An intellectual from Malayaham
by K. S. Sivakumaran
Malai in Thamil means hills or mountains. There are three "la" in Thamil. One of them
is represented in English by the letter "z".
The Thamil word for rain is "mazhai".
But if you say "Malai Aham" or "Malai Naadu" in Thamil, it means the home of the hills.
It is wrong to interpret "Malai Nadu" as a separate state for the Thamils of the
hillcountry area.
But some the irresponsible journalists in some sections of the Sinhala and English
press, and politicians in turn had mischievously interpreted "Malai Aham" and "Malai
Nadu" as "separate state of the Thamilians in the hillcountry". This type of damages
had resulted unnecessary problems in this country.
I gave the above explanation to make clear the meaning of the word "Mali Aham" that I
am using in this piece. The hillcountry Thamilians could count a few intellectuals
among them. Two of them were the late C. V. Velupillai (bilingual poet, novelist and
politician) and S. Sivalingam (bilingual writer, trilingual orator, educationist and
humanitarian activist).
Presently there has emerged another educationist and multidisciplinarian. He is Prof.
S. Santhirasegeram of the Faculty of Education in the University of Colombo. He has
written a number of books in English and Thamil. He is a fine speaker, teacher and a
knowledgeable person.
He was rightly felicitated recently in Colombo on his reaching 60 years. On that
occasion two books were released. One of them was a bilingual collection of studied
articles and the other was also in both Thamil and English containing felicitations for
the erudite scholar. Amiable, unassuming, understanding and non-partisan, he had
earned the respect of earnest admirers of him and his contributions.
The felicitation committee included some Thamilian academics in the calibre of
Emeritus Professors Bertram Bastiampillai, K. Sivathamby and other academics like
Prof. M. Sinnathamby, M. Mookiah, Dr A. G. Hussain Ismail and two other high ranking
state officials, Dr. P. Ramanujam and M. Vamadevan. Others, U. Navaratnam, T.
Dhanaraj, M. Kanapathipillai, K. Gnanasekeram, K. K. Udhayakumar, Dr. M.
Karunanidhi, K. Sandralingam, S. Anthony Norbert, N. Nadarasa, J. Lenin
Mathivaanam, T. T. Rajendran, V. Shanmugarajah and K. Kumaran.
Why I gave these names was to put on record some of the important people (there are
many in the northeast) actively interested in education. Since they come from the
Thamil community, the majority community in this country might not know them well as
the Sinhala and even English media seldom publish anything about them.
However some academics from the Sinhala community were not hesitant to evaluate
him and his contributions. Take for instance what Prof. C. Kariyawasam (former Head
of the Department of Humanities Education of the Colombo University) had to say:
"He is the intellectual bridge between the plantation and the Colombo academia and
the social elite. Perhaps I may stretch a point and say that he is the typical prototype
of the Sri Lankan harmonious blend of Sinhala+ Thamil+ Muslim and other persona,
for the realization of the first of the Sri Lankan educational goals. Perhaps his outlook
and attitudes are more than of a Sri Lankan but of a cosmopolitan too`85 Although
Prof. Santhirasegeram's breadth of activities ”both educational and societal”keeps him
as busy as a bee, nevertheless he keeps abreast of the rapidly exploding knowledge
landscape by being a learning academic rather than a learned academic."
Prof.W.G.Kularatne of the Faculty of Education had this information to share:
"Prof S. had visited many countries as a research scholar and he also has worked as
a visiting professor at the Auburn University, Alabama, USA. He has written a book
named "Education of Disadvantaged Communities in South Asia" with Prof. Raja
Gunawardhane during his stay at this university`85 His fluency in Thamil, English and
Sinhala, not only helped him to contribute to the development of education in Sri
Lanka but also to link Thamil community with Sinhala community in order to create
social harmony in the country at large."
Prof. Swarna Wijetunge (Educational Psychology, University of Colombo) has this to
say: "As a university academic his record of teaching, research and dissemination is
indeed praiseworthy. He has reached the highest pinnacle among members of is
community by the gigantic contribution he as made over the years by a tireless effort
to educate and enlighten them."
This book is a fine compilation of the life and career of a living academic. very
valuable to researchers in the field of education. The book includes several
evaluations on Prof. S. Santhirsegeram mainly in Thamil and in English. It can be
obtained from`A024 1 /1, Frankfort Place, Colombo 04.
International Film Festival of India
The 36th International Film Festival of India (IIFI) will be held in the former Portuguese
protectorate and now one of the states of India, Goa. This state is in the north western
region of India one hour's flight from Mumbai. The capital of Goa is going to be the
permanent venue of the IFFI beginning this year. The capital of Goa is Panaji. The 10-
day festival will begin on November 24 and end on December 04 this year. Nearly 300
delegates from all parts of the world are expected to attend this popular film festival of
Asia. Film directors, film personalities, film critics, journalists and representatives of
film organisations would enjoy seeing international and Indian films. Interested
filmgoers of artistic films would also have an opportunity to view some of the best films
from Asia, Africa, Latin America and other continents. In the Cinema of the World
section 45 films around 35 countries produced in the last two years would be shown. In
the Indian Panorama (artistic films) 20 feature films and 15 documentaries are
scheduled. In the Indian Mainstream section 12 popular films in different Indian
languages would be screened. In the Indian Retrospective section Hindi and Bengali
film director of artistic merit, Hrishikesh Mukerjee's films are billed to be shown. There
will be many more attractions. Tributes to Ismail Merchant, Sunil Dutt and Gemini
Ganeshan; some film personalities who have departed from life have also been
arranged.
Yours truly had been a regular attendant of the IFFI from 1991 to 1997 and reviewed
most of the films seen at the festival in The Island. Due to his absence from the
country between 1998 and 2004, he missed the subsequent International Film
Festivals of India. It was an education and aesthetic satisfaction seeing wonderful
cinema - the Moving Image.