Married for 18 years into a Sri Lankan Tamil family, Nisha navigates her children’s lives with an eye to the strength that comes from knowing all parts of their ancestry, the history that resulted in their birth on these lands, and the beauty, colour, and greatness that comes from their cultural roots. Navigating our identities as a member of the South Asian diaspora is an ever-flowing river and Nisha reminds herself, her family, and other South Asian individuals that we alone decide how to express ourselves, each day of our existence. Nisha is a writer, actor, and visual artist, active in various projects in the Greater Toronto area.

Brenda E. F. Beck is an Oxford-educated Social Anthropologist who has spent a lifetime studying South Asia and, in particular, the Kongu Nadu area of Tamil Nadu. She has published ten books, two of which are double-volume works, and she has contributed to and/or edited many more. She has also authored over sixty journal articles. Dr. Beck has a passion for South Asian mythology. She has written a number of articles related to divine figures including Indian goddesses and animal figures like the wild boar. She has also examined a number of human epic characters, describing their stories and related festivals. One unique folk epic, The Land of the Golden River, also known as the Legend of Ponnivala Nadu, has held her interest for over fifty years. Brenda is an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at The University of Toronto and President of The Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada, a charitable foundation that promotes the use of storytelling in education at all levels. Her earliest ethnographic work, Peasant Society in Kongu was recently translated into Tamil by Adaiyaalam, a well-known South Indian publishing house. In the past three years alone, Brenda has received twelve awards from Tamil community groups based in the US, in Canada, in Tamil Nadu and also in Malaysia for her work in helping to deepen a worldwide appreciation of Tamil folk literature, especially in the Diaspora. In recent years she has lectured around the world, including in Tokyo, in Taiwan, in Malaysia, in Poland, in Latvia, in the U.K. and more. She has also thrice been a special university guest of the Government of India, invited to teach for a significant period at various Indian universities.