Written By: Midila Anton
Thamizh
NOT Tamil
Thamizh
Longest surviving child
Of Mother Earth
Radiating
Through treacherous years
When the British
Ruled her island home
Escaping
Decades of war
When blood and tears
Drenched her native soils
Swimming
Across dark oceans
When an entire generation
Scavanged for freedom
Through centuries
My language has thrived
And I take pride
But my greatest fear?
Hearing Amma become Mommy
Seeing my own treasured language
Perishing
Overpowered
By western assimilation
Her jewels being lost
Before my very own eyes
As a Thamizh
As a Canadian
As a Thamizh-Canadian
It is my duty
To carry forward
My first language
My mother tongue
Enathu thai mozhi
Thamizh
-I am Canadian, but I am Thamizh first
*Thamizh = Tamil
*Amma = mother
*Enathu thai mozhi = my mother language
Midila Anton is wrapping up her final year in Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. Passionate about social issues, she is highly involved in the community. She is the founder and president of the MEDLIFE chapter at York University, a non-profit organization that aims to address issues of medicine, education, and development that persist amongst low-income families around the world. Tags: CTYA, Midila Writes, Poetry, Tamil Heritage Month 2015, Tamil youth, TamilTalent
