Thomas H. Pruiksma - Fulbright U.S. Student to India
Field of Study: Tamil Language and Literature
Host Institution: The American College, Madurai
Thomas H. Pruiksma
On his Fulbright to India in 2003, Mr. Pruiksma researched key Tamil poets and the metaphors of land and earth. He concentrated on the translation of the 12th century Tamil poet and sage, Avvaiyar. Since his return to the U.S., Mr. Pruiksma's work has culminated in a book titled Give, Eat, and Live: Poems of Avvaiyar (published November 2009).
Six years after his Fulbright scholarship at the American College in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, Thomas H. Pruiksma fondly remembers his experience saying, “what amazes me most are the results I didn’t expect.” Mr. Pruiksma recounts how he was embraced by the people of Madurai and treated as a family member, even still today. As Mr. Pruiksma writes about the community's acceptance of him, “They remind me that the highest good is not simply to have good experiences—to eat of them alone—but to share them and their goodness with others.”
To the U.S.-India Fulbright Program