Tamils in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka endured a protracted civil war that ended in 2009 in Mullivaikkal. During the war’s end, hundreds of thousands of Tamils were murdered and several thousand were displaced. In this last phase, kanji (rice gruel) became the sole source of sustenance. Kanji, a versatile traditional Tamil dish that is central to religious festivals, also adapts to circumstances of scarcity. This talk situates Mullivaikkal Kanji within the broader Sri Lankan Tamil culinary tradition and explores how it became a symbol of resistance.

Dr. Geetha Sukumaran is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Feeding City Lab in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences.

This event is open to all students, faculty, staff, and members of the public consistent with University policy and state and federal law

Presented by the Center for South Asian Studies and co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute.