“A Walk Across the Sun” is an unforgettable story of success, failure, fear and immense courage. A book that takes us into lives of strangers and the dangerous world they live in.

It is the day after Christmas, the Ghai family, made up of a father, mother, grandmother, housekeeper and two teenage girls, Ahalya and Sita spend a family evening by the waterfront home by one of Tamil Nadu’s coastal villages. Collecting seashells, the family is cocooned in their happy little world, unknowing that from this day on, their world would never be the same. A Tsunami, sweeps away the family, leaving only two survivors, Ahalya and Sita. Ahalya, quickly decides that they must find safety, and plans to make the trip to Chennai, to a hostel run by nuns. With the help of their father’s friend, they fetch a ride and make the journey, only to find them in a life they could never have imagined: in the chilling dangerous underworld of the international sex-trade and human trafficking.

On the other side of the world in Washington, Thomas Clarke, a young successful lawyer finds himself in a loss of his own. After his wife Priya leaves following the death of their daughter Mohini, Thomas is left alone and confused. Soon after, being wrongfully blamed for a mishap at his prestigious law form, he is offered a choice and finds himself at a crossroads, where he must decide whether to take time off work, or to work pro-bono for a non-profit for a year. While he desires to be a judge one day and wants to continue at his firm, his witnessing of a kidnapping of a 10-year old girl at the Park leaves him wondering if a trip across the world with a non-profit is what he needs to find himself…

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had to follow some bizarre rules:

Don’t shower, cut hair, or clip nails at night—or on Fridays.
Don’t touch anyone on the shoulder. They will not grow.
If you touch someone on the shoulder, touch them on the head immediately afterward. Then they will grow.
Don’t exchange items on the stairs.
Don’t rest your head in your hands.
Don’t rest your chin in your hands.
Don’t rest your cheek in your hands.
Don’t rest any part of your face in your hands.
Don’t ask anyone who is leaving the house where they are going.
Don’t call out to anyone when they are leaving the house.
Don’t sneeze when leaving the house.
If you sneeze, sneeze again for an even number.
Don’t return home when you leave the house until you finish what you set out to do.
If you return home because you forgot something, drink a glass of water before leaving again.
Don’t pass a safety pin from hand to hand.

The list goes on…

Thinking back now, I can’t believe I was ever able to keep track of these little rules. At the time, they were considered almost as laws at home. My mother’s favourite line before every rule was always (in Tamil, of course): “The ancestors said…” It wasn’t until recently that I stopped to think about who these ancestors, or moothaatheyar, were in the first place.

According to my family, the moothaatheyar were our parents’ parents’ parents’ parents, whose wisdom was endless and whose advice one should follow on all matters. They have opinions on how the youth should behave, what career options are best, right down to how someone should comb his or her hair in the morning. I’ve heard the ancestors be quoted so many times that I started to wonder whether they’d written a book of rules at some point. But the problem for me is, and has always been, the fact that we have never met them. What exactly gave them their authority?

Now, as much as I respect the older generation, we have to remember that they were young too once upon a time. In fact, they were probably, at our age, just as lost as we are now. To put things into perspective, take for example that scene from that old sitcom, 8 Simple Rules. The mother, Cate, talks to her husband about an old tradition that existed in her home. Her mother would always cut off the edge of the Sunday pot roast, simply because her own mother had done so all her life. When she questioned her grandmother about this, she too claimed to have cut the edge off the roast because her own mother had. When Cate finally visited her great-grandmother, she found out that she had only cut off the edge of the roast, not because it had some sort of significant meaning, but because it had not, at the time, fit in the small pan she owned.

The point? The younger generation often has a habit of copying the older generation without questioning their motives. Cate’s mother and grandmother cut the edge off the pot roast simply because they saw their mother do the same, without ever debating its benefits. And the older generation isn’t always so wise. While this simple act of cutting off the edge was helpful in Cate’s great-grandmother’s era, it does not translate into her own generation.

Just as well, as the younger generation, we live in a world that is very much different than that of our parents or our grandparents. Though there are some rules that never change (“Don’t smoke”, for example—because let’s face it, the motives behind that one are pretty obvious), there are also some really tedious habits that our parents have, those that may have helped them in their day, but will only hinder us in ours.

It’s very easy to make up a rule and have the younger generation follow it. I can very easily decide that one should always jump on one foot three times whenever someone coughs, in order to ward away bad luck. I can pass this “rule” onto my children, and they can pass it onto theirs. But the fact remains that I made up the rule, and that it was entirely baseless. Sure, it doesn’t hurt to follow small rules such as, “Don’t pass a safety pin from hand to hand”. But you may enlighten yourself if you stop and ask “Why?” Perhaps your parents have a legitimate reason deep-rooted in culture.

Who knows, you might learn something worthwhile.

Television reference for the win:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6MnK9zl530

Like what you read? Read more by Keerthana:
Remembering Our Literature
Society and Expectations: Negotiating Between Boundaries
Opinion Piece: To My Tamil Friends

Watch and enjoy the video!

I like to think of songs to create dance videos that will get me many views internationally. To date, I have over 1 million collective views on all my uploaded YouTube videos because of it. Immediately after the official release of “Why This Kolaveri Di,” I had thought the same only because I noticed its view count increasing at a rapid rate every time I went back to check. I reached out to a close friend who I dance with, Senduran Bhakthakumaran (2wist), and he was all in for the idea. We’ve been in close contact with Anujan Meshach Asokan (X-cluzive) in wanting to make a dance video and so he came up to Waterloo and we decided that “Why This Kolaveri Di” would be the song to which we dance to. He’s the one who came up with the idea of dancing to dubstep version though our initial plan was to dance to the original version. We were hoping our moves would go viral as well. To date, it has been shared on Facebook over 6,000 times and has earned over 27,000 views worldwide (averaging over 1,000 views/day). We find it astonishing just as much as everyone else is.

How many of us knew about Bodhidharma before watching the movie? Probably very few if any. How many of us know who he is after watching the movie? All of us.

Bodhidharma, also known as Daruma, or Damu, has been credited with the founding of Martial Arts (China) and Zen (Japan). According to the movie, he was a Tamil Prince, who traveled from South-India to the east-Pacific region to prevent a disease from spreading to India. During his stay at the Shaolin Temple in China, he taught the warrior monks physical conditioning exercises which later evolved as kung-fu and martial arts in China, and as Karate in Japan (McFarland, 1987).

Bodhidharma is still a powerful symbol in China and Japan today. Many folllowers continue to worship him, and hold rituals after him. Every January 18, a Daruma Bonfire is held in Japan, where papier mache dolls off Bodhidharma are burned in a pyre (McFarland, 1987).  Each year, thousands of people buy a Bodhidharma doll at the beginning of a year, with a goal/wish, and paint one eye on the doll. They keep the doll with them throughout the year, and when the wish comes true, they paint the other eye. At the end of the year on January 18, they return back to the temple, thank Daruma, burn the dolls, and purchase a new one for the upcoming year. The dolls are said to represent persistence, since no matter how many times you knock it over, it returns back to its original pose, and the dolls eyes are in the ‘zazen position’ a meditation that is suppose to clear the mind and increase concentration (McFarlane, 1987).

For those of you who watched the movie, you know this wasn’t just any movie. It was a movie that brought the community together through our history and identity.  It evoked passion, and unity. This movie reminded us of the richness of our Tamil history, and the sophistication of our ancestors.

Media is a powerful tool, more powerful than any other tool in the world. It’s the only tool that truly reaches thousands of people at once, and makes people aware of things they never knew before. The power of media is unparalleled to any other medium.  7am Arivu taught us a great deal, to never forget our history, and to treat our ancestors knowledge as sacred, valuable and scientific.

Without the making of this movie, many us may never have known of Bodhidharma, going to show that media has the power to educate the masses in a medium they can quickly understand and grasp. While this movie made us aware of one part of our history, there are so much more that is still buried away. Filmmakers, journalists, artists and photographers have an important role in our community, a role that we must realize and encourage. They have the power to document, to educate and to empower our cultural practices, our traditions and histories. They have the power to raise awareness.

If you take a look at the many historical books that talk about Bodhidharma, there’s one thing that’s very difficult to ignore. If you look at the earlier reproductions, paintings and drawings of Bodhidharma, his facial features correspond with those facial features with South-Asians. However, as time progressed, Bodhidharma has been painted and drawn with Asian facial features, making him resemble a Chinese/Japanese ethnic background. In today’s popular imagination, his facial features have changed significantly from what he may really have looked like as a Thamizhan. If we don’t write and record our history, someone else will rewrite for us, and it won’t always be to reflect the truth.

Knowledge and information has been safeguarded within tight-communities in our community, making accessibility a problem. While some may think this safeguards information, the truth is information that is so tightly controlled, will eventually be lost with the holders of that information. Many companies have realized this today and have implemented knowledge sharing policies in their organizational structure so so that as employees leave, the knowledge is still retained by the company. We as a community need to work together to share our knowledge, our information, our histories, our traditions and our wisdom. Information and knowledge is wealth, and we need to cultivate and share our personal information and knowledge and make it part of our community’s collective knowledge and information.

7am Arivu may have taught us something important, but if we do nothing with it, then it would have been a waste.

Source:

McFarlane, N. (1987). “The Founder of Zen in Japanese Art and Popular Culture.” NY: Kodansha International Ltd.

Any athlete knows the effects of positive thinking and focus.  It pushes them to achieve great short and long term goals.  Staying positive and pushing out the distractions and obstacles to attaining your goals is part of confidence building.

Terry Orlick is a world renowned leader in the applied field of sport psychology, mental training and excellence.  In his book, ‘Pursuit of Excellence,’ he mentions positive focus reminders to help you in your ongoing pursuit of personal excellence.  Consider these focus positive reminders:

I am in control of my thinking, my focus, my life.

I am a good, valued person in my own right.

I control my focus and therein direct the whole pattern of my performance, health, and life.

I am fully capable of achieving the goals that I set for myself.  They are within my control.

I control the step in front of me by focusing fully on that step.

I am fully capable of focusing through adversity and staying on a positive path.

I learn from setbacks and turn them into positive opportunities for personal growth.

I embrace lessons from my experience and act on those lessons.

My powerful mind and body are one.  I free them to excel.

Every day in some way I am better, wiser, more adaptable, more focused, more confident, and more in control.

I choose to live life fully.

I choose to excel.

What I decide, I become.

(Orlick, 2008, p. 158)

Be creative, stick this as a note in your bedroom wall, in your desktop wall paper or somewhere you can see it daily.  These suggestions are not just intended for athletes but anyone who has positive goals in life.  If you want to learn more on this, read Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick, it’s a great book and bound to give you the mental edge in achieving your goals.

Orlick, T. (2008). In Pursuit of Excellence: How to win in sport and life through mental training (4th ed.). Windsor: Human Kinetics

Every day is filled with small steps.
Every step is a learning hurdle.
Every hurdle can be overcome.
Every hurdle that is overcome makes you a stronger person.

As hard as the journey may be,
Never regret climbing those small steps.
Never regret crossing the hurdles.
In the end, that is what makes you a better person overall.

Technology is amazing! In reality, it allows us to take pleasure with a high level of solace in our day-to-day activities, enhancing the circumstances of our working, functioning lives. But don’t you think we’re pushing it? Don’t you feel that our dependence on technology has gone a little bit too far?

Ever come across a cashier who wasn’t aware that there was a sale on a specific item? You tell her the coat is priced at $50 but is 20% off and she can’t do the math because she doesn’t have a calculator! I’m no mathematician but instances like these astonish me! This may just be a minor problem we encounter in our daily lives but it seems to me that this is just representative of a larger issue.  We’re surrounded by technology; it’s at our fingertips and definitely makes several things a lot simpler, but that doesn’t necessarily suggest that we should depend on it to the point where we can’t think and do things for ourselves. People would lose their minds at even the thought of another blackout! Thu thu thu!

Keep in mind, it isn’t simply the way we utilize technology, but the way in which individuals tend to lose themselves over it and develop this kind of fixation. For example, it seems we can no longer live without our mobile phones. We have it by our sides when we’re eating, when we’re driving, while in class, texting while in the middle of a conversation with actual real human beings in front of us!

Don’t get me wrong, technology has more ups than it has downs. We can heat up food in minutes, people can be sent to the moon, diseases have been cured and we no longer have to jot down directions due to GPS systems. What I’m saying is we need to find a balance. When I woke up this morning and tuned in to the news, one of the “breaking news” was a report on the backlog of messages causing problems for BlackBerry users. THIS is breaking news? More important issues like the ‘Eurozone Crisis’ may be of more relevance to news, but no, BlackBerry’s backlog is a headliner.

My point is that we should try to find a balance, as with everything in life. Instead of always listening to your iPod or iTouch, it’s okay to buy a CD. Instead of reading novels by swooping your finger across your PlayBook, it’s okay to go to libraries. Instead of texting away or FaceTiming a friend who lives a block away, it’s okay to get out and chat with them over coffee. If we’re capable of looking forward to the future without forgetting our past, we’ll have nothing to worry about.

But, we fail to remember that the greatest leaders and revolutionists  in history have also been given the same amount of time as we have; they day was still 24 hours long, and the week was still 7 days. Time did not expand to allow for them to have more time to create positive change in the world, they instead utilized the time they had effectively.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an instrumental figure in the civil rights movement where he worked endlessly towards securing rights for coloured people. He dedicated his time to work towards ending racial segregation and racial discrimination.

Mother Teresa founded the Charity of Missionaries and dedicated her life to care for the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying. All the time she was given, she dedicated it towards humanitarian work.

Albert Einstein changed the face of science; deriving many theories that have helped us understand how the world functions today, he spent a lot of time working towards the advancement of modern science.

Alexander the Great lived 32 years, but he built the largest empire in the world at the time.

Next time you say you don’t have time to do something you feel like you should be doing, ask yourself if time is the real issue. Because, if you truly wanted to do something, you would MAKE time.

” Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn‘t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain

“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. – Mother Teresa

Written by: Jess E.

So, it’s your first formal? Here are some do’s and don’ts that some young women use in preparing for a formal. Have some ideas of your own? Leave behind your tips.

Lights, camera, ACTION! Before you start taking pictures in the bathroom because of the AMAZING lighting, you need to first look over this . We all spend hours prior to the day of the formal looking over what to wear, and looking at who’s on the attending Facebook list. But we never take into consideration that going to a formal is like going to a wedding, you can never be too prepared.

Ladies, here are the DO’s:

1.       Before you grab your mom and bombard all the sari stores in Scarborough, it’s important you figure out what kind of sari you want to wear. It has to be unique, and at the same time suit you. So before you start saving pictures of Shreya with the latest saris on your blackberry and iPhone, try to remember if you’re doing it, then 300 other girls attending formal are too, and seeing another girl wear the same sari as you is quite embarrassing.

2.       Book your sari blouse sewing lady out in advance. So your friend told you her neighbor makes blouses. If she’s telling you, it’s most likely that she and 10 other friends are also getting their blouses made there.

3.       Thirdly, if you know how to put on a sari properly, you are a very talented soul.  If not, make sure you have someone to dress you on the day of. Remember formals happen on sporadic days so expecting your mom to be home on a Thursday at 3pm because you have a makeup appointment at 4pm at MAC is not realistic.

4.       PINS PINS PINS AND MORE PINS! You never know what’s going to come apart with one single dance move so it is very important to be prepared

5.       Make sure you have tamed eyebrows; you can get it done for under $4 at any local plaza, so no excuses.  

6.       Delete all pictures of you on Facebook if you are repeating a sari. Thanks to technology, girls can be at the table beside you looking at a picture of you on Facebook wearing the same sari and pointing at it and saying “see, I told you she wore it before”.

7.       Make sure the night before you keep your sari, jewelry, shoes, clutch, ticket and make up in a corner in your home in a safe place. This way you don’t need to be throwing things around to find all these details.

8.       Before you leave your house, take a couple of pictures in the washroom mirror. Make sure you clean your mirror, and take off the flash for an awesome picture. Once this is done, set this in your BBM or Live profile display so everyone can have a sneak peak of what you look like.

9.  When you arrive at formal, make sure you hug and run up to all your friends like you haven’t seen them at school hours before and take a picture with EVERYONE you see. There is no point in going to a formal if there aren’t pictures that you can profile pic on Facebook the next day.

10.   Have an awesome time! Be responsible, and make sure you have a ride home.  

DON’T!!!!! 

1.       Try a new hairstyle the day of, it’s not going to work unless you’re completely awesome with hair.

2.       Put seven different eye shadow colours on, you’re going to a formal not a carnival.

3.       Forget to put on deodorant, it’s not appealing to look fairly attractive and smell awful at the same time.

4.       Wear heels you can’t walk in for 5 minutes in. If you can’t walk in it, you definitely can’t dance in it.

5.       Add people you met on formal on Facebook right away. Facebook has this weird feature that states that A and B became friends after attending C’s formal, and then you’ll be nicknamed the formal adder.

6.       Not be caught without lip gloss or chap stick, trust me you’ll need it.

That concludes the segment of your very own survival guide to formal. It is understandable that different people have different rituals.  The most important part is that you don’t forget your tickets and ID, and that you are safe and responsible till you get home safe. Hope you enjoyed it!

“Eat healthy, be active through a sport or an art.” – Chenthu

 “Take every opportunity you are given to socialize. Join clubs and associations, volunteer for a good cause and make your presence known.  It’s one thing to have the academic standards of a genius, but it’s another to network and meet all kinds of fascinating people.” – Nirusha M.

“It’s okay to make mistakes in life. It’s all about learning from the mistakes and growing.” – Anita T.

“ALWAYS keep up with your mother tongue; it will always be your first language.”

“Don’t run away from your problems. Face them head on.” – Sharmila Srinithiananthasing

“You are least productive in the day from 2p.m. to 4p.m., do the menial things that don’t require much thought during this time, and save your mornings to do your more creative work.” – Ramesh S.

“Be confident in you. A killer confidence can get you everywhere.” – Anonymous

“Listen to what your parents have to say. They always mean well.” – Mayuran Raveendran

 “You are not responsible for anyone’s happiness but your own. In every decision you make, you make a choice. To be happy or not. Other people have the same choice. They alone can choose to be happy or unhappy, not you. So relieve yourself of the guilt.” – Saran

“When people do wrong, forgive them. You’ll be doing yourself a favour.” – Sahana K.

 “Five minutes before and after making a decision has a huge impact. So use it well.” – Priyanth

 “Set goals in life and don’t take failures as a reason to quit.” – Anonymous

 “Don’t skip classes, it really affects your future and it’s not worth it.” – Jessica T.

“Never quit something simply because it requires some time and dedication.” – Anonymous

“Anger is a wasted emotion.” – Siva T.

“Live in the present. Not the past. Let go of negative emotions. They only weigh you down. Would you want to walk with two bricks tied to your feet? That’s what you do when you don’t let go of hate, anger, and other negativity.” – Anu S.

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. But don’t make the same mistake twice.” – Jenit

 “Stop judging other people. It’s your life, why waste your time judging everyone else?” – Anonymous