Posts Tagged ‘Speak Out’


Asvini Ravindran, Animal Activist

By Editor - June 21st, 2015

Asvini Ravindran, Animal Activist

This week on Talent Tuesday, we feature Asvini Ravindran. Asvini is a young animal activist from Toronto who has completed volunteer work with endangered species in South Africa. She is a passionate activist who has begun speaking out under her Youtube Channel Paws & Claws. Through this channel, she discusses topics such as tiger temples, wearing fur for fashion, and use of plastic free products to name a few in her ongoing efforts to raise awareness.



Cycle

By Editor - May 10th, 2015

Cycle

Watch the song birds
As they sing the sorrowful song that men always forget



Thornless Rose

By Editor - April 7th, 2015

Thornless Rose

The thornless rose
Lied in the field
Surrounded by those
Who became her shield

These lost souls
Came for this flower
But at large tolls
Lost their power



May We Remember.

By Admin - May 14th, 2014

May We Remember.

May we remember. The month of May creates a sense of calmness, the calmness that follows terror and torture. Here, we present to you, a collection of life incidents, compiled by Anbu from eyewitness accounts. They represent thousands of other stories that have been left untold. Please be advised that these stories contain materials that may be unsuitable for some readers. You may continue to read at your own discretion.

The real names of the author and characters in these short stories are not available to public at the moment. Thazhumbkam is obliged to protect the identities of the people involved in these stories and their relatives whom may be in danger should their identities be revealed. Thazhumbakam is a Tamil Genocide Memorial Museum initiated by the Human Rights Advocacy Council of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance.

Pathman:

I felt a shell blast near me. When I woke up, two of my friends were lying dead beside me. I tried to get up. I couldn’t. I felt something oozing out of my stomach. I tried to feel the wound and blood started flowing like water out of a tap. Nobody was in sight. Around me, laid tens of lifeless bodies. I crawled as much as I could towards the road. I fell unconscious. When I regained my consciousness, I was only able to hear a few voices. The young voices were that of members of the Tamil Eelam Medical Unit. I heard many people crying and weeping around me. One of the doctors said, “the wound must be in the liver, we can’t do much”. Another female voice said, “No, it looks like the bladder. We should start the treatment”. I lost my consciousness again.

When I woke up, it was calm all around me. The place was like a mortuary. Even those with little mobility had forced themselves to leave the place as it was continuing to be target of the army’s shell attacks. I crawled into a bunker space nearby. There were thousands of wounded people in the many bunkers in the sandy beach area around the temporary hospital. Those of us who were not able to walk and those that lost their limbs in the war had no choice but to continue to be in the bunkers.

Despite my wound and exhaustion after the surgery, I, along with thousands of others, gathered my energy and tried to walk. After kilometers of walking, I joined many others to be treated in the hospital. I later learnt from those who were in that area, that the army had shot those who were unable to move one by one, and filled the bunkers of unconscious people who did not have any mobility with sand. These memories haunt me even now and I have many sleepless nights.

I remember the young face of a boy who encouraged me to leave the bunker saying, “Anna (elder brother), I don’t have both legs. I can’t move. But you can. Try your best to move out of here.”



Vasuki: The Story of a Young Eelam Tamil Girl

By Admin - May 8th, 2014

Vasuki: The Story of a Young Eelam Tamil Girl

May we remember. The month of May creates a sense of calmness, the calmness that follows terror and torture. Here, we present to you, a collection of life incidents, compiled by Anbu from eyewitness accounts. They represent thousands of other stories that have been left untold. Please be advised that these stories contain materials that may be unsuitable for some readers. You may continue to read at your own discretion.

The real names of the author and characters in these short stories are not available to public at the moment. Thazhumbkam is obliged to protect the identities of the people involved in these stories and their relatives whom may be in danger should their identities be revealed. Thazhumbakam is a Tamil Genocide Memorial Museum initiated by the Human Rights Advocacy Council of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance.

Painting by Keera Ratnam

Vasuki: The Story of a Young Eelam Tamil Girl

There was barely any food left. Starvation, exhaustion and the barrage of artilleries continued on as we feared for our lives. One morning, my mother and my aunt came out of the bunker to help my aged grandmother with her morning routines. Myself (age 13), my sister (age 10) and my brother (age 6) and my cousins aged 4 and 1 and my father stayed inside the bunker. My uncle had died in an air attack on Vaddakachchi last year. So, my aunt left her young children with us and went along with my mother outside the bunker to help my grandmother. As they were outside, a shell fell close to our place and my father peeked out of the bunker and called my mother. My mother and aunt were trying to help grandmother who was unable to run back to the bunker. Just then, another shell blasted closer to our bunker. The continuous barrage of shells continued for a few minutes. We ran outside after the blasts died down. We saw flesh strewn around the bunker. I kept my hands on my mother’s chest. It was a huge hole. My aunt’s head was chopped off. Blood was oozing from my grandmother’s ears. Many others were dead. Shelling continued. We hugged our mother’s body tight and we wept. Father and all of us wept in the bunker. My little cousins could not figure out what had happened to their mother and they cried in fear as well. All five of us were now alone with our father. We stepped out of the bunker after four hours and buried them in a place near the bunker.



Thangachi’s Corner: Millennial Technology

By Admin - April 30th, 2014

Thangachi’s Corner: Millennial Technology

April 30, 2014

Thangachi’s Corner: Millennial Technology

Updated every other Wednesday, “Thangachi’s Corner” is a bi-monthly feature that discusses relatable topics and issues relevant to the Canadian Tamil youth of today. For more information about this feature or to suggest a topic, feel free to e-mail us at blogs@ctya.org!

Written By: Keerthana Raveendran

I am a Millennial—a member of Generation Y.
Characterized by birthdays roughly between 1980 and 2000, Millennials are known for cultural tolerance, optimism, hyperawareness of global issues and of course—

Love of technology.

And we sure do love our technology. We are the generation that uses electronics like extensions of our own bodies. Nowadays, you would be hard-pressed to find someone between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five without a cellular phone. And even more noteworthy, most of these folks probably own additional electronics—a laptop, a tablet computer, perhaps even a music-playing device.

It didn’t quite bother me how much we rely on our devices until quite recently, having to constantly scold preteen kids to put away their phones before it goes in my desk for the rest of the school day, Mister

And these are children.

When I was a kid, cell phones were the size of a water bottle, robust, chunky and with an antenna for good measure. And they were solely for the use of adults.

It fascinates me that there is such a noticeable disparity between the past ten years of people. Somewhere along the line, technology production and subsequent use soared to the point in which it resulted in an entirely different lifestyle, even within the gap of a decade.

I remember being a kid and rushing through my homework in spring just so I could go to the park afterward and play with my friends. I remember not having a television for about a year in grade three, when I really started to write—back then, my desperation for a good story forced me to write my own.

I remember summers spent outdoors, and long car rides spent making up games with family, or otherwise laughing and bickering as all children do. We were left to entertain ourselves, and oddly enough, we were never bored.

Technology existed back then too. It wasn’t as prevalent or accessible as it is today, but it was there, and somehow, with slow dial-up internet and inconveniently heavy devices, we found a way to live our lives without becoming too dependent.

That technology is developing at a rapid rate is both a blessing and a curse. It is a miracle that we can find answers to questions in a matter of minutes, but it’s important to recognize that this convenience comes with a cost. Having become accustomed to immediate results, the newest generation of kids come with a new impatience with every task they face. Having been entertained at every turn, they struggle to engage creativity necessary to solve problems. Kids these days risk overstimulation; they can be both hyperactive and moody. And while with this new wave of selfies, they can be confident and narcissistic, habituation to indoors may leave them lazy to put what could be productive energy to use.

But technology has positive effects on the youth of today. Connection to the global landscape leaves Millennials with both an awareness of the events unfolding in the world around them and a sense of social justice to make a positive difference.

Technology is a wonderful resource, and we would be fools to forsake it forever. But perhaps a bit of temperance would do us some good. While after all of our conditioning, I don’t know that some of us could go a day without our phones, it is a significant realization not only that we once did, but that people around the world—past, present and future—do it every day.

And didn’t we all function fine?
About the Author:

Keerthana Raveendran, known by her flock as Thangachi, is an aspiring author whose motivation to write usually kicks in when she’s supposed to be occupied elsewhere. She is an avid procrastinator who sees potential novel ideas as movies in her head. Maybe one of these days they’ll make it onto the page. Thangachi is currently a Masters student studying English at York University.



The UNHRC Resolution: A Critical Interrogation

By Admin - April 6th, 2014

The UNHRC Resolution: A Critical Interrogation

Written By: Krisna Saravanamuttu

“The struggle for liberation sharpened only because the people realized that they were being taken for a ride. Those same realizations helped keep our struggle on track. If these are to be blunted we will become a race prepared to give up its ideals in return for concessions.” – Taraki Sivaram, former senior editor of TamilNet

Five years after the international community, the co-chairs to the peace process, and the United Nations failed to stop Sri Lanka’s 2009 genocide, Tamils appear to finally be upon a new beginning in the decades long struggle for justice. The US sponsored resolution passed an intense session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last week. The motion carried and supposedly sets up an international investigation into wartime abuses. The fact that some Tamil activists lobbied for this resolution at the Human Rights Council does not preclude a closer, critical, and more constructive interrogation. The question remains, how exactly will the resolution advance Tamil freedom in the international arena?

A political solution to end Tamil genocide

A cursory glance at the text of the resolution tabled by the United States leaves something conspicuously absent. Besides a vague insinuation to the Sri Lankan campaign to “combat terrorism,” there is not a single mention of the word ‘Tamil’ (not even once). Instead, the resolution declared “its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.” Upon closer scrutiny, minorities and religious groups are mentioned, but still no mention of the unique oppression Tamils suffer.

Tamils qualify as a Nation of people, not a minority group, with their own identity, language, culture, history and an identifiable territorial homeland. So any reference to minorities in the UNHRC resolution is irrelevant to the Tamil Question. Indeed, the Tamil People today resist Sri Lanka’s attempts to make them into a scattered minority across their homeland, for the struggle has always been about the survival of the Tamils as a Nation. There are minorities in the island like the Berghers, the mixed descendants of Europeans. What makes us, the Tamils, the target of genocide is that we are a nation with a specific claim to a homeland in the NorthEast. Of course, such arguments are nothing new to the policy makers behind the resolution. Although political will to recognize Tamil Nationhood leaves much to be desired, it is a prerequisite to resolving the island’s conflict.

Read More Inside.



Thangachi’s Corner: Musings of a New Teacher

By Admin - March 11th, 2014

Thangachi’s Corner: Musings of a New Teacher

Updated every other Wednesday, “Thangachi’s Corner” is a bi-monthly feature that discusses relatable topics and issues relevant to the Canadian Tamil youth of today. For more information about this feature or to suggest a topic, feel free to e-mail us at blogs@ctya.org!

Written By: Keerthana Raveendran

So in January, I finally transcended my perpetually unemployed status and scored my first grown-up job—as a Core French teacher at an elementary school. It was a pretty big deal, needless to say. And like all newbies, I took the post with excessive zeal, determined to excel and prove my worth in a profession that demanded experience when I had so little to offer.

I was as prepared as I ever could have been. I had already volunteered at the same school, so I was familiar with the environment. I had observed the original teacher’s strategies and witnessed successful instruction unfold before my eyes. I had even undertaken supervision of an extra-curricular activity to gain rapport with the students.

But though I knew when I started the gig that it wasn’t going to be easy, I didn’t expect the challenges I faced during that first month—the challenges that I still face today (and that I will probably face throughout my career). Every day is a learning experience and success is only experienced in small doses, after copious amounts of trial and error (emphasis on the error). Still, after two months, I’ve managed to extract a few golden morsels of wisdom:



Thangachi’s Corner: A Change of Pace

By Admin - February 25th, 2014

Thangachi’s Corner: A Change of Pace

February 26, 2014

Updated every other Wednesday, “Thangachi’s Corner” is a bi-monthly feature that discusses relatable topics and issues relevant to the Canadian Tamil youth of today. For more information about this feature or to suggest a topic, feel free to e-mail us at blogs@ctya.org!

Written By: Keerthana Raveendran

I have always been a planner.

I know exactly how my day is going to look the second I wake up, right down to the minute details. I rely heavily on my agenda, and have the next two weeks planned out to the letter. I am forward-thinking when it comes to short term goals, and have a general sketch of the next year or so in the long term.

Needless to say, I am fairly organized. And being prepared certainly has its perks. I am almost always on top of things, I get tasks done in an orderly fashion, and I never miss deadlines. I’m hardly ever lost and I have back up plans for my back up plans—just in case.

But while preparedness comes with its perks, it has its downsides as well. While it helps to make plans and predictions, life is hardly ever that easy to plot down. Instead, it is a dynamic, spontaneous phenomenon, and the organized person will find themselves at a complete loss when plans suddenly change.

Speaking for myself, the planner is someone who wants complete control over their surrounding environment–an impossible feat in its own definition. I often find myself making plans to which I grow attached, and feeling frustrated when unforeseen circumstances intervene.

A bit silly? Perhaps. But this a rather difficult statement to digest for those who spend almost all of their time living a few hours ahead of everyone else: A little spontaneity doesn’t hurt anyone. Rephrased—live in the moment.

Folks who are more spontaneous tend to be carefree. They are less stressed and are more inclined to enjoy life than their higher-strung counterparts.

The key, perhaps, is to find a compromise between the two extremes, a sort of balance. While I couldn’t possibly condone a life of spontaneity with my carefully conditioned, planning behaviour patterns, it is probably a right step in the direction to retreat from plans once in a while and play it by ear. And while it’s okay to have guidelines planned out, a day of impulse will only serve as very welcomed spice in an otherwise bland dish.

A change of pace, if you will.



Thoondal:”Just took my shoes off, ma’am!”

By Admin - February 19th, 2014

Thoondal:"Just took my shoes off, ma'am!"

Written By: Shayanika Suresh

Studying for exams, I often find myself stuck in various coffee shops and libraries for hours at a time. On one such studious occasion, as I was so busily cramming away, I felt a slight tap on my shoulder and I turned to see a face peering at me through large, round glasses. She had a frown on her face, and as she was formulating sentences, I was hastily trying to figure out what I had done wrong, so that I could excuse myself with a simple apology. Unable to find the cause for trouble, I turned to concentrate on what she was saying, “You have to have your shoes on at all times”, I heard her whisper. It took me a few seconds to fully understand what she had just said to me. I had taken off my boots and was sitting cross-legged on the wooden chair. “Yes, yes of course, sorry”, I muttered. She moved on, and I quickly slipped my boots on. The older woman sharing the table with me looked at me in disbelief. “Did she seriously just say that?”, she whispered. I smiled and nodded and turned my focus on the books before me. But I couldn’t help but wonder what the rationale behind such a rule could be. A way to avoid the smell of sweaty socks and feet, maybe? On my way home, I stopped in front of a framed document near the elevators which featured the Rules for Conduct of the library in extremely small font. I wanted to see for myself, if that was indeed a written rule. Sure enough, the rule was there. “All footwear and clothing must be kept on at all times”. If only the document also had an explanation for the rule.

On a more serious note, please do not take your shoes off at the library. A rule is a rule, and I wouldn’t encourage you to break the law.

CTYA’s Blog has started a new feature every Thursday called ‘Thoondal’, meaning inspiration, stimulation, or inducement. Through these weekly features, the author hopes to inspire you, stimulate your senses and induce you to think deeply about the topics she addresses and finally, to use those thoughts to inspire many more wonderful youth like you.

About the Author:

Shayanika Suresh is a Law Graduate currently working on establishing her legal career. She is also a passionate writer and has self-published a collection of short stories, “Lips no longer sealed”. Shayanika’s passion to raise awareness of various social issues that affect individuals and society as a whole is evident in her work, leaving a message for the reader to take home.