. Seven...
"All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography," said Italian film-maker Frederico Fellini, observing no two pearls are precisely similar. Yet all oysters grow stunningly symmetrical, perfectly round pearls, which has remained an enigma for centuries. The work of Mexican...
