2012 FeTNA Convention in Baltimore

The Ponnivala team was in Baltimore MD for the 2012 FeTNA Silver Jubilee Convention. Tamils from all over North America converged on the spectacular Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall from July 6-8 for a weekend of music, food, networking, and cultural exchange.

At the welcome dinner on Thursday evening, Dr. Brenda Beck was asked (unexpectedly!) to come up to the podium and say a few words (in Tamil) about the Ponnivala project. Her speech was received with raucous applause, and chants of "Brinda! Brinda!"...which of course took her completely by surprise!

As part of the official program beginning on Friday, Dr. Beck gave a Powerpoint talk on the Ponnivala story, outlining why this epic is so significant to a deeper understanding of Tamil culture.

On Saturday, the team hosted a Parcheesi game for kids. Parcheesi is a traditional Indian game that was a favourite passtime of the heroes of the Ponnivala legend, Ponnar and Shankar. In our version, a board 4 feet by 4 feet is used, covering a large area of the floor. The kids at this event were divided into girls' and boys' teams. It was an interesting and fun experience, because although individual girls ended up getting to the centre of the board first, the boys strategized together and ended up landing all four of their markers in the centre at the same time!

The centrepiece of the event for us of course was the booth where we had all twenty-six chapters of both the English and Tamil graphic novels laid out on display. Our display booth garnered a lot of attention as people were excited about our interest and enthusiasm for Indian culture and history. The products were extremely well-received, and it was the grand unveiling of the first run of printed Tamil edition comics!

All-in-all it was an exciting and enriching experience, and we hope to be invited back to next year's FeTNA Convention in Toronto!

FeTNA, the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, is an umbrella organization of Tamil Sangams that function within North America. Founded in 1987, the inaugural assembly of 400 people was held in the spring of 1988 in Broomall, Pennsylvania. Since then, FeTNA has blossomed to include dozens of North American Sangams representing thousands of people across the continent. Find out more at www.fetna.org.

The entire series of Legend of Ponnivala comics is now available in print and digital editions at www.ponnivalamarket.com. You can also view them in webcomic format at www.ponnivala.com/webcomics.

Dr. Beck Attends Tamil Studies Conference, University of Toronto

Tamil Studies Conference, University of Toronto, May 11-13, 2012

Presenters (l-r) Gita Pai, Zoe Headley, and S. Ponnarasu
respond to audience questions.

Finding time in her busy schedule, Brenda was able to make it to a couple of Friday afternoon sessions of the 2012 Tamil conference in Toronto. She heard several very interesting speakers who shared a panel that focused on Royal Lineages, History, and Heritage in the Kongu area of Tamilnadu (nearby Madurai was also included). This is exactly the area covered by The Legend of Ponnivala, and so the remarks made by the three speakers (S. Ponnarasu, Zoe Headley, and Gita Pai) were of great interest. The conversation and discussion that followed centered around the importance the people of this area give to a variety of strong mythical themes they feel tie them to the past. Of course this is exactly the kind of material The Legend of Ponnivala weaves around its heroes. After the presentations, several commentators pointed out the way in which images about heritage and culture often become embedded stories. Politicized tales and very grand epithets are often used in this area to glorify the heritage and local roots of certain well-known families and their lineages. All in all, these traditions make for very colourful story telling in Kongunadu!

Prof. Noboru Karashima

As a wrap up to the academic meetings of the day, the distinguished Professor Noboru Karashima gave a talk in the main assembly hall. His very scholarly and very interesting address was about “The Past as Known From Tamil Inscriptions.” Professor Karashima took a very detailed and highly statistical approach to the content of some 28,000 inscriptions ranging in time from the 3rd century BC to the 19th century AD. Particularly striking was the social detail relating to curses detailed in these stone and copper plate records. The consequences said to befall anyone who might wish to subvert a royal decree of a land grant, a gift of gold or the guarantee of various temple services were very severe indeed Traitors were declared as cursed to die young, to have barren wives, to be lower in status than a dog or a pig, to be cast out of the village where they lived, to have their women violated by those of very low status, to have their noses cut off, and more. It is interesting that many specifics linked to these same themes are found embedded in the Ponnivala legend too! There, several characters and communities undergo a similar loss of face, or of respect, honour, and status as a consequence of what could be called similar “social misbehaviours”; situations where someone or some group breaks accepted community norms.

Karasihma was also able to detect the loss of social power among both Vellalars and Brahmins from roughly the 13th century onward. From this point in time onward he was able to point to inscriptional traces that indicated the gradual rise in influence for various additional social groups. These were ambitious and vocal communities who slowly began to insist on their own status and rights. The groups Karashima particularly mentioned were the idangai and valangai (left hand and right hand groups, about whom Dr. Beck has written extensively). Karashima also suggested that several of these groups probably originated, at least in part, from the rising influence of various hill tribes. He also spoke of various merchant groups who began to hire ex-soldiers as guards (the Ainuruvar, Kaikolar and Vaniya Nagaram merchant guilds). Karashima linked this rise in additional social power clusters to a more general breakdown in the power of various great monarchs who had once held the area together. One could term Karashima’s paper a “tour de force.” It provided a fitting end to the scholarly day, and was of great interest to Brenda personally, since the hill tribes of the Kongu region play a vital role in bringing the heroes of the Ponnivala story to their knees toward the end of this legend (her favourite epic tale!).

1st Annual Multicultural Celebration Day at the Kawartha Heights School in Peterborough

Students receiving henna designs.

The Kawartha Heights School has a lot of students whose cultural roots lie in other countries. So they decided to heighten student appreciation of other cultures and their riches by celebrating a Multicultural Day. The event featured Native Canadians and at least 30 countries from around the world. The kids carried national flags and put on a lovely show of dress outfits worn by people in different places, as well as multicultural music and story telling. There was even some henna hand painting for those who wanted to try it. The kids had a ball and everyone was very upbeat about the event.

Priya Govindarajan narrates the Ponnivala story for students.

Our role came in the story telling. Priyadharshini Govindarajan comes from a local family with roots in South India. She worked with us for about two years as an animation artist that helped us to develop our 26 episode animation series. Priya is also a mother of two young boys who attend the Kawartha Heights School. She volunteered to read parts of the Ponnivala story to kids in one of the school rooms. Kids cycled in and out of the room to hear her every twenty minutes, so that most everyone had a chance to hear the stories at some point during the day.


Priya started each session by telling the story in Tamil for about ten minutes. The idea was to expose kids to the sound of a very different language and let them enjoy some of the rhythms and expressions used, before switching to English to explain more thoroughly what was happening. She told a different story for each session and each presentation was accompanied by the projection of pages from our graphic novel series onto a big screen in front of the kids. This way everyone could enjoy the graphics even if they did not understand all the words.

A KHS student enjoying one of our graphic novels.

The kids seemed delighted with the format and with the stories. Afterwards many kids picked up the comic books and started reading them on their own. Where the kids were of different ages and skill levels the older ones--the better readers--read to their “partners.” The best news of all came when the Principal of the school came into the room and told us that she wanted to order the entire set of 26 novels for her school library, as she could see how the kids were enjoying these booklets! Of course we will be happy to provide these. Kawartha Heights is to become the first elementary-middle school in Canada to adapt our materials!

This is a forward-looking school, emphasizing the need for peace between cultures and between nations. Their initiative is to be commended we hope others will follow suit. It was a well planned event and fun was had by all, even by the many friends and parents who also attended the celebration!

~ Dr. Brenda Beck

Dr. Beck giving her presentation to the Multicultural Celebration Day assembly at
Kawartha Heights School in Peterborough, ON.

What Is The Legend of Ponnivala?

The Legend of Ponnivala is a vast epic story, once widely celebrated in the Kongu region of South India. It is a gem of Tamil storytelling, and a tale normally sung by bards. The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada, in association with Soft Science, has produced a twenty-six episode animated DVD series with accompanying print and digital comic books and teaching guides.

The colours and character designs in these short graphic novels present the reader with a new style that is not Manga, not Disney, and not Bollywood. Instead, each page draws inspiration from authentic, traditional Indian folk art. Akin to a regional Mahabharata, this significant and hitherto largely unknown folk epic describes life in medieval South India. Because of the legend’s authenticity, depth, and extensive social significance, this story can be enjoyed at many levels. Building on 45 years of scholarship by Dr. Brenda Beck, it is anticipated that all 26 comic books will hold the interest of kids, families, and even attract academic scholars. In fact, one elementary school student from New Jersey wrote:

I read the entire set of books in 3 days.
The Legend Of Ponnivala was a very interesting, happy, and fascinating story.
I liked the book titled 'The Book Of Fate' the most.
My favorite character was Tamarai. Your stories are excellent.
Thank you for the books.
~ Janani S. (2nd grade), Metuchen, NJ

Locally the epic is known as the Annanmar Kathai, or "The Elder Brothers' Story," and is named for the principal characters of the third generation, the twin brothers Ponnar and Shankar. Like all good folk epics, Ponnivala takes place in the real world, with locations and landmarks that still exist today. Yet its great age (easily over 500 years old) provides a remarkable insight into the society and culture of medieval India, especially as played out in the Kongu region of Tamilnadu.

New releases planned for 2012 include Tamil, Hindi, and French language versions, and “Ponnivala Parcheesi," an educational game intended to provide teachers with fresh comparative material, for use in the classroom or lecture theatre.

These comics (and their video counterparts) provide viewers with a fresh and informative folk perspective on South Asia’s pre-colonial history. The material also has great mythological and cultural appeal.