Tamils - a Trans State Nation..

"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."
- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C

About Us & Visitor Comments

Visitor Comments: 1998 to 1999

From: Rajendra, Singapore 17 December 1999

I am impressed by the coverage provided by tamilnation.org....It is an outstanding website.

From: Ponnamblam Kandasamy, UK, 24 November 1999

We are really proud of your excellent work through tamilnation.org. Though I do not have enough time to go through all the pages whatever I have read so far has been thoroughly enjoyable to read. All the Tamils are grateful for this impressive service.

From: Sivagurunathan Chinniah, Nalinam Tamil Computers, Malaysia, 20 November 1999

My compliments to you for doing such a wonderful work for Tamil.

From: Easwaran & Kalamathy, USA 4 November 1999

Yours is a wonderful website that we visit regularly and promote to many of our friends and acquaintances. It is an information treasure house which we are trying to explore fully. It is doing a wonderful service for the Tamil (and other) communities...

From: Saravanan, Malaysia 12 October 1999

Hai, my dearest TAMILIAN......! I had started to cry when I saw that there are some beautiful souls who contribute so much for the Tamil nation. VAALGA TAMIL.... May GOD give a never ended long live for those who made this contribution. I love you all. Nandri & Vanakkam.

Response by tamilnation: Mikka Nandri. We need both mind and heart and it is with both, that we can give shape and content to the growing togetherness of the Tamil people living in many lands. Your words, coming from the heart, help to sustain us in our own commitment to the mission of the tamilnation website. God Bless.

From Switzerland: Dr.K.Kalyanasundaram, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

" I am really amazed by the depth of coverage and also by the excellent presentation. My sincere congratulations for an outstanding job! I am looking forward to coming back to visit this wonderful site on a weekend.... I see a very bright future for Tamil far extending into all four corners of the world in the coming years."

From: Muthu Nedumaran, Singapore

"Just had a chance to look at your website. Congratulations. Great piece of work and please keep that up... Appreciate your efforts and will tell as many people as possible to visit."

From Singapore: Naa Govindasamy, Nanyang Technological University, 21 October 1998

I am so impressed by the way that Tamilnation is projecting Tamils, Tamil Language, Tamil Literature and Tamil Culture. The way you have organised the topics, and the kind of links you are giving are excellent...

From France: , Cultural Anthropologist

"I congratulate you for your website which is very well done and so informative! It was very interesting to visit and I will strongly recommend it....

From Sweden: Professor Peter Schalk, University of Tromso

..... tamilnation.org... is really impressive and ... in part it can be used by professional historians. I have not yet been able to go through everything, but I made a test concerning the Thimpu documents. This page is important for many historians. We have to thank you for your good work.

From: C.R.Selvakumar, Canada 23 September 1999

vaNakkam. www.tamilnation.org is indeed an exceptionally valuable source. I admire the quality of your selections and how they deepen my perspectives and quite possibly other Tamils as well. It is a tremendous achievement indeed and my heart-felt thanks for such a service.

I'm writing ... to bring it to your attention that under the section 'language/literature' you have cited many people who had contributed to Tamil world-wide-web and electronic Tamil. I felt the contributions of Dr. Bala Swaminathan and his brother Dr.Gnanasekar Swaminathan were of truly pioneering nature with their extensive development of unix toolkits using x-windows and Tamil e-mail was for the first time a reality. Also, the electronic version of ThirukkuRaL etc. was started with Bala's Madurai font. But it was through Muthu Nedumaran's efforts that it became more popular (because it was PC based rather than Unix). Please consider including these self-less pioneers who did it out of love of Tamil and which was at one point highly acclaimed by all. Also, I believe Dr. Vijayakumar of Toronto was a pioneer in the sense that many Tamil publications in Canada (Toronto area) were due to his fonts and programs. His numerous fonts were way more beautiful than many others except Gopinath's and Kalvi Kuppuswamy's. His contributions were much earlier than many you had mentioned.

I realize that the effort in the webpage is not to list 'all' contributors, but in terms of importance of contributions the three I mentioned are next to none in the list....

Response from tamilnation:

Many thanks for your kind words of support. The names mentioned in the Language & Literature page were those whose works were familiar to me. They were persons who had in a sense motivated me to delve further into Tamil in cyberspace more than three years ago. The selection was admittedly subjective and in a sense, the selection reveals the limited nature of my own knowledge in this regard. Also being PC based myself, I had not paid the attention I should have to UNIX based efforts. This has now been rectified..

From: Phillip G. Pragasam Australia 27 August 1999

The Tamils and the Kosovar Albanians; Tamils and the Kurds; TULF, Amirthalingam, Thiruchelvam et al; Velupillai Pirabaharan, Sathasivam Krishnakumar, Kuttimani & Thangathurai; India, Thimpu, the Super
Powers, Geopolitics and the Tamils - these and other myriad issues affect the Tamil Struggle in various ways.

I have little knowledge of history, politics or international diplomacy. The 'raison d'etre' of many an international event escapes my 'lay-persons' mind. It is in this context that I find Sathyam Commentary an invaluable resource.

From: Myil Ramkumar USA 16 August 1999

Re Tamil Eelam and Neelan Thiruchelvam - I am a regular reader of tamilnation since its date of launch... This is the first time I have decided to write to you. I am amazed by the amount of background information you have provided in the wake of Neelan's death. Each and every time when (...those opposed to the struggle for Tamil Eelam...) shed their crocodile tears, I wanted to respond to them. When I read your comments you had it all there in your article, exactly what every Tamil wanted to say.... You speak for all Tamils. Thank you.

From: G.G.Ponnambalam Jr. Colombo, 11 August 1999

Re Tamil Eelam and Neelan Thiruchelvam - Excellent article. Please carry on relentlessly... Thank you very much.

From: Nagalingam Ethirveerasingham USA 22 July 1999

I appreciate and admire.. the access that tamilnation provides to the history of the Tamils and to the history of our struggle during the last fifty plus years. For the first time tamilnation is giving the opportunity to laypersons and scholars to interact on Tamil issues frequently on a regular basis at a plane of integrity, courtesy and respect for persons and opinions expressed.

From: Visitor from New Zealand, 17 July 1999

I have been a very, very keen visitor to the tamilnation site... A two worded 'thank you' cannot express what every genuine Tamil who is concerned about the plight of our brethren in Eelam feels about the tamilnation website...

There are two articles that touched me a lot - your "Sri Sabaratnam Memorial Lecture" and your response to a visitor on same topic today (17th July). If the first one clarified a lot on the issues affecting us and the way for unity, today's one just nailed it further. The most appropriate and elegant words were, and these words match with my personal experience:

"A Tamil who is not a part of the armed resistance movement and who has not accepted a full share of the risks involved, may not be privy to the information on which the guerrilla movement takes crucial decisions relevant to its survival. How then, does the Tamil supporter of the struggle respond on a principled basis, to issues related to the struggle, when the facts are not self evident?

Does he turn a blind eye and plead ignorance? Is he to justify every action taken by the armed resistance as 'right' because to do otherwise would be to 'undermine' the struggle? ... Even apart from anything else, if he continues to act in this way, will not his own credibility be eroded? And, therefore, over a period of time, will the support that he extends to the struggle become less and less useful as he, himself, becomes 'used up'? Can he secure the integrity of the struggle, if he loses his own integrity? "

Please keep up the great work you are doing.

From: An Immigration Lawyer, Vancouver, Canada 12 July 1999

I am an immigration, refugee, and citizenship lawyer in Vancouver, Canada with a high concentration of my practice coming from the Sri Lankan community here - especially the Tamil Sri Lankan community. I am interested in ...your excellent website which I ... use on a regular basis in preparing for my refugee cases.

From: C.Kumarabharathy, New Zealand, June 1999

tamilnation.org is growing in strength qualitatively and quantitatively. A forum for actual problems of expatriate community may be a useful feature. A group of people from varied walks of life and background are trying to form a society as islands of safety in a cosmopolitan setting. But in doing so they are trying to establish a hierarchical order. This in itself is OK.

But whatever venture we are embarking on very soon becomes a centre of disturbance, whether temples, sangams or anything. Is this actually in our genes ( infighting) or is this syndrome prevalent to the same degree in other communities? we can't really say.What makes us tick in cultural matters, despite our plight is amazing and what makes us fight is still surprising?

While this is going on, and we talk about Tholkappiyam, children are moving out into another area. May be they are fed up with what goes on as entertainment of adults and branching out into their own idiosyncrasies. Should we not provide a forum to bring these out? Young adults are not going to queue to this but elders might set some priorities. Opening up Tamil chat for youth is a good outlet for their energies. We might learn what their real interests are. Could we consider the following:-

* An internally consistent society will be more productive and meet challenges better than a dissenting one. Consistency means that the coarse and mindless disorder in social affairs is understood. It does not mean that we all agree on everything. But instead have in place a widely prevalent attitude, in such matters - a basic fabric of understanding to encompass as many views as possible under its umbrella.

The hierarchical infighting or "naddanmai" is the run for elitism. Elitism in colonial era had its uses. It was in touch with the bureaucratic power centres. Thus influence had a real benefit in terms of jobs and securing a place in the Society. But here ( overseas) it is a repetition of the patterns without much practical purpose. But patterns are had to crack, even if we know that it is irrational, something deeper perpetuates these patterns.

* Clannishness is an element of feudalism. Once we have this attitude, society will find ways and means to manifest the tendency. People who migrated before 1983 several of them have a grouse , that they had a better image with locals before the influx. There may be an element of truth in this, but main point is that what was exotic & exclusive to them have now become common garden variety. This seems to be the real grouse. The professional migrants had to witness, how simple folks are able to adopt to western living, just like themselves. They have been under the impression that this sophistication is their domain. The fact remains that they had been living without the elements of culture and cuisine, before 1983. They lived on the remnants of pre colonial image westerners had about Indians and were satisfied with reciprocating to this appropriately. A tinge of exoticness. But real life is harsh and not exotic. Now we are what we are. This is the problem. This change could not have come about without influx from all levels of society.

This division becomes factor in social interaction. Middle class lives by the rule of law. The new migrants did not come with jobs, some of them were not qualified, in that sense. So they may get into skirmishes with law. With social agencies and small or big lies needed to get on.

However, lot of them with sheer determination were able to make it and their children are as good as others. This group has its own vernacular idiom and forms its own layer. They are the practical lot whose skills are called in for behind the scene events for festivals etc.

* But a certain category of young people in this group may have gone too far in this direction. These aggressive elements have a disregard for "educated people" and they too had become successful. This is the potpourri we have. Whether the society functions along these layers may be questionable, but the fact that there is lot of aggravation cannot be disputed. This is compounded by the fact that educated people do not take a moral stand - they simply align themselves for convenience or withdraw. The problems one hears about in Toronto will affect the future of the community. Looking at what is happening overseas and what is happening in Tamil Nadu or in Sri Lanka, I am being forced to ask a question: Have we overrated our culture and do we spend energies on this ( cultural biz) whereas we cannot seem to live decently. Is there something inherently wrong in "our culture" that we are blind to? Or even worse is there something wrong with our genetic make up for us to be blind to our plight. This may not be a welcome doubt - and, certainly I was not overjoyed in asking this question. But modesty is a good starting point.

* In this context the media to express oneself is limited. There is not much of an outlet for energies of young people. Technology has advanced to abolish the communication problem over distances, but we have not taken advantage of this power in any organised way. In this, Tamil Nation has pioneered. I hope this odyssey continues by extending its boundaries. At a local level, radio programs, video libraries and kalai vizhas have a long way to go, in making them relevant to society. Except in Bharatha Natyam, where teaching is a disciplined tradition others lag behind. In drama the situation is pathetic, often lacking content or form, it is simply testing the patience of audience.

* I have heard that Balendra and Thasisius had been striving to establish a meaningful theatre. But then, they had it in them even in the 1980s. There is work by individuals like Kalyanasundaram, Govindasamy, Ilanko and several others who are updating technological reach of the Tamil people. How many of them are widely known? We are just now getting to know this amazing medium. But the content of the medium too is important. Often this is lacking.

* We can use this internet medium for upgrading our social events. For example, cannot some sensible drama script outline be made for Sangam events and made available to societies all over by pooling talents. There are numerous Sangam magazines, some among them I am sure have material worthy of reaching larger audience. Cannot a joint publication effort be made to reduce costs, improve standards - costs, which individual sangams can ill afford? Such efforts do not happen, not because of technology or finance but lack of perspective. We have not defined what a meaningful culture is in the first place. We have to give way to creativity at the expense of being enthusiastically naive. The thriving commercial ventures in video and audio suggest ample circulation of the green bag. Fact remains that we are caught in the whirlpool of consumerism, and we are not even aware of it. Where does this all leads to?

I am sure tamilnation.org would be able to bring current issues to the focus of talented people - by constantly hammering this home.

From Sadanand 13 June 1999

Vanakkam! The tamilnation.org is a wonderful site. I really appreciate your efforts in compiling so much of useful information from varied sources. I would like to suggest a correction in the article related to Swami Vivekananda: The word satyug (sat means pure, true, perfect ; yug means period of time) in essence means "the period of time when everything was perfect". This word "satyug" is mis-spelt as "Satya Yoga" which could be misleading to some readers.

From: California, U.S.A 14 March 1999

"Your cyberspace tamilnation continues to grow from strength to strength. The range of commentary and ideas is fascinating. When I log on I feel as if I'm in a room with some of the best minds on the planet. Especially thought-provoking is Jeremy Seabrook's writing. If there is a global flow of goods, why shouldn't there be a global flow of labour as well? ....Wishing you success in your vision...."

From Sri Lanka 14 February 1999

Taraki, a regular columnist in the Sinhala owned Sri Lanka Sunday Times (controlled by a nephew of the late Sri Lanka President, J.R.Jayawardene and published in Colombo), commented in his column on 14 February 1999:

"N.Satyendra... has put up a typically superficial article in his massive website 'tamilnation.org' (1500 web pages) about the 'Tamils and the Digital Revolution' recently. It nevertheless gives one an idea of the ethos impelling the Tamil Diaspora on the web and the brain power industries..."

Response from tamilnation:

It is, perhaps, in the nature of things that bouquets and brickbats go together. The 'typically superficial article' will be found here. Other related pages at the tamilnation website include TamilNet'99, Tamil Fonts & Software, Tamil Language & Literature, Project Madurai, Thamizh Koorum Nalulagam - Virtual Reality & the Tamil World, Self Determination & the Information Age and the Tamil Diaspora - A Transtate Nation

From Vamanan Sundar 23 January 1999

The work you are doing for the togetherness of the Tamils is really admirable. I follow your work every week. I am finding it very informative and timely. I also use your articles to present to the people in our community.

From Bangkok, Thailand: 18 January 1999

I am very happy about this site, the information is wonderful and I being a staunch Tamil, appreciate your work and wish you all success. Success for the Tamils and for the Tamil Nation!

From U.S.A. Chennshan 26 December 1998

I just visited your site on Kavignar Kannadasan. I congratulate you for the wonderful writeup on Kannadasan. We are indeed proud for having lived at the time that a world poet like Kannadasan existed. Thanks for your site.

From Malaysia: 19 December 1998

I'm a fellow Tamil residing in Malaysia. I'm so happy to hear about the construction of a site for and about our race. It will help us study and understand our culture even more. Keep up the good work ! TAMIL VAZHGA........

From: Sydney, Australia

Your commentary on "The Buddha Smiled" is fascinating and thought provoking. The addition of the Tamil National Forum is a good media for people like us to have our arangetram ..... the many comments ... will help us to re-think, re-search, and re-examine our own self. Mikka Nantry

From: Oklahoma, US

I am a Tamil from India. While cruising the web, I hit on 'tamilnation.org' web page.I also read your article on nationhood. It was excellent and well presented. Best wishes for all your efforts. Tamil Vazhka! Tamilarhal Velka!

From Malaysia: Shanthini Pillai , National University of Malaysia 29 October 1998

I found your web page very interesting and am definitely recommending it to my colleagues.

From Kannian Tamil News, Singapore:

From U.S.A.:

I love this page... and I love the phrase that there is not a country in the world without a Tamil and there is not a country for the Tamils. This is so true. I really love the way that you designed the web page. It is a great thing to UNITE us along the fact that we all are Tamil.... Being from Jaffna myself I know the hardship MY TAMIL brothers face and will continue to face in the other parts that we Tamils live in. ... Long Live Tamil and the Tamilians....

From U.K:

I am so pleased that you have embarked on this mission of building a tamilnation. This is another landmark event for us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and wish you every success.

From Norway: Rajakulasingham Chelliah 18 August 1998

It is only today I came across your website. I surfed for only half an hour. I must say, honestly I am amazed at the way you have presented this website. I admire the way you promote Tamil togetherness .., not only by projecting contemporary political events, but also by projecting Tamil symbols of culture and heritage. .. I have decided to recommend the site to my Norwegian colleagues. Congratulations.

From Malaysia:

satanay namatu kaiyele sarithiram padaipom nathiley -
valgha um pane
valarga Tamil Eelam

From U.S.A.:

Thank you for having Savitri available to read.

From Hawaii

I visited .. the new pages ( Dancing with Siva and Thayumanavar ). What wonderful work you do! Thank you for making these important resources available to the Tamil world, who need reinforcment now more than ever in their Saiva Siddhanta heritage. Mikka nandri! Om Shanti

From New Zealand:

There is more to Tamilnation website than what one usually encounters in this medium. I browsed through the art gallery of Jayalakshmi Satyendra. I am not used to seeing paintings in depth, so I will not be the best critic. However I was struck by the portraits and scenes as works that are authentically trying to express themselves. "Flamboyant" for example transports one to a distant world without effort. The flaming Gulmohar in the foreground, the dusty country road, huts in the coconut grove, humans on the road, road itself wending its way through fields to another distant grove or jungle. It brings to mind the way of life of a (probably ) Sinhalese village. It takes a while to find out what is available in Tamilnation.

From Germany:

Thanks again for your lovely tamilnation.org site. I will tell all my Tamil friends who may not yet know this site, and others like myself who also love South Indian culture and spiritual heritage. Forgive my English spelling: Ungale santhiPadhil yenniku rumba santosha marriKKu.

From Canada: Cambridge, Ontario

I am a frequent visitor to your Web Page. One thing that attracted me most is the statistical info relating to the Tamil population in different countries. Please define the criteria. If it is Tamil speaking population are the Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka Muslims included in it?

Secondly there is no web page which gives brief details about areas in Tamil Eelam . We would like to read about important towns, villages, their significance, how the name was derived, culture,customs, people's profile, natural resources, agriculture, important religious places, important people from the areas who contributed for the development of Tamil community by way of litterature, science, art etc. This will be of great use to the younger generation of Tamils living abroad.... I wish you will consider this suggestion

Response from tamilnation:

Many thanks for your comments. On the the question of numbers (70 million), this is an estimate largely based on the Ethnologue Data Base figure of 62-69 million a couple of years ago. But as I have mentioned in the literature page, "the number of first language Tamil speakers in the world is difficult to estimate and this remains an useful (and important) area for further study."

Having said that, your further point about criteria is also an important one. The country specific figures (culled from the Ethnologue database, from reporting in the Hinduism Today magazine, from statistics of Tamil asylum seekers etc) relate to both 'first language Tamil speakers' and those who are regarded (and regard themselves) as 'Tamils'.

Here there are some who are regarded (and who regard themselves) as Tamils who may not even speak Tamil. At the sametime, there are others who are 'Tamil speaking' but who may not necessarily regard themselves as Tamils.

The figures for both Tamil Nadu and for the island of Sri Lanka, for instance, include Tamil speaking Muslims - and here, I am mindful, that many Muslims may regard themselves as Muslims and not Tamils as such.

At present, in so far as statistics are concerned it may be difficult to separate the two categories - and this may (in part but not in whole) have something to do with the way in which census is carried out in different parts of the world. This again is an area where more research may have to be carried out.

The figures that I have given in the diaspora pages are the best estimates that I have at the present time and may need to be changed in the light of further study.

I take your point about the absence of a page devoted to "important towns, villages, their significance, how the name was derived, culture,customs, people's profile, natural resources, agriculture, important religious places, important people from the areas who contributed for the development of Tamil community by way of litterature, science, art."

This is a big area and an important one - it is another area in which I myself do not have sufficient expertise and I would welcome contributions ... in this regard... Many thanks for having taken the time to send your comments.

From California, U.S.A.

ஒரு அற்புதமான வலைப்புலத்தைப் படைத்திருக்கிறீர்கள்....

From Hawaii:

I have just spent some time at your website and found it rich and enriching...With best wishes for your work, Om Shanti...

From New Zealand:

I have browsed through your pages. It must have been quite an effort. I have informed my acquaintances of the site. It is a one stop page for expats.

From Tamil Nadu:

I am a Tamil from Tamilnadu. I come from a small village in Tamil Nadu. I thank you for this great web page on TAMIL. My knowledge of Tamil and its identity in this world is well defined in tamilnation.org. The time is not far when a Tamil nation will be fulfilled. That would be our finest hour...

From Singapore: Sivakumar 29 June 1998

Your website is a great treasure for Tamils living abroad. My best wishes to keep growing...

From San Francisco, U.S.A

"This is an enormous effort. And is a great beginning. I hope it grows both in content and in readership, to make the 'togetherness of the 70 million Tamil people' really happen. I sincerely believe this is a need of the times, to nurture and foster the brotherhood feeling of all Tamil across national boundaries created by the colonial era. Also Tamils do need a land of their own.

The website mostly echoed my sentiments. I really loved the purpose of the website, reflected in it's mission statement. I liked the way the contents were weaved around the mission statement through the hyper links.

I do have a couple of comments, in areas where I may have presented differently. First under the hyper-link ' in an ancient heritage', talking about the Tamils as ancient people, I thought the presentation may impress upon the surfer a favorable bias towards the supposedly new model of Indus Valley civilization theories. (Ofcourse, my biases creep in here.) But I find people like David Frawley, Dr.Agarwal and a few others including 'HinduismToday' being motivated by Hindutva agendas. I call myself a Hindu, but I am not fond of institutionalized religion.

The second comment I have is on the page under the hyper-link 'a rich language and literature'. Tamil has a long history, but the current time frame and the ongoing digital revolution and it's personalities hog the lime light more than the works of the Sangam period, Bhakthi period etc. Certainly, the five epics of Tamil, works of Nayanmars and Alvars, and the likes of Kamban need more mention here... Anyway, it was a joy to surf your website.

Response from tamilnation: I take both the points you make. I am a Hindu and I too am not fond of institutionalised religion. Truth remains a pathless land and I try, but do not always succeed in my search for harmony. Actually, Victor Frankl's little book 'Search for Meaning' which I had come across by accident a couple of weeks back, finally pushed me to publish the website - but perhaps that is another story - and should await our meeting in the San Francisco area!

I am mindful that a simplistic denial of the Aryan/Dravidian divide theory will not suffice and we need to pay regard to that which is our own specific heritage. At the same time, I personally find myself inspired and influenced by the lives of Aurobindo, Vivekananda, Subhas Chandra Bose and Ramakrishna Parahamsa - somehow they too seem to be part of my heritage. But I entirely agree with your caution - and I do not regard that as a 'bias'. It is a learning process for me.

Again, I agree with you that the page on language and literature may seem top heavy with the current efforts in the digital field. Part (and only a part) of the reason is that some of the related material also appears under Culture and the Tamil Contribution to World Civilisation. But the other reason is my own lack of direct familiarity with the work of the Alvars. I also agree that the likes of Kamban need more mention. I shall keep these points in mind at the time of my next revision of this page.

May I say that I found your comments valuable. It was good of you to have taken the time to write. Many thanks.

From UK

"I have just read the 9 articles in your website without going into any of the links. Most impressive! I am amazed at what you have been able to accomplish. It is not a criticism. But one must be careful not to hurt the feelings of dedicated Tamil Christian nationalists for example by linking Tamil nationalism with Saivism. In fact you have not done so although some reference to Christ also might have been useful. I also think that the material should appear in book form - for posterity's sake"

From New Zealand:

From Malaysia Jayabarathi

"Congratulations. A comprehensive web-site. Nothing much to criticise. Not now, any way. Comments and suggestions? Yes. Some factual errors and omissions can be looked into. For example, the Singapore mailing-lists are not there. A map of the world showing the distribution of Tamils would be nice. A map of Tamil Eelzam would be appreciated because we don't know what is happening where, and who goes where. ... You may need some short articles on some of the topics that you have high-lighted. These articles should be comprehensive. For example: you have mentioned that the South Indian Bronzes being one of the seven contributions to the world. So, you are obliged to show why and what is so special and unique about them. Ah yes! I appreciate the oils done by Srimathi Jayalakshmi Satyendra. I was fascinated by "Space-time" in "Moments of Awareness". That's a superb piece. I yearn to see the original...

Response from tamilnation: Many thanks for taking the time to respond. Yes, I will put in the Singapore lists during the next week or so. The Tamil Eelam map is more problematic, partly because its boundaries are not agreed or clearly defined at the present time. Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa are all part of Tamil Eelam. Some years back, when Sathasivam Krishnakumar was asked by a western NGO to map out Tamil Eelam, he replied: "Take a paint brush and paint all those areas where the Sri Lanka armed forces have shelled and dropped bombs - that is Tamil Eelam." Having said that, I do take your point about the need to know what is happening where. I will work on this... (now added) Yes, there is a need for short but authoritative articles on some of the points made e.g. the South Indian Bronzes. Quite frankly, I myself lack the expertise in this area. I tried to get a few others to write but without success - but I shall continue to try... (now added)

From USA

நல்ல முயற்சி, நன்றி சகோதரா. கதவைத் திறந்து உள்ளே போனால் வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன் சொன்ன வாசகத்தில் வரலாறு என்பது வரளாறு என்றுள்ளது. அன்புடன்...

response from tamilnation: Mikka Nanri - Many thanks for the correction - and for your encouragement. Anbudan...

From Canada:

"Wow ! It is a magnificent effort ! Hearty congratulations !"

From Canada

"The word Thirukkural in Tamil has been mis-spelt. Please correct it"

Response from tamilnation - Many thanks for bringing the mis-spelling to my notice. We will make the correction in a couple of days - at my next update.

From New Zealand

"Maaberum muyarchi enggal manam niraintha pukalchi unggalukkeh. Congratulations"

From U.S.A.

"It is an excellent piece of work and documentation. It is not an exaggerated statement, but simple truth. This is the kind of work and documentation we urgently need rather than more sentimental postings and web page maintenance. It can be given as an authentic reference for the sympathisers and the truth seekers of our struggle. I will go through it very deeply in the coming weeks. And let you know, if I have any comments to improve it ... In the mean time, please let me know whether I can do anything within my capacity to reduce the burden of your work. (seethu kadduthalil oru aNilin uthavi) again oru periya n-anRi for this documentation."

From the Emirates

" Excellent effort ! Got to hurry and explore further"

From Norway:

tamilnation.org is a wonderful contribution to the Tamils all over the world. If I could be any assistance, please contact me. For documentation on our struggle, please have a look at An annotated Bibiliography on the Ethnic Conflict and Human Rights in Sri Lanka (1980 - 1988) 3300 documents. Volume 2 covers 1988 to 1992. ...That has 1300 documents. These include books, academic articles, reports, fact finding missions etc. Both are published by Han Zell Publishers. I shall provide more information later.

From Norway

" This is very good site. I learnt very much from this web site. But you have to advertise this page to all Tamil people. ... Apt words have power to suage the tumours of a troubl`d mind -Milton "

From Sydney, Australia

"tamilnation.org website is like an epic and I need more time to digest. 1200 pages are not some pages and my concern is to get more people exposed to this site. This is going to help many to understand our background with all its strengths."

From: Ana Pararajasingham, Sydney, Australia

"I found tamilnation.org to be quite a treasure trove and obviously a labour of love. The cross referencing alone must have taken you many many hours. ... I intend spending many more hours "surfing" the net."

From: N.Sriskandarajah, University of Western Sydney, 12 May 1998

"I have just seen a few pages of the website announced in today's Circle. It looks great, reads very well and one that we all should recommend for the wider non-Tamil society. Thank you for the good work."

From Australia:

"Congratulations on your recent award. Thank you for your efforts in letting the world know about the genocide of the Tamils in the hands of the armed forces. Please keep it up. Nanri, nanri, nanri "

From Finland: R.Sivalingam, (Uthayanan), University of Helsinki

"You have started an enormous work for the Tamil Nation. (Some people started some sort of Tamil Web sites before and didn't succeed, I think.) Keep it up! Try to bring all Historical, Literature, Cultural (etc) records of Tamils under this PAGE. All possible assistance from me is always available to you."

From Australia:

"I think it's fabulous. It would be very useful to have a "Search" utility in the main page to search your Web pages for specific topics. What do you think?"

From Australia:

"A brief note to thank you for tamilnation. It is a tremendous opportunity for me to learn a little of the "kallathathu ulahalavu" that remains to be learned"

From Malaysia:

" A Job Well Done, Hard Work, A Sincere Contribution For Tamilians, A Reminder Of Eelam's Struggle, Thank You on behalf of Malaysian Tamilians"

From U.K.:

"Only today I came know about this website. I am a bit more wiser than yesterday. No doubt this website will contribute to all researchers on Tamil issues. I salute you and thank you. This will also raise awareness to other people who care about Tamils. Please keep up the good work."

From U.S.A.

I am extremely pleased and proud of your effort. A happy day in my life.... The tamilnation.org is timely and contains a wealth of information. The only comment I have is that you should have at least one section, however small it may be, that is frequently updated. I think you already have a plan - Sathyam Commentary - in mind in similar lines. Brilliant - this site is bound to cause irreparable psychological wound to our adversaries. I hope you have the time and resources to keep the site in the same immaculate form for many months and years.

....Your site has set a standard that others will find it hard to come even close to matching it. I am doubly thrilled that it happens to represent our struggle. In this respect all Tamil expats, and more importantly, the Tamil fighters will be proud of your effort. I am sure that many who are www watchers with an interest in our conflict will give it a 5* rating. I know how much effort and organizational thinking would have gone into your effort. While the fighters are showing their focus and effort on the ground, tamilnation.org has scored a similar victory in the publicity war. This site has given me personally a measureless morale boost.

From Canada

"I had a chance to view your website. It's really amazing. One of the best Tamil websites on the net. I have noticed that you have given certain links to the TamilCanadian website, which is another good, informative website."

From: T.Jeyakumar, Melbourne, Australia

"Greetings from Kangaroo Land. tamilnation.org is a wonderful piece of work. Greatly presented. Will be very useful to all who care about Tamil people and their freedom struggle."

From: A visitor from New Zealnd

" It's simply one of the few informative Tamil sites currently available. Although I could not go through all pages (which I will do when time permits), I could say the site is simply awesome. I was particularly impressed by the innovativeness in your Tamil Eelam Struggle related pages. I was very very happy to see the profiles of different Tamil leaders belonging to different movements in one page. I think it's along these lines all Tamils should think - bringing Tamils together. It's works like yours that I believe can bring Tamils under a common platform. Please keep up the great work".

From: R.Shanmugalingam, U.S.A

"It is not my intention to add weight to the value of the already priceless, tamilnation.org web site. The purpose is to lead those of you who have not had the chance to browse and then peruse pages of interest to you, there in. I found the web site a digital library in the making."

From: Bala Pillai, Asia Pacific Internet Company Sydney, Australia, 11 May 1998

"What a fantastic website - really superb effort ... I've been on it for an hour and there's so much more good stuff to go through. I'm especially so happy that stylistically you have pitched it so that it brings Tamil Eelam and non-Tamil Eelam Tamils together - that's one of my fondest aspirations and your web effort is many steps in that direction. Yes, do continue to highlight the commonality (as weird as it may sound) among Tamils :-)

From: Rajan Sriskandarajah, U.S.A.

"I, and all of us here, are truly grateful to you for this fantastic 'product'. I am still 'lost' at this site - but I am not going to apologise for not being able to read a THOUSAND PAGES (and with such 'meat' and 'still growing') in a few days!.....It is an 'encyclopedia' of Tamil related matters. I am sure I haven't made even a dent in looking at everything at this site - In fact I got lost in many places and had to start all over again. I am not saying this negatively - in fact it is a positive attribute and it encourages people to look at all aspects of what's in each page. I got teary eyed when I read about the Ramanathan murder in Badulla. The page on Cilappathikaram was also very emotive.... I noticed a few mistakes in some pages - actually they are typos with spaces in between words missing. You may want to look at that, but I can't imagine how you are going to look at 1000 pages (and still growing!)."