Written by: EnnaDa- Kiruthika Thusyanthan
A hero can be defined in many ways, but in the end it all amounts to a person who is a brave saviour. Through my experience as a participant in a flash mob held by York University Tamil Student Association, I came to realize the many words one could use to describe a hero. Each individual had their own meaning behind the word hero, but even with the different opinions there was one thing in common, the heroes they were describing were our Maveerar. We stood silently in a circle while busy crowds passed us by. We were holding a white sheet of paper with our own personal definition of a hero written on it. These words and phrases were something that anybody could relate to, but our message was to make people understand the role our Maveerar have played in our lives. The flash mob was successful in provoking people to question and think. While they only saw our signs at first, by the time they questioned who we were referring to they would look up to see other TSA members waving our national flag off the balcony. That was all it took to portray our message in a simple yet strong manner. With passing time I have come to realize that our struggle is not only to free our homeland, but to also preserve and remember our history. TSA’s flash mob opened my eyes beyond my own perception of what a hero was and drew out everybody else’s vision as well. If I had stood alone I would have been just a word, but standing in unison alongside other TSA members, lead to the combining of our words and together we became a Definition. A definition of what our honoured Maveerar meant to us.
Tags: Poetry/Art, Speak Out, Tamil History/Culture
