ALLAHABAD, India - March 13, 2018 - s4story -- For all we know, the Thiruk-Kural was composed in Tamil used over a thousand years ago in most probably Tamil-Nadu by an individual who is only remembered by his caste name, Thiru-Valluvar: thiru meaning sacred, kural meaning short , that is, the poetic form of distique or couplet with its own rigorous metre, rhyme and rhetorical features, structured according to classical Tamil venba" pattern of prosodical rules. Valluvar , on the other hand, is the name of a caste of priests who served in temples reserved for the lowest untouchable social denomination. The book is divided into three sections along certain Hindu traditional Purusha pursuits: araththup-paal (dharma or virtue), porud-paal (artha or the acquisition of wealth), kaamaththup- paal (love and amorous relationships, both pre-marital and connubial). Each canto is made up of ten distiches, totalling 1330. The scant linguistic and socio-political evidence the book tosses up or lets escape make the delineation of the personality of the author extremely difficult and which thus allow for much dubious conjecture about his origins and nurture. One of the earliest commentators on the treatise, Parimelalakar, lived in the 13th century C.E.

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The Author

T. WIGNESAN: Born in Kuala Krai, Malaysia. Worked and studied from the age of 8 (short interregnum: 1946-49). Up to his twenty-first year grew up in Singapore, Port Swettenham, Klang, Sungei Rengam, Kuala Lumpur, Madras, Seremban, Kuala Lumpur; then in London, Heidelberg, West Berlin, Schwäbisch Hall, London, Madrid and Paris.

EDUCATION: After only four years of schooling (at Batu Road School and the Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur: 1946 to 1949, dropped out in 1950), took his school and higher school certificates (Cambridge University: 1951 (Grade One, 9 subjects: School Certificate) & 1953 (5 subjects: Higher SC) and London University General Certificate of Education: 4 A-levels, 1 O-level, 1955), and read for the Bar (through self-study) at the Inns of Court School of Law, London: Certificate of Academic Standing, Bar Standards Board (1953-56); began research in Philosophy at Heidelberg Universität and Freien Universität in West Berlin (1957-58); Hispanic Studies in Madrid (1968-72): Escuela Oficial de Idiomas (3rd Year Certificates in Spanish Language, Literature and Civilization in 1969), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (1970-72), and Instituto de la Cultura Hispanica (1971-72), and at the Université de Paris-VIII (Maitrise d'Enseignement d'Espagnol: 1972-73); obtained his higher doctoral degree in aesthetics from the Université de Paris-I-Panthéon-Sorbonne (Doctorat d'Etat ès lettres et sciences humaines) in March 1987 (viva at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle in June 1983 postponed sine die due to jury mishap). Distinctions in both the master's (M.A.: Très Bien) and doctoral (magna cum laude) degrees. Won the Extraordinary Prize in Hispanic Studies at Madrid University (1971).

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CAREER: Manual worker during the Second World War, and later in London and in Germany. Taught in primary and secondary schools (Mantin: St. Aloysius School, Seremban: Vivekananda English School, Chung Hwa Middle School in Malaysia (1951-53) and Colégio Claret in Madrid (1968-69). Lectured for the Commonwealth Institute, London, on South and Southeast Asia (1965) and taught courses in English, American, and Commonwealth literatures at the European Division of the University of Maryland (Instructor: 1961-62) and at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle (1981-83). Served as Research Fellow (Chargé de recherches, Titulaire, 1ère Cl.) with the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), from 1973 to 1998. Adjunct Professor of South Asian Area Studies, American Graduate School of International Relations & Diplomacy (2003-04), Arcadia University in Paris. Also earned a living in between jobs as private tutor in Malaysia, Germany, Spain (to doctors in teaching hospitals: 1967-72), and France.

JOURNALIST with the Malay Mail (Reporter:1954) & Malayan Times (Special Correspondent:1962), and the Straits Times Press Group of Singapore as Foreign Correspondent in London: 1964-65). Editorial Writer with Guidepost (American weekly) in Madrid. Also served as a Malaysian publisher's editor (Rayirath (Raybooks) Publications)- and representative in London (1961-64).

The Thiruk-Kural of Thiru-Valluvar (Paperback) published by Cyberwit.net is available worldwide via Amazon USA,  India, Flipkart, Fishpond Singapore and through publisher's site. https://www.cyberwit.net/publications/1058