Page 11 - Memorial Book Thilaga Mylvaganam

country but said “wherever the children have opportunity I will go with
them, as there’s no future for Tamils in this country”.

In the second week of arrival Amma picked up teaching English at the
Migrant Hostel in Coogee. Once settled in Sydney Amma’s passion for
education and propagating her culture led her to take on exam supervision
for the NSW Board of Studies in 1985. She moved on to pioneer Hindu
scripture (in state schools writing the first curriculum) and Tamil Schools in
early 1987. As a mark of her commitment to promote Hindu Culture and
the Tamil language in Australia she and Appa were one of three senior
couples invited to lay the foundation for the Sydney Murugan Temple and
the Tamil Educational and Cultural Centre in September 1994. They felt
th
truly blessed as it was on the day of their 45 wedding anniversary. In 1999
Amma was invited to join the inaugural Tamil Library Committee in
Strathfield. She was an active member of the Divine Life Society of Sydney
and the Vedanta Centre Sydney. Amma was also a co-founder of the Yogar
Swami guru worship program in Sydney. One of the legacies left by Amma is
the migrant story of the Tamil community in Sydney captured in a YouTube
interview by Dr. Sriravindrarajah Rasiah which had hundreds of views. The
Inner West Weekly on 20 July 1994 interviewed her for an article about
how “Tamils forged links abroad”, highlighting stories of Tamil survivors
abroad.

For over 30 years in Sydney Amma relished teaching English in her home to
students and refugees. She revelled in her trips to India, Malaysia,
Singapore, England, Europe, USA and Canada as she lived and recalled what
she’d read over the years and imagined in her mind. She pursued creative
writing classes too. In August 2013 Amma entered Jesmond Aged Care
following a fall and hip injury, needing a high level of care. Mentoring and
helping people with their English, correspondence, spelling and diction was
something she did right to the end of her days. Her fertile imagination
made her a regular contributor of poetry, quotations and jokes to the
Jesmond Newsletter.

Amma’s career as an educator was only one aspect of her persona. She was
a cultured woman whose interests stretched from literature, history, Bible
studies and Hinduism, music, needlework, culinary arts, appreciation of
famous art works to organising events (including 17 weddings she and Appa

Late Mrs. Tilakavati Mylvaganam 10