helping children recognise their cultural moorings

by binsal abdul kader, staff reporter
published: november 01, 2008, 00:00

abu dhabi:  an 11-year old tamil boy from abu dhabi escaped a fine for littering while visiting his home country, india, thanks to the efforts of a community organisation here.

"while visiting a public park where littering was strictly prohibited, i could read a board in my mother tongue tamil."

bhargav was able to read the sign after attending tamil language classes conducted by tamil ladies circle (tlc) in abu dhabi.

"in our home state, the southern indian state of tamil nadu, all boards are written in the mother tongue only. you cannot find a board in english or hindi, [the national language of india]," he said. "so you cannot live there without knowing tamil," he added.

being a regional language of india, tamil is not taught in most of the indian schools in the uae, said v. shanbagavalli who volunteers to teach the language in weekly classes conducted by tlc.

gayathr, a seven-year-old boy said his grandparents were very happy when he spoke and read the language, during his vacation back home.

another student, abenya, said she was happy when she started to read the flash news on tamil television news channels.

"we teach the language through rhymes, recitations and stories which tell them of our culture and traditions," said m. mallikeswari, another volunteer.

humanitarian activities

about 25 to 30 pupils attend the classes since 2001 and tlc gives certificates to successful pupils, said banu, a teacher.

apart from language class, tlc has been involved in many socio-cultural and humanitarian activities, said meena venkatesh, the founder president.

"to understand and assimilate the arab culture, we always try to interact with the local arab community," she said.

"during the amnesty 2007, we co-ordinated with the indian embassy to assist the amnesty seekers to process their documents and distributed gifts, juices and snacks to them. we also conducted free medical camps for labourers in abu dhabi," she said.

many students utilised tlc's financial assistance to continue higher education. they also donated generously to the indian government's relief funds, various charitable organisations and orphanages in india, and the red crescent in the uae.

the demonstration classes on various subjects such as cookery, beauty, art and craft, physical fitness, meditation, yoga , first aid and other medical-related topics have been helpful to the members. picnics frequently organised by tlc give a chance to the families to make more friends within the community.

the annual day functions are a rare opportunity to enjoy the performance of renowned artists from india. dance, musical shows, quiz and literary programmes are conducted twice a year exclusively for children. the circle under the leadership of meena venkatesh started with a team of 15 ladies who used to gather at their residences by turns. chitra rajasekar, nazira iliyas, shenbagavalli vasu, latha kalaiselvan, banu subramanayam, shagarbanu ansari and jaishree raghavan took the initiative to expand the organisation.

later, when the membership grew to over 1,000 families, the cultural foundation in abu dhabi registered the circle and offered its premises "the delma corner" for the monthly sessions. "we are here to promote social, cultural, educational and humanitarian service," said venkatesh.

more information on the circle in available on the website: www.tamilladiescircle.com.