3. Aesthetic studies:

 Unlike literary and semiotic studies, aesthetic studies of tinai have not yet received adequate scholarly attention. Recently, there have been attempts to develop ecoesthetics (Selvamony "Ecoaesthetics"; 'tolkaappiyak kalaiyiyal'), oikopoetics (Selvamony 2001; 2003; also 'tinaippaaviyal' of 1998), ecomusicology (Selvamony 1996; 1995; 1993), and ecosculpture (Selvamony 2002). What goes by the names of ecocriticism (Rueckert 105; Howarth 1995), literary ecology (Meeker 396), literary ecocriticism (Bate 11), ecopoetics (Glotfelty xx), ecological poetics (Glotfelty xxiv), ecological criticism (Love 225), ecological literary criticism (Glotfelty 398), environmental literary criticism (Glotfelty xx), environmental literary studies (Glotfelty xvii), green literary criticism (Bate 9), green reading (Bate 9), green cultural studies (Glotfelty xx) in the western academic circuit is highly resourceful in this area. It should be noted that ecological approach to art forms other than literature (among other writings in English, see Marr 1985; Ramanujan 1970, 1996) have not yet emerged in the west.

Despite literary, semiotic and aesthetic approaches, scholars do look upon tinai as valakku, particularly, as tribal groups and this will be taken up for discussion next.

4. Ethnological Approach:

In his book Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Kanagasabhai says that villavar (the bow people), and miinavar (fisherfolk) were the most primitive Tamil tribes overrun by another tribe, namely, naakar (the snake people). In his view, the Tamil tribes maravar, eyinar, ooviyar, oliyar, aruvaalar and paratavar were different types of naakar. He also claimed that vaanavar were the tribes who founded the dynasties paantiyar, coolar and ceerar respectively (50). He also adds that maaranmaar and aayar were not original inhabitants but immigrants in Tamilnadu.

If we concede that Kanagasabhai's maravar and eyinar are the tribes of paalai, and his paratavar of neytal, does it amount to saying that there were naakar in paalai and neytal tinaikal? Again, if villavar are also paalai tribes, were there also aboriginal Tamil tribes and naakar in paalai? If paalai is such an aboriginal tinai, why was it not one of the land-based tinaikal?

  F.W.Kellet observes in the preface to his student's (Gopal Panikkar's) book, Malabar and its Folk, that it is the first book on ethnology in English written by an Indian and that Panikkar can write this book because he learnt the basics of ethnology in Madras Christian College. This book has information on several tribes of Kerala -- pulluvar, cerumaar, veettuvar, malayar, kaatar and so on. It should be remembered that the tribes dealt with in this book are inhabitants of tinai regions, and what is more, Kerala, being a part of the early Tamil country, is a fertile ground for understanding early Tamil culture.

A major landmark study in ethnology is Edgar Thurston's Castes and Tribes of Southern India, which came out in 1909. It has plenty of information gathered from fieldwork on different tribes who are the descendants of tinai communities.

The ethnographic studies helped expound tolkaappiyam too. Mu.Raakavaiyankaar's porulatikaara aaraaycci (1922) explicates tinai, especially, kurincittinai in the light of available ethnological data. Another work that adopts this approach is Pillai's The Ancient Tamils as Depicted in Tholhappiyam Poruladiharam. This book identifies the people of the five tinaikal as tribal people (34) and claims that the notion of five tinaikal has a geographical basis. According to him, the people who inhabited a certain geographical region developed a culture out of a harmonious relationship with the region. He also holds that the tribes diversified into castes through endogamous marriage (65).

The tinaikal of puram also endorse the view that the ecoregional social order is tribal in its origin. P.Arunachalam's study of the first puram tinai, namely, vetci arrives at the same conclusion (207-211). Vii.Pa.Kaa.Cuntaram explains the names of the tinaikal of puram from an etymological angle in his purat tinaip peyar aayvu. He has a separate study of aancik kaanci (1965), a motif of kaancit tinai, which explains it as ritual suicide committed by a warrior. Such valorous acts are widely depicted in sculpture too. Though such sculptures can be seen throughout Tamilnadu, a well known example occurs in the Durga Panel of the Varaha-II Cave Temple of Maamallapuram where a kneeling warrior is about to cut off his head with a view to offering it to the Goddess (Lockwood 59). According to Keecavaraacu this is attested not only in literature, but also in inscriptions (ix; Pattaapiraaman 184; Lockwood 59).

Enquiry into the origin and evolution of tinai communities will be taken up for discussion next.

5. Aetiological Approach:

                 While some hold that the first human society was formed in mullai region (Mu.Varataraacan 1955, 7; V.T.Manickam 1982, 11), others locate it in kurinci (Vaanamaamalai 1977, 4; tamilnaatu: tolpalankaalam 1975, 40-50). Mu. Varataraacan finds kurinci uninhabitable for humans (1955, 7). However, the latter view is not acceptable to many scholars, for, anthropologically, hunting precedes grazing.

Discussing the origin of tinai concept, Veluppillai advances the theory that the tinai system applies to paantiyar country where it emerged. He gives evidence to say that paantiyar country has all the five regions and therefore paantiyar ruler were known as pancavar. The term 'vaiyam' refers to the region of the river 'vaiyai' and not the entire world. He raised the question whether tolkaappiyar knew the world geography in order to theorise about it. Similarly, the geographical area where the five regions are located cannot be Tamilnadu as a whole.

6. Evolutionary/Cultural Anthropological Approach:

The five tinaikal are seen as five cultures that evolved over a long period of time. Accordingly, the primordial resource-gathering modes such as hunting, herding, agriculture, and industry are regarded as evolutionary stages in human history (Gadgil and Guha). The chief exponent of this theory, namely, P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar (1989), compares the cultures of neytal, kurinci and mullai with the three major cultural streams known as the Mediterranean, Alpine and Nordic (4). Because marutam is not included in this comparison, Iyengar raises a question as to why the riverine culture is not given importance by the westerners. He answers this question himself by saying that due to industrialisation of Europe the riverine plains lost their significance. Further, they did not regard paalai also as a separate culture because there was no big desert in either Africa or Asia. He also points out that the only exception to this explanation is the Bedouin tribe about whom sufficient studies are not available. According to Iyengar, humans have evolved so far five cultures corresponding to the five tinaikal:

hunting -- kurinci

nomadism -- paalai

herding  -- mullai

fishing -- neytal

agriculture -- marutam

He points out that the geographical features of the region contribute to the development of the culture specific to that region. Iyengar shows how the five regional features are found in other countries as well (14).

mullai -- steppes extending from the Carpathians to the foothills of the Altai

kurinci -- the ghats from Pyrenees to the Himalayas

neytal --  coasts of the Mediterranean, Indian and Atlantic oceans

paalai -- the great desert of Sahara and its continuation in Arabia, Persia and Mongolia.

Some of the basic questions he raises are the following: Did culture originate in South India first and spread to the other parts of the world or did it originate in other parts of the wold and enter South India later? His inference is that nature experimented with the development of culture in South India and then developed similar cultures in Eurasia and Africa. Thani Nayagam seems to hold a similar view about the origin and development of culture (1963/1966, 86-87). Other scholars who adopt this view are Paavaanar (1967/1990, 121-122), the authors of tamilnaadu: tolpalankaalam (1975, 40-50), Dikshitar (1930/1983, 178), Kamil Zvelebil (1963) and Sivathamby (1966, 322; 1971, 339-342).

Rajan Gurukkal's (1995) analysis of the early history of the Tamil South considers the concept of tinai quite elaborately. He calls it variously as 'physiographic division', (242), 'micro-eco-zone' (243), 'five varieties of terrains' (254), and 'macro-eco-zones' (254). Apart from dealing with the question of evolution of tinaikal, he asserts that the five physiographic divisions are 'now understood as part of the continuum in nature with the tinais that are interspersed and scattered in the region as overlapping segments with no point of beginning or end' (242-243). The basic economic operations of these physiographic divisions or eco-zones are 'animal husbandry, shifting cultivation, petty commodity production, and plough agriculture' (243). He presumes that these eco-zones were also classified into two broad categories, namely, menpulam and vanpulam (244). The latter terrain consists of 'large tracts of inhospitable conditions' (244). Consequently, 'certain terrains were uncongenial and the means of livelihood thereof inadequate' (256). Gurukkal also discusses the role of kinship and human communities in the process of eking out livelihood. In this discussion he bundles up the primitive tribal communities along with the brahmins making no distinction between the earlier and later periods of time (244), even as he throws together a post-tinai classificatory category (of wetland and dry land) with the earlier five-fold regional division (Selvamony and Sabaratnam 1999, "Holistic Land Ethics"). The sources of confusion regarding land-type are the terms, menpulam and vanpulam. These terms mean 'soft region' and 'hard region' respectively. Of the four basic ecoregions, the riverine plains and the coast were regarded as the former type and the mountains and scrub land the latter (puranaanuuru 395: 1-2). When Hart, owing allegiance to Stein, interprets these terms, he grades these axiologically and regards vanpulam as inferior type of land because only inferior crops like millet can be grown therein and menpulam superior because it can raise paddy, which is superior to millet (Hart 1975, 19). He brings mountains, forest, coast, and riverine tracts under the category of cultivable land without explaining how paddy can be raised in the seacoast (1975, 19). One does not understand how the poems from puranaanuuru he cites warrant such a categorisation of land. Obviously, Hart equates menpulam and vanpulam with the latter categories, namely, puncey (dry land) and nancey (wet land). Little further down, Gurukkal himself clarifies that 'the institution of caste was yet to characterize early Tamil society and what has been listed as castes by scholars in the past are clan names' (245). It is not clear how the varna-free tinai society can accommodate the brahmin who is one of the four varnas. Even if he were to be found there, an explanation is necessary. Like his predecessor Sivathamby (1998), Gurukkal engages in a critique of state-formation. He argues that the earliest phase was the emergence of 'the micro-zones or the primary habitats of communities depending on the subsistence forms possible there, where the existence of clan-based chieftains is envisaged.' The next was that of 'the larger chiefdoms' (macro-zones?) 'through the interaction of the micro-zones.' The last is that of 'the larger primary region (nadu) in the early historic period witnessing the formation of the pristine state' resulting from the interaction of several macro-eco-zones (254). His definitions of the three political figures, namely, kilar (village headman), velir (hill chiefs), and ventar (low land chiefs) (who play an important part in state-formation) is questionable. He does not cite evidences to interpret velir as 'hill chiefs' and ventan as 'chief' (255). One wonders whether he is 'equating the chieftain to [with] king and emperor' (255).

Though several scholars make cultural anthropological observations about Tamil culture, it is Singaravelu (1966) who makes a comprehensive study in this area. According to him, tinai has no corresponding social institution today, but it is comparable to the Greek ethnos (nation) but broader than the modern idea of the state by virtue of its inclusion of plant, bird, animal, human communities and deity. To him aintinai is a cosmological conception that is part of the poetic conventions, but mirrors the Tamil lifestyle that prevailed then. He also states that each tinai is a web of life not wholly exclusive but overlapping in nature.

Each tribe has two lines of descent, which later became clans. For example, the tribe poruppan of the mountainous region has two major branches -- kuravan and kaanavan. Similarly, the coastal region has three major tribes -- paravar, nulaiyar, and alavar. This notion needs further study.

Cankam literature speaks of poruppan as chieftain of the coastal region, and of kaanavan as a member of the tribe, not a chieftain. Moreover, Singaravelu takes kuratti to be the feminine form of poruppan, verpan and cilampan. Similarly, eyirri to him is the feminine form for vitalai, kaalai and miili.

Refuting these scholars who look upon the early inhabitants as tribal people, Sesha Iyengar in his Dravidian India (1933) holds that the original Dravidians were not tribals but agriculturists. He seems to have based his idea on tirukkural. His theory implies that the entire ancient Tamil country was one stretch of riverine plains, which is highly implausible.

Another scholar (Chellam 48-49) states that in ancient Tamilnadu there were four vocational tribal groups -- kaanavar, aayar, ulavar and miinavar and besides these basic groups, there were also other tribes such as eyinar, oliyar, kurumpar, aruvaalar among others. He also points out that among the vocational groups there were the three categories, namely, king, antanar, and others. There was hierarchy among them. The king held the highest position in the social hierarchy. The others (eenoor) were common people including vanikar, veelaalar, koovalar, kaarootar, kammaalar, taccar, atiyoor and servants. According to Chellam, the tribal people who occupied the four basic tinai regions were not like the tribal people elsewhere; there were social classes among them. These classes were hierarchically structured. In this regard, Chellam's view is quite unique and strange.

One of the reasons for looking upon the tinai inhabitants as non-tribal people is the notion that the three monarchies are ageless. Paavaanar in his palantamil aatci (1952/1991) expresses a similar view. He says that the three triumvirs ruled even during the age of the first Tamil Academy (2). He reiterates this idea in his tamil varalaaru (1967/1990). Others have also held this view (Dorai Rangaswamy 97-98). Paavaanar presumes that the three monarchs ruled not only the Tamil country, but also the whole of India. Of these three monarchs, he considers paantiyar the most ancient, for, the continent of Kumari that was submerged in the ocean was the original country of paantiyar (1990, 48). But in another place in the same text he contradicts this view by saying that in the five tinaikal a single hamlet was ruled by a leader, and later the veelir leaders governed more than one hamlet resulting in the monarchic rule of the three kings, ceerar, coolar and paantiyar (1967/1990, 122). Paavaanar's contradiction results from the notion that both monarchy and tribal chieftaincy coexisted from the earliest times. It is true that at a certain point of time they did. But that does not rule out the fact that tribal chieftaincy preceded monarchy.

However, tribal governance is not uniform everywhere. There are chieftains of tribes who do not command their subjects. The chieftain of the Keraki tribe of Papua New Guinea is one such. The chieftain of Chacko tribe of South America has the power to restore the stolen articles. But, he will not command the people against the wishes of the tribe as a whole. There are also tribal groups with monarchic traits, like the Ashanti tribe of Africa, some American Indian tribes in Peru and Mexico. However, originally these tribes would not have had any monarchic features (Herskovits 1947/1974, 194-195).

Tamil tinai societies have been compared to other cultures. P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar's attempt at comparison was already pointed out. Kailasapathy also in a similar vein likens the seven-segmented habitats of the Zunis of New Mexico with Tamil tinaikal. The seven divisions of the habitat are North, South, East, West, Zenith, Nadir, and Centre. Elements of nature and occupations were associated with each of these divisions. For example, with the North were associated Wind, Winter, War, Crane, Grouse and Yellow wood (1968, 190). Aravaanan also attempts to explain tinai conventions from a cultural anthropological perspective (1978, 91-93, and passim).

Another point of comparison is the garment of the Tamil tribes and other tribes elsewhere. The grass-skirt and the bark cloth of the ancient Tamil tribal folk have their counterparts in many Negroid tribes all over the world (Selvamony 'talaiyutai' 1993; koolam 2001). Similarly, the primitive arena known as kalam also occurs among non-Tamil tribes like the Navahos (Selvamony 1998, 58-65; 'The Feminity'; 'Sandpaintings and kalam'; Wyman).

                 Those who regard tinaikal as real naturo-human communities take a sociological approach and this is discussed below.

7. Societal Approach:

                 While most Tamil scholars look upon tinai as a poetic principle, very few regard it as a societal principle. The latter are of different hues and they could be put under four groups. To the first group belong those scholars who are not sure whether tinai theory has anything to do with society or not. The second group perceives a connection between tinai theory and society while the third understand it as the theory of a particular society like the tribal society. The fourth group looks upon it both as a poetic principle as also as a societal theory.

The writings of Tamilannal (1976), Burton Stein (1994, 12), Na.Ceyaraaman (1979) belong to the first group. Kailasapathy (1968) represents the second group. The major spokespersons for the third group are Sivathamby (1966), Thani Nayagam (1963/1966, 75), and Selvanayagam (1968, 156-166). The fourth is evident in the writings of C.E.Ramachandran (1974), Chellam (1985) and Selvamony ("An Alternative Social Order").

C.E.Ramachandran distinguishes caste from tinai on the basis of their chief characteristic features. Caste, to him, is a structure meant to continue consanguinity (blood relation) among the people of same occupations in Aryan society, whereas the tinai theory of the Tamils is based on the occupations appropriate to each of the five regions. Among Tamils, it was the land that determined class and status.

Some scholars consider the relationship between caste and tinai (Selvamony "An Alternative Social Order"; Dayanandan). While most scholars agree that there is no hierarchy in tinai society (N.Subrahmanyan 1980, 260), a few hold that tinai is also hierarchical (Stein 1980; 1994, 56; Chellam 48-49). Dayanandan advances the theory that the tinai cocept was fashioned by the Tamils in order to resist the caste system introduced by the invading Aryans (1992, 35-36). But several others maintain that the Aryans introduced caste into the Tamil society  when they settled the Tamil country. S.K.Pillai is of the view that caste is the latter form of the tribal social order (1934, 65). It is also held that tinai social order was found only among the country folk and not among the townfolk (tamilnaadu: cankakaalam 1983, 7; Nilakanta Sastri 1993, 38-39).

According to Sivathamby, feudalism originated in marutam. He says there are, in cankam poems, references to landless labourers, and storing of large amounts of paddy. But the poems he cites (narrinai 26 & 60) do not seem to support such an interpretation. He finds traces of feudalism in perumpaanaattuppatai and claims that only in such a feudalistic society did virali become a harlot (1971, 348). If only he were more specific!

                 P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar describes the type of marriage among kuravar of kurinci as kalavu. This type of marriage requires no wedding rituals and results from love at first sight. As kurinci hunters were nomadic, they neither owned property privately, nor resided permanently. Under such circumstances, only women held the family together and managed its affairs. In other words, kurinci society was matriarchal in character (1989, 7). When people migrated to mullai due to shortage of food in kurinci, cattle became private property. To maintain themselves and their cattle, the people dissociated themselves from the larger unmanageable tribe to form smaller units of extended families. Now, the males became leaders of families or patriarchs and thus originated karpu type of marriage (1989, 9-10).

While P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar says that the family structure was formed by dividing the tribe, Dikshitar holds that nuclear families joined together to make joint families and these in turn constituted the tribe (1983, 178). While Dikshitar follows evolutionary logic of big from small, Srinivasa Iyengar's theory is based on the principle of fission.

                 The societal approaches to tinai institutions raise several questions including the following: If kalavu involves pre-marital sexual union, was not there such union in mullai? Was it found only in kurinci? Was not kalavu found in other tinaikal as well? Again, is pre-marital sexual relationship compatible with karpu? Can a Tamil kilavan have sexual relationship with a girl, abandon her and then turn to another and will such conduct be termed kalavu? These questions problematise the nature of kalavu and karpu. Can there be one without the other? Moreover, are all gender-related practices found among the tribal groups of people in Tamilnadu compatible with the theory of tinai? Or is tinai derived from these practices taking only some appropriate elements? Can we say that the poetic convention, namely, kaamappunarcci is derived from the pre-marital sexual practices of several montane tribes?

                  Though a few social institutions of tinai society have been discussed by scholars, there has been no attempt to reconfigure the entire tinai society with all social institutions in relation to other ecological communities in question. While political economy (all materialist studies of tinai) and religious institutions (Keecavaraacu 1978) have received some attention, technology (Selvamony "tinait tolil nutpam" 1993, 73-83), family (Selvamony 'tamilk kumukaayattil' 1998; 'Womanhood in Early Tamil tinai society'), education (Selvamony 'Towards an Ecoregional Education'; 'Education Through the Environment' 1989, 41-44), philosophy (Selvamony Cemmaniyam; tamilk kaatci neriyiyal; 'Elements of Axiology' of 1996; 'alavai'; 1993, 258-263; 298-302; see also his 'Ecorights'), theology (Selvamony 'Dravidian Faith'; 'tol nerik katavuliyal'; 'tamilar kanta katavuliyal'), and art (Selvamony "ceyyul" 1985; "tolkaappiyak kalaiyiyal") have not received their due.  The philosophy of the Tamils emerged in their tinai societies. Coo.Na.Kantacaami is of the view that teleology (the conception of the ultimate ends of life) emerged only from the concept of tinai (48). The people of tinai congregated in the public spaces known as manram (Selvamony 1989, 39-57) or ampalam (Selvamony 1990, 103-107) or potiyil (Selvamony 1993, 44-48) and discussed philosophical matters. The philosophical basis of tinai societies is yet to be spelt out in a detailed manner.

                 Among those that take a societal approach to tinai, the Marxists and the materialists occupy a preeminent place and they are considered next.

8. Materialistic Approach:

Materialism has several names in Tamil -- puutavaatam, caaruvaakam, ulakaaytam, iyalpuvaatam, pirakirutivaatam, and porulmutal vaatam. The basic principle underlying materialism is that the world is constituted by the combination of the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and sky. The nature of a thing is determined by the proportion of its constitutive elements. All non-material entities like god, hell, heaven and soul are deemed non-existent.

Kunaa points out that there are streaks of materialism in tolkaappiyam (III.1.50). He holds that the worldview of tolkaappiyam was materialism and not the philosophy of maayai which regards both space and time as subjective states (1980, 30). Further, he takes nilam (tolkaappiyam III.1.50) to mean ground rather than land.

The theory of tinai is regarded as a materialist one for the following reasons:

Tolkaappiyar, who expounds tinai theory, is said to be well read in aintiram, which is a materialist text about the five elements, and therefore, his theory of tinai has a materialist basis.

Tolkaappiyar's grammar gives preeminence to porul. Moreover, he posits space and time as first principles.

Of the domains of tinai, namely, akam and puram, akam is preeminent. Since pleasure, a central tenet of materialism, is the axis of akam, tinai is regarded as materialist in nature.

The doctrine of maayai, which considers space and time as subjective states, could not have originated during Tolkaappiyar's time.

                 Rajan Gurukkal's essay on the history of early Tamil South (1995) is also based on the materialist position. The problem with this ideological stance is the total disregard of the Tamil worldview as expounded in the classical texts. Gurukkal says, 'Primitive agriculture, animal husbandry, petty commodity production and plough agriculture' have been identified as the principal forms of production, whose relations dominated and structured social formation' (253). This means that art and polity and other institutions of the tinai society were based on these 'forms of production'. But the Tamil texts tell us that the 'infrastructure' is constituted by land and time (the spatio-temporal continuum), which support such superstructural aspects as the naturo-cultural features (karu), and human action (uri) (tolkaappiyam III.3.3).

The Marxists see tinai society as being governed by a materialist worldview. Vaanamaamalai has discussed materialism in early Tamil literature. Unlike the Aryan texts, ancient Tamil texts are not mythological and do not negate the other world, but speak of this world. Their engagement with the everyday world and portrayal of its beauty, diversity and fertility can be attributed to the tinai society from which they originate.

The Marxists also see tinai as a type of tribal society marked by primitive communism (Vaanamaamalai 1997, 4-9; Sivathamby 1966, 322; Kaa.Cuppiramaniyan 1982). They see the evolution of society along economic lines. In fact, they interpret the data of cultural anthropologists economically. From hunting in the mountainous region civilization moved to the stage of grazing in the grasslands (mullai) and from grazing it did to agriculture in the riverine plains (Vaanamaamalai 1997, 4-5; Sivathamby 1966, 322). These ideas are traceable to such historians as P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar (1929/1989) and Dikshitar (1971, 34). Kaa.Cuppiramaniyan's essay, "canka ilakkiyattil inakkuzhu vaazhkkai" deals with some general features of the ancient Tamil society as well as with the individual tinaikal (1982, 9-53).

 If the Marxists and the materialists considered tinai mainly from the economic angle, there are other scholars who view the matter from a political point of view.

10. Political Analysis:

A.K.Naidu is of the view that in the ancient times the four regions were separate political units. Later, due to economic problems, enmity and war, the three dynasties, namely, ceerar, coolar and paantiyar emerged. In each of these three territorial divisions there were four bioregions (1972, 234-237). T.V.Mahalingam avers that there is no political structure among the tribal people (1955, 11). Others hold the view that the three monarchies existed even in the ancient times (A.Krishnaswamy 1978, 44;  Paavaanar 1952/1991, 2; 1967/1990, 47-48). Paavaanar has also expressed a contradictory view saying that after the rule of the chieftains of a single village in each of the five regions emerged the rule of veelir or feudatories, finally yielding to the three large monarchies. Vaanamaamalai gives a graphic description of the evolution of the three monarchies out of tinai chieftaincy. He shows how some mullai inhabitants settled the riverine plains and created the agricultural settlements there and were instrumental in the growth of the centralised monarchic polity (1997, 5-6). Sivathamby has also attempted to explain how economic changes brought about a new political order. If the criterion for measuring the development of society is economic production, the society, which produces only resources for sustenance, is less developed than the one that produces surplus. Accordingly, kurinci society produces only sustenance resources, whereas, marutam produces surplus. Neytal is like kurinci, but economically more advanced than kurinci. The slash and burn method of cultivation in mullai puts it at a level higher than neytal. Marutam was the most advanced because it produced surplus rice (342, 347). Ilankulam Kunjan Pillai associates the custom of private property with tinai, and especially with marutam (1970, 27). This unusual alliance can be due to his observation that urbanism, tribal life and primitive communism coexisted in ancient Tamil society (30).

How did marutam begin to produce surplus food? Surplus is producing more than what is required with a view to trading. This is incompatible with the principle of small-scale in tinaikal. How did the people all of a sudden abandon an ancient principle? Surplus production, at any event, should have begun only during the period of monarchy. The monarchs should have emerged from the tribes ceerar, coolar and paantiyar and brought large tracts of land under the plough so that they could rule such vast areas. This they did by clearing forests to create settlements and lakes, building structural temples, which served not only as centres of worship but also as seats of administration. For themselves they constructed palaces where they held court and hoarded the wealth of the land. In all this the brahmins they settled in gift lands proved to be of immense help. The wealth in the treasury of the palace was certainly of the surplus kind. Simultaneously, of all the five diverse occupations of the bioregions, agriculture became the pivotal pursuit mainly because of royal patronage. It is glorified as the most basic of all human occupations (tirukkural). Now the forest (mullai) became less habitable and less auspicious than the agricultural tracts.

How did this change come about? From within or without? To K.Sivathamby, it came from within through the practice of barter (1968, 326). Though he locates surplus production in marutam, he does not support this view with convincing evidence (1971, 348). But P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar holds that the kuravar of kurinci migrated to mullai due to food shortage. Dikshitar is of the view that migration resulted from increase in population (1983, 178). Occupation of alien territory required great strength and organised effort. The tribal chieftain was not capable of these. Hence the rise of monarchy from tribal chieftaincy. Monarchy originated in mullai and marutam. The tribe of paantiyar emerged from among the shepherds, and monarchy from the shepherds of marutam (1930, 1983, 178). Rajamanickam is of the view that permanent governance was necessary only in mullai and marutam because only these two regions had wealth that had to be safeguarded (1972, 16-17).

11. Geographical Approach:

                 The concept of tinai has not only received political analysis, but also geographical interpretation. Srinivasa Iyengar, Thani Nayagam, Selvanayagam, Ramamurthi, Venkata Subramanian are some of the noteworthy scholars in this regard. To Srinivasa Iyengar kurinci hills are the low hills of the Deccan plateau eroded by monsoons. At the foot of these hills are found the tropical forests called taantaka vanam named after the king taantakan (1929, 5-11). He points to the dwelling places of the tribe kurumpar as examples of typical mullai region. Thani Nayagam also tries to identify the geographical counterparts of the five regions (1966, 75):

kurinci      : Palani, Niilagiri Western Ghats

                 mullai       : Tiruchi, Madurai, Salem, Coimbatore districts, cettinaadu areas

                 marutam   : cola country

                 neytal       : sea coast

paalai       : not found in Tamilnadu

Two years later S.Selvanayagam identified these geographical counterparts even more accurately (1968, 1969).

                 With the sea level as the baseline, we could arrange the regions by altitude as follows: neytal, marutam, palai, mullai, and kurinci. Note that P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar places marutam between mullai and neytal. To him it consists of the low-lying plains (12).

                 Cu. Kumaaracuvaami points out that the terms 'pancca bhuma' and 'pancca jana' in the Rig Veda refer to the five divisions of land (268). Since he does not cite the verse, it is not possible to say how exactly he arrived at these two Tamil phrases. However, one could locate a reference to the phrase 'fivefold race'. Griffith's translation of the ninth verse of the seventh hymn in the first book reads: 'Indra who rules with single sway men, riches, and the fivefold race/Of those who dwell upon the earth'. The gloss gives the different readings of the term 'fivefold race'. Benfey explains this as 'the whole inhabited world.' But the expression seems to mean the Aryan settlements or tribes only, and not the indigenous inhabitants of the country. The five tribes or settlements were probably the confederation of the Turvasas, Yadus, Anus, Druhyus, and Purus. Sayana's explanation is 'those who are fit for habitations' and the phrase is said to imply the four castes and Nisaadas or indigenous barbarians. But there were no such distinctions of caste when the hymn was composed' (1986, 5). P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar expresses this view in the following words: 'In the Vedas occurs the phrase 'Pancha janah', the five tribes. The commentators have not been able to give a satisfactory explanation of this phrase. Apparently the five tribes included all the people of India. The suggestion is worth considering whether the phrase Pancha janah does not refer to the five classes of people above described, who constitute the people of India, as subdivided into the inhabitants of the five natural regions of the country' (1988, 28-29; 1929/1989, 84). From these observations it is difficult to conclude that the Rig Veda refers to the tinai system. Nevertheless further research is required.

                 M.Arokiasamy is of the view that regional classification emerged on the basis of the nature of land and productivity (1972, 26-27). Sivathamby finds the mountain having fewer possibilities of development (1971, 344). As humans have to defy nature in order to find sustenance here, the mountains are less congenial for the rise of civilization (M.Varataraacan 1952, 7). But P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar, who describes the nature of the mountain region elaborately, does not characterise it as a region of limitations. He shows how kuravar who inhabited this region found the shade of trees, water sources and caves adequately congenial. They had an abundant supply of granite for making paleolithic tools, bamboo for making their bows and arrows, and also fire. He also points to the fact that it is the mountain, which is the site of the domestication of dog (9). Here, tents, as in mullai, were unnecessary, for, weather was moderate throughout the year. Moreover, the Tamil people of mullai region were not semi-nomads; but settled communities. This was because they could get food and fodder wherever they lived. In mullai the cattle were domesticated.

                 Venkata Subramanian's discussion of the geography of the Tamil country takes into account the concept of tinai (1988). Closely akin to the geographical approach is the ecological one.

12. Ecological Approach

P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar observes that tinai people (tribals) lived in conformity with the environment (1929, 1989, 3). He observes that culture results from the environment. Dikshitar also endorses this view (1930/1983). Though this idea can be traced to tolkaappiyam, the idea itself cannot be labelled as an ecological one, for, ecology as a discipline emerged only in the nineteenth century.

P.L.Samy shows the connection between tinai, ecosystem and ecology thus: 'The modern concepts of Ecosystem and Ecology are surprisingly close to the concept of Thinai Division in ancient Cankam literature… The term ecology means the relationship of plants, animals, and people to their environment from time to time through change of season, rainfall, climate and the influence of man himself' (1980, 25). However, systematic ecological approach begins only later in the eighties when ecological concepts like biome (Selvamony "An Alternative Social Order") and ecosystem (Dayanandan 1992, 29-30) are adopted to elucidate tinai theory. Later, K.V.Raman has also attempted this approach in an article of his without referring to any previous study. For example, he points to the ecological implications of Tamil place names without discussing either R.P.Sethu Pillai's detailed exposition of the subject or the latter toponymic studies (uurum peerum) or other studies (Selvamony 'Toponymy and anthroponymy").

                 Besides literary sources, epigraphs also have to be looked into in order to study tinai system. Let us see how scholars have exploited the latter.

13. Epigraphical resource:

                 Was tinai represented in epigraphy? If so, how? The earliest Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions belong probably to 600-500 B.C. (Deraniyagala 17; T.S.Subramanian 12; for a later date, Mahadevan 159). Iravatham Mahadevan concedes that the epigraphical records show a 'long tradition of strong local self-government' (163) in the Tamil society and that the earliest form of polity in the region presently known as Tamilnadu was tribal chieftaincy, though by the time attested by epigraphy monarchy had emerged. However, tribal chiefdoms continued to exist alongside (Mahadevan 115) in spite of the transformation of chieftaincy into state (164). Though Mahadevan has no difficulty conceding this, his chapter on polity opens with monarchy and places the chieftains after the monarchs (as evidenced by the inscriptions). It is evident that chieftains such as Atiyan were independent rulers of their own chiefdoms and that is why they were challenged and subdued by the monarchs (Mahadevan 120). The story of Atiyan typifies the conflict between chieftaincy and monarchy and the voracious engulfing nature of the latter (not unlike the tensions between big and small economies, between the neo-imperial power and the market-colonies). Sivathamby outlines the evolution of state-formation in the Tamil country from the tribal stage.

                 However, while discussing the social organisation of the Tamils, Mahadevan does mention such tribal elements of this organisation as clans, kinship, honorifics and onomastics, which do not confine themselves to monarchy (142-146).

                 As for religion, there was no priestly hierarchy and learning was not 'the prerogative of any particular class like the scribes or priests' (162). From inscribed pottery it can be inferred that literacy was found not only in urban and commercial centres, but also in obscure hamlets. Mahadevan proudly asserts that 'the early Tamil society has achieved true literacy with a popular base rooted in the native language' (160-161). 'Tamil remained the language of administration, learning and instruction, and of public discourse throughout the Tamil country' (162). There is evidence to show that Tamil music flourished not only in the form of practice, but also as theory from the inscription at Arachalur. Here are Mahadevan's versions of the inscriptions:

ta     tai    taa    tai     ta

                 tai   taa   tee     taa    tai

                 taa  tee   tai     tee    taa

                 tai   taa   tee    taa   tai

                 ta    tai    taa   tai    ta

                 kai    ta    tai    ta    kai

                 ta     kai   ta    kai  ta

                 tai    ta    kai   ta    tai

                 ta     kai  ta     kai  ta

                 kai   ta     tai   ta    kai

As Mahadevan rightly observes, these are syllables used in dance (158). In fact, these syllables compose what may be called taalak kalam (kalam of musical time) used as the ritualistic equivalent of the mantiram in worship. kalam format was employed quite widely in Tamil concrete poetry also. Elsewhere I have argued that kalam is the source of Tamil architecture, especially, temple architecture. Kulantaiveelan reproduces three verbal inscriptions of kalankal based on the five letters na ma ci vaa ya, and the name of the deity of a temple, vi lan, kaa mo li found in a 13^th century temple for Civan at a village named Kampainalluur in Dharmapuri district ('Kalvettil Ainteluttu', Kalvettu 6, Iraatcaca year, aati month, 34-37). These inscriptional syllables may also be regarded as taalak kalam (taalac cakkaram), which is a type of concrete verse with letters arranged as if in the shape of a wheel. Though examples of this particular variety are not to be found among traditional literary texts, this is surely a possibility (see  Maatavan 1983, 80).

                 The human figures on a golden ring assigned to the second century A.D. found at Karur are said to be "the only known example of the 'royal art' (as distinguished from 'folk art')" (Mahadevan 158). Mahadevan does not say why we should consider this 'royal art'. In fact this is the only example of a near equivalent of a photograph of a human couple of this period and this may well be an artistic representation of kilavan and kilatti (hero and heroine or the chieftain and his consort). The engraving helps us to understand the social appearance of the people of tinai. The garment of the woman resembling the grass skirt mentioned in cankam literature, the ornaments and the hair-do of the couple show a historical continuity from the times of the so-called Indus civilization to the temple  sculpture of the Nayaks and the present day bazaar art. The 'tribhanga' posture of the woman is quite evident in the dancing girl figurine of the Indus and the temple sculpture of South India whenever the sculptor desired to depict grace or passion.

                 Now let us consider other possible approaches open to scholars in this area.

14.Comparative Possibilities:

                 tinai studies can benefit from related critical theories and movements from other traditions. Some of these are anthropogeography, human ecology, social ecology, biogeography, bioregionalism and nativism. Anthropogeography is the 'study of the distribution of Earth's human communities in relation to their natural environment. A conceptualization devised in the late nineteenth century by Friedrich Ratzel in his classic Anthropogeographie (1882), it is regarded as a precursor to modern studies of human-environmental interaction' (Bullock and Trombley 35). This is also known as Humanistic Geography (Lebon). Biogeography 'studies the distribution of biological materials over the earth's surface and the factors responsible for the observed spatial variations'. The biogeographer also places stress on man-land relationships (Pears 3). The Bioregional Movement, strong in North America, 'is based on a realisation that the earth expresses itself not in some uniform life system throughout the globe but in a variety of regional integrations, in bioregions, which can be described as identifiable geographical areas of interacting life systems that are relatively self-sustaining in the ever-renewing processes of nature'. This movement affirms that humans have to 're-align human dwelling and human divisions of the earth with the biological regions. This will provide a primary biological identity rather than a primary political identity' (Berry 1990, 23). Bhalchandra Nemade has expounded a theory of nativism that has close affinity with the concept of tinai (Paranjape 233-254). He writes, "Basically, nativism is entirely self-manifest as in the plants and trees that patiently grow and live in their own soil" (Paranjape 236). "Any human being or literature can stand tall only in its own native land and linguistic group… A great writer writes primarily for his own time and for his own community" (Paranjape 235).

                 tinai also compares with the concept of 'culture area'. An area where similar cultures are found is called a ''culture area' (Herskovits 396-404). Employing this concept in his study of American Indian cultures, Wissler said, ''the natives of the New World could be grouped according to culture traits'. He identified 'food areas, textile areas, ceramic areas, etc., …If, however, we take all traits into simultaneous consideration and shift our point of view to the social or tribal units, we are able to form fairly definitive groups. This will give us culture areas, or a classification of social groups according to their culture traits'.

The culture areas Wissler mapped in North and South Americas were the following:

North America:

1.Plains; 2.Plateau; 3.California; 4.North Pacific Coast; 5.Eskimo; 6.Mackenzie; 7.Eastern Woodland (a.Iroquoian, b.Central Algonkin, c.Eastern Algonkin); 8.Southwest; 9.Southeast; and 10.Nahua.

South America:

11.Chibeha; 12.Inca; 13.Guanaco; 14.Amazon

Caribbean:

15.Antilles

Seven years later, A.L. Kroeber revised Wissler's map in the following manner:

North America:

1.Arctic or Eskimo: coastal; 2.Northwest or North Pacific Coast: also a coastal strip; 3. California or California-Great Basin; 4. Plateau: the northern inter-mountain region; 5.Mackenzie-Yukon: the northern interior forest and tundra tract; 6. Plains: the level or rolling prairies of the interior; 7.Northeast or Northern Woodland: forested; 8.Southeast or Southern Woodland: also timbered; 9. Southwest: the southern plateau, sub-arid; and 10.Mexico: from the tropic to Nicaragua.

South America:

1.Colombia or Chibeha; 2.Andean or Peruvian; 3.Patagonia; 4.Tropical Forest and 5.Antillean.

It may be noted that Kroeber has not revised Wissler's classification of South America except in supplying additional names. Later, scholars arrived at four basic culture areas for South America: Marginal, Tropical Forest, Circum-Caribbean and Andean. In 1924 Herskovits identified the following as the culture areas of Africa: 1.Khoisan (a.Bushman, b.Hottentot); 2.East African Cattle Area; 3.East Horn; 4.Congo; 5.Guinea Coast; 6.Western Sudan; 7.Eastern Sudan; 8.Desert Area; 9.Egypt. E.Bacon and A.E.Hudson have divided Asia into six culture areas: 1.Siberian (Palaeo-Siberian); 2.Southwest (the sedentary cultures of Southwestern Asia); 3.Steppe (the pastoral nomadic cultures of central and southern Asia); 4.China (the Chinese sedentary); 5.Southeast Asian-Indonesian (perhaps originated in south China); 6.Primitive nomadic (found in isolated regions of southeast Asia). Scholars have identified the culture areas of other regions as well (Herskovits 396-404).

                 Having reviewed some major approaches to tinai studies, let us reflect on the need for studying it today.

15. Tinai Today:

Though tinai social order faced a major setback due to the invasion of the caste system, it persists today in several forms. Predominatly it is found among the tribal people and also to some extent among the rural folk. Among the urban populations its traces could be identified here and there. In cultural artefacts like literature, music, sculpture, painting and cinema its influence is not hard to discern. tinai names have been resurrected with some interest in the recent past. People, places, publishing houses and buildings are proud of possessing these names and the motivation may be a certain amount of Tamilophilia. It is heartening to see that such an ancient concept could inspire present-day children. A team of enthusiastic scholars has recorded children's visual and verbal impressions of the five primordial landscapes of tinai quite creatively (Woolf). Unfortunately, the authors reduce tinai to landscape (Woolf 2).

In tinai theory the first principle is space-time continuum. In concrete terms space-time could be seen as land (Molyneaux). Land is physical space existing in time. It is not only true that there is no life without land, but it is equally true that the basic problem the world faces today concerns land. Poverty, crime, struggle for self-determination, social oppression and several other social maladies stem from either loss of land or improper land distribution or some form of fouled relationship with land (Selvamony 'Holistic Land Ethics'; 'Land Health'). This means that technology or universal literacy or communication systems or conquering of outer space or creation of world bodies for dialogue and peace or any such strategy does not address the root cause of our present crisis. A reconsideration of tinai theory (Selvamony 'Back To tinai') and the tribal social order and worldview makes it clear that we, like all other organisms, are rooted in the land and our ailments are due to the straining of our relationship to the land (Minz 42). Therefore it is necessary that we examine the relationship between land and the social institutions so that we could reconfigure these institutions accordingly.

16. Institutional Study:

tinai evokes interest in scholars not only as a conceptual system of the ancient world, but also as a praxiological model for building up a viable future society. Among the several alternative social orders before us, it is of great significance and demands urgent scholarly attention. Though it is an indigenous social order of the Tamils, it merits global study and application. It is of especial significance to polities that acknowledge environment as their primary concern. Even if green parties emerged in India, they need to root themselves in the best ecophilosophical tradition of this country. In order to further this end, an institution for tinai studies is a dessideratum. Here is a profile for one such.

tinai

I.Objectives:

1.To study tinai as a community (including humans and other organisms) order

2.To understand the relation between tinai and contemporary communities

3.To create a society prepared to let tinai regenerate itself by creating the necessary conditions for the sustenance of tinai societies and realising a world of tinai communities.

II.Strategies:

Research into various aspects of tinai --tinai art, especially, music; tinai culture; tinai philosophy;            &nbs p;    tinai economy; tinai polity and tinai family.

Examine the present relation between land and lifestyle

Seminars

Awareness programmes

Publication

III.Definition:

tinai is an order of community life found among early Tamils and, perhaps, others. Its characteristic feature is its emphasis on land-life relationship. Accordingly, human communities like other organismic communities were organised on eco-regional basis.

IV.Why tinai?

1.Because people, like other organisms, have a right to their own traditional community order.

2. To help people integrate with their environment better and rediscover their lifestyles compatible with their environments.

3. Because tinai can help grapple with most present-day problems -- environmental, social (caste, untouchability and other forms of discrimination and oppression), economic (class conflict), political (corruption, law and order problems, and inadequate participation in government) and other such.

4.To free people from their dependence on power centres, knowledge systems, affective systems, technologies, and other pervasive forces that lie outside their home environments.

V.Vision:

A World of tinai Communities

VI.Mission:

Be for-other; know, imagine, feel, will, and faith tinai and help its regeneration.

VII.Impact:

tinai community will revitalise the deteriorating communities, replenish the earth, bring peace, justice and happiness to people, and will persuade people to find food through non-agricultural operations also.

VIII.Beneficaries:

Immediate beneficiaries: researchers, students and reading public.

Ultimate beneficiaries: common people both literate and illiterate, especially the socially deprived sections of present-day world.

IX.Aim:

To create a core group with a full understanding of tinai, who have a genuine feeling and commitment to work for its regeneration.

X.Action Plan:

Document a traditional, small indigenous society paying attention to its philosophy, religion, art, family, economy, polity and other socio-institutional features. Describe each of these in as detailed a manner as possible. With a clear picture of such a society, examine the interrelationship between one society and another. Devise strategies to sustain and nourish tinai societies in a world of non-tinai societies. What philosophy, especially, ethics, economic, political policies are necessary to achieve these? What rules, rights, duties and policies for international relations are necessary to maintain the first few tinai societies and to prevent them from being overwhelmed by the other non-tinai societies? How could these rules, and policies be implemented? Can this task be entrusted to a global legal body till the tinai communities can take care of themselves? Describe the international systems necessary for the sustenance of tinai communities. Should these international systems be permanent or temporary? Can these systems wither away when the entire world has only tinai communities?

XI.tinai Philosophy:

·         For-other life. Synonymous with love. The Tamil words anpu and arul derive from roots which mean negation, negation of self. This is not merely benevolence, which consists in helping the other while maintaining self. Another kin is altruism. It is unselfish regard for or concern for the welfare of others. But altruism can be momentary or sporadic. But for-other is an archetypal, traditional orientation with which the individual identifies oneself. All social values such as justice, peace, freedom, and responsibility stem from this principle. It is the source of even the three ultimate values, aram, porul and inpam.

We need to repair our social institutions so that they may be compatible with this philosophical principle. Accordingly, we have to refashion a for-other economy (instead of the present for-self competitive, capitalistic type), for-other polity (which will be in the interest of the whole of environment, not just humans), for-other family (instead of the present self-oriented nuclear and fragmentary nuclear families), for-other science and technology (instead of the materialistic and individualistic science and technology of today that sustains the for-itself society of today). In all this the term 'other' includes not only the other members of one's tinai society of present time, but also one's ancestors and the future unborn successors.

·         Knowledge, feeling, will, imagination, faith, power and skill should be guided by for-other principle.

·         Respect for diversity:

·         Thorough scrutiny of all forms of monism, monoculture, homogenization and centralization and avoiding of them. At the same time, chaotic, heteroglossia is also not desirable, because it suggests more than  one speaker at a time in an addressorial universe. Since only one can speak at a time in any addressorial universe, not heteroglossia but dialogue is the proper method of communication necessary for the communion of the members of tinai. Each tinai will adopt its own method of finding food. Agriculture will not be practised in all tinaikal.

·         The size of a tinai is determined by the space required by its constituent members. For example, in its verbal counterpart, it is the extent of space occupied by the speaker, listener and the immediate context. Usually, the members of a tinai share the same natural habitat, and a common culture and trace their traditions to the land/region they inhabit. Such a tinai requires only a small land area.

·         Respect the power of the small.

A bruised reed he will not break and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out (Isaiah 42:3).

XII.tinai Model:

The fishing community at Chemmanceri between Chennai and Mamallapuram on the East Coast Road is a traditional paratavar society found along the coasts whose ancestry is traceable to cankam literature and even earlier (Selvamony, Bagavandas, Rajani, and Dayanandan 1999). paratavar are one of the first communities to venture into alien territories for trade and travel. Though they were in constant dialogue with foreign cultures and ideas, they have sustained their tinai phiilosophy and lifestyle till today.

They have been using the catamaran for fishing for thousands of years only because they could not find another alternative that was compatible with their philosophy of life. The motorboat or what they call the 'launch' may be faster, larger and more efficient in certain respects. At least those among them who still have not yielded to the temptations of modern technology, know that it is not compatible with their traditional philosophy and values and that it will eventually destroy their environment, disturb the life-cycle of the fish they live on, pollute the sea, make all their ampaa (boat) songs irrelevant and cause other forms of havoc they probably cannot foresee now.

The small catamaran is not only beautiful, it has virtue, its own richness and brings its own kind of happiness. Efficiency is no ultimate principle, it has to be understood only in relation to the ultimate.

Based on their traditional and stable philosophy, they are not enamoured by the products and novelties of new technologies and sciences. This, however, does not mean that their own science and technology cannot be improved when necessary. But such improvement has to be compatible with their philosophy.

Even their ampaa songs are compatible with their economic operations. The songs revolve around just three or four notes in a highly repetitive manner so that they become part of their act of rowing the boat, and fishing. The minimal variations and repetition are necessary to maintain the focus not on the song itself but on other activities. It is virtually impossible to blend a kiirttanai (a type of classical musical composition) with a fisherman's acts of rowing and fishing. It is for this reason that their songs have neither diversified nor become complex over the years.

Like the other members of his tinai, the fisherman also blends with his environment. His knowledge, feeling, will, imagination, faith, power and skill are all guided by the interests of the tinai as a whole, not by for-self ends as in non-tinai societies.

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_____________________. mutal taay moli. tirunelveeli: TSS, rev. ed., 1991.

The etymology of tumpai is found on page 147 (For this information the author is indebted to an acknowledged authority on Paavaanar, Rajendran, Department of Tamil, Madras Christian College).

_____________________. tamil varalaaru. cennai: tirunelveeli: TSS, rev. ed., 1990.

_____________________. collaaraayccik katturaikal. tirunelveeli: TSS, rev. ed., 1956.

____________________. veerccol katturaikal. cennai: tirunelveeli: TSS, rev. ed., 1973.

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______________. 'Holistic Land Ethics', tinai 2. Nirmal Selvamony and Nirmaldasan. Chennai: Persons for Alternative Social Order, 2001.

______________. 'Ecorights', Current Issues in Bioethics and Environment. Eds. Gabriel, K.Joshua, and Jayapaul Azariah. Cennai: Madras Christian College, 2001, 265-291.

______________. 'Ecosculpture', Madras Christian College Magazine. LXVII (2001-2002): 30-35.

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______________. 'tamilc camukattin maarrukkut  tinaik kootpaatutaan ciranta vali', Interview. aaraam tinai. camuuka varalaaru. karuvoolam.  www.aaraamthinai.com (reproduced at: www.geocities.com/nirmalselvamony)

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______________. 'tamilk kumukaayattil meelainaattavarin aan-pen uravu nilai parriya karuttukalin celvaakku’ (The influence of the western ideas of man-woman relationship on Tamil Society) aan-pen uravu nilai: naataka valakkinum ulakiyal valakkinum (Man-Woman relationship: In Art and in Life) Ed. Livingstone, David Prabhakar & George. Chennai: Bharati Manram, Madras Christian College, 1998, 48-54.

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*A study that began in 1982 as part of the activities of a discussion group known as "tinai", the author initiated at Madras Christian College, Tambaram. Significant stages of this study include the author's paper, 'tinai and Caste as Sources of Indian Values' presented in a Workshop on Value Education, Danishpet, Salem, Tamilnadu, 15-22 June, 1987; the chapter, 'An Alternative Social Order', in Value Education Today (1990); and The Rev.Dr.Mani Valan Endowment Lecture, 'tolkaappiyattin tinai nutpankal' ('The Implications of tinai in tolkaappiyam') at St.Joseph's College, Tirucciraappalli, 22 September 1999.