January is an important month for Tamilians across the globe, as the Tamil Harvest Festival ‘Thai Pongal’ is celebrated this month.
By proclaiming the month of January as "Tamil Heritage Month", the Mayor of London and the members of the London Assembly, have created an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate future generations about the inspirational role played by Tamils in London; the major migrant architects who continue to be recognised as highly valued members of the communities, in which they practise, across the United Kingdom.
Dr Prabhu Rajendran, Honorary Vice Chairman, World Tamil Organisation (WTO-UK) told Asian Voice, “Nothing more could have tasted as delicious as the sweet rice pudding - Pongal, served during this ‘Thai Pongal’ celebrations; marking the end of winter, and the beginning of the harvest season.
“When we discuss the layered and multi-faceted ideas such as identity and culture, I am reminded of a couplet from a Tamil poem: Yaadhum Oore, Yaavarum Kelir. This translates as "To us all towns are one, all people our kin.” This, I believe, captures the right spirit towards these notions of heritage, that each [identity] belongs to all, that we are all informed by each other's culture and thus, stronger for it.”
Speaking during a debate at London Assembly, member Nicholas Rogers, who had proposed the motion to declare January as Tamil Heritage Month, stated: “Tamils make a huge and important contribution to life in our city; whether in our schools, whether in our hospitals, whether in our care homes, whether on the groundbreaking AstraZeneca vaccination. They bring an ethos of public service in our communities and this public service takes place in a backdrop of persecution and oppression abroad”.
Dr Onkar Sahota also supported these statements telling the assembly: “Tamils are an integral part of the tapestry of this city. They have contributed to the economic, civic life of this country… many came escaping torture and war in their own country”.
“Unmesh Desai shared these sentiments and reflected on his own personal experience participating in his first Tamil solidarity march in 1984, during “the first wave of Tamils coming over”. Desai condemned the bombardment of Jaffna and the horrors of the war noting that many Tamil refugees had settled in East Ham. “Every second home had lost someone during the war,” he told the assembly,” Tamil Guardian reported.