In Tandem Symposium | Today
Friday, 14th March 2025 | A Report
Topic: Peace Studies
It was a memorable Symposium at In Tandem today, thanks to Dr. Preeti Srinivasan, Head, Dept of English, Queen Mary’s College (Autonomous), Chennai who made it possible for us.
All the four paper presenters were eloquent and had the grace and the felicity of expression on them, even as they helped us all tune to the various nuances of peace.
Ms. Harshina spoke on the importance of humanising the transgender experience which she felt, would result in promoting peace, by dismantling harmful stereotypes and prejudices, leading to a more inclusive and equitable society where everyone feels safe and valued.
By fostering understanding and empathy, we can create a more peaceful and harmonious society where differences are celebrated rather than feared or marginalized, leading to the living of an authentic life, she averred, while analysing Lee Mokebe’s poetry.
Ms. Paulin Blessy spoke next, on ‘Human Family’ by Maya Angelou, wherein she emphasised on the necessity and importance of compassion in promoting peace.
This, she feels, can happen only when we celebrate every culture for their uniqueness, embracing their differences. The fact that there is a repetition of the line, We are more alike my friends seeks to emphasise and reiterate this fact over and over again.
Ms. Bhooja offered a very interesting concept on celebrating linguistic peace. Putting forth her views that, the three-language formula could be a kind of smokescreen for imposition of Hindi, she said that, there is every possibility that regional languages, and the regional archives that carry indigenous / regional wisdom might be slowly phased out, if the three-language formula is foregrounded!
Even the former Vice-President Shri Venkaiah Naidu has been a strong votary for celebrating one’s mother tongue! She also augmented her views with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Ms. Annie spoke on the importance of maintaining ‘family peace’. Highlighting the pressing issue of how post-partum depression has been subtly relegated to the sidelines, she said that, mothers face a lot of anxiety and baby blues, which results in the erosion of family peace. For the family to retain and sustain its family peace, it’s highly important that, the mother is given a lot of empathy, care and attention.
Ms. Shobhana Prakash from I MA English, augmented their thoughts with her excellent observations.
Supporting Annie’s views, this blogger, quoted Sigmund Freud’s lines on the importance of mother’s welfare for the family. He says that -
“I have found that people who know that they are preferred or favored by their mothers give evidence in their lives of a peculiar self-reliance and an unshakeable optimism which often bring actual success to their possessors.”
The quote suggests that a strong, positive bonding with one’s mother coupled with the sound mental health of the mother can foster self-confidence and optimism in the children and thereby in the family.
Dr. Preethi gave a few enriching insights as well, and she suggested that, the paper presenters can further explore on the subject by looking up the concepts of positive and negative peace.
The session began sharp at 6.05 pm and ended sharp at 7.05 pm.
Ms. Annie did a very outstanding MC for the session.
Congratulations Bhooja, Annie, Paulin and Harshina. You guys made the evening a very memorable and rewarding one for all of us.
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