Pathirikai Tamil E-News Media

Vanakkam Vandana and Vanakkam to readers of Pathirikai.

First of all, on behalf of Tamil League I would like to thank Pathirikai to choose the President of Tamil League as guest for the month of October.

Let me introduce myself, I come from a very modest family of four children, two sisters and one brother, I am the eldest of the family and at very young age following the demise of my father I have the responsibility to take care of the family and we all manage to make a position in the society.

Professionally I hold a Diploma in Chemical Analysis, a Degree in Agri-Science and Technology, and a Master in Business Administration. Currently, I work for the Mauritius Standards Bureau as Manager of the Food and Agriculture Department, I am an IRCA certified Auditor and MQA registered trainer for ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification and Food Safety Management System based on HACCP and ISO 22000. I am also an MQA registered trainer and Assessor for Laboratory Accreditation based on ISO 17025 for the Mauritius Accreditation Service (MAURITAS).

Besides being the President of Tamil League, I am also involved in other activities in the sport sector. I am the Secretary of the Mauritius Badminton Association and member of the Comité Mauricienne de Pierre de Coubertin who is the father of modern Olympic and with the mission to share the values of Olympics among the youth.

I have heard of Tamil League from some relatives who are members and having participated in some of Tamil League activities have compelled me to join the Tamil League. I have been a member for quite some years before joining the Managing Committee. Thereafter I have been assigned the responsibility of Assistant Secretary and later act as the Secretary. In 2019 I have been chosen by the MC members to act as the President of the League.

Tamil League is among the oldest registered association in Mauritius, it was founded on 27 February 1937 with its seat at Port Louis. Later Tamil League moved to Réduit. We have 400+ members and some 200 supporters who directly or indirectly contribute to the success of our activities.

The vision of Tamil League is to be “The Centre of Excellence for our Community in the Rainbow Nation” We want our members and the community at large to recognise Tamil League an association where excellence is at the core to all its activities, where good governance prevailed and an association they can trust.

The Tamil League stand guided by its Rules and Regulation where the responsibilities and the objectives are clearly defined. The objectives of the Tamil League are

• To promote the Tamil Language among our community. Tamil Language is the identity of the Tamil community and Tamil Language is recognised as the language of gods and has stood the test of time and which is the heritage that our ancestors have left for us. It is our duty to promote it and at Tamil League we have regular Tamil classes going on for different levels. On Saturdays we have the Pechu Tamizh Class run by Aya Kadrivel Sornum for whom we are very thankful as well as others who have contributed.
• To promote the cultural traditions and belief of the Tamil Community.

Tamil League is actively involved in promoting the Tamil arts and cultures by organizing different activities like traditional song competitions, folk dance competitions, kolum competitions, drama, talks on traditions and culture, culinary shows to promote our traditional foods and saraspadee poosei focusing on the cultural aspect with a chosen theme where children and others are actively involved.

• To organize activities for our members and members of our community.

Tamil League organize different activities for its members as well as for others like the annual Treasure Hunt, Karate, Yoga, sport activities, health day, environment day, annual dinner, Christmas party for the kids, neighbour get-together.

• To assist the needy of the community. Tamil League has established two funds thanks to all our sponsors,

1. The A.V.Chettiar CSR Fund where we provide a box of foods on a monthly basis to some 30 families across the island, we also provide financial assistance for overseas medical treatment, and we assist other persons or organisation in their endeavour to help the community.
2. The A. Pyneeandee Education Fund to assist needy student to follow the tertiary studies properly, by paying the registration fees or by providing educational materials for their studies.

Tamil League has always worked in close collaboration with other Tamil Associations and will continue to do so for the benefits of its members and the Tamil community. One Tamil Organisation where we work in close collaboration is the Mauritius Tamil Cultural Centre Trust. Traditional and devotional vocal classes, Bharatnatyam dance classes and instrumental initiation like veena and mridangam are held at Tamil League.

We know that communication is one of our weaknesses. But a lot have been done to remedy the situation. In the past we communicate to our members through newsletter sent by post, and we have found that most of the newsletters sent did not reach the destinations for different reasons and as such the members are deprived of the message communicated. We are now sending E-Newsletter by mail to all members who have an email address for a more efficient and rapid communication.

We are also revamping the existing Tamil League website; it is under construction and will be live soon. This will address the communication issues that our members are facing.

Tamil League has played a great role in the development of the Tamil Community and continue to do its best to promote the well being of the Tamil Community. I have already stated the different activities that we have at Tamil League for the Tamil Community, it is up to them to use the facilities offered. We sincerely encourage all those who want to have a glimpse of the involvement of the Tamil League in the community and its activities to come and meet us we will gladly explain our role.

Tamil League is one of the oldest Tamil Association registered in Mauritius. We will celebrate our 85th anniversary on 27 February 2022. A calendar of activities over the year in being prepared to celebrate this milestone with grandeur.

Concerning future projects, Tamil League have an ambitious project that will be discussed in the coming AGM and as a scoop to Pathirikai, three major projects are in the pipeline, namely, to have a synthetic football pitch at Tamil League, to construct a gymnasium to indoor games (Badminton) and to build a Guest house/Studios for rental to university students and professional working in the vicinity. With these 3 projects we are pretty sure of the future of the Tamil League in terms of financial sustainability. An association with a sound financial stability will be in a better position to fulfill its objectives and to serve the community better.