STAR-Post #1/2018 Stories We Sing STAR_Post_Music_2018-01 StoriesWeSing | Page 15

Learning Values Through Songs Principal Master Teacher of Tamil Language as well as a veteran songwriter, Mr S. P. Jeyarajadas Pandian’s eyes light up whenever he talks about education, especially when the topic is about the use of music to teach language. For him, words and music convey values, and in his song En Veetiley (My Home), the focus is on the pliable character of the child, and the critical role family members must play in shaping the character of the young ones. Click to view lyricist and Principal Master Teacher S.P. Jeyarajadas Pandian speak of expressing the most profound values in the simplest of terms, in his song En Veetiley (My Home) His lyrics are carefully designed to articulate such profound ideas in the simplest and most elegant of language. The words are crafted so memorably to help non-Tamil speakers among us sing along and learn easily. Mr Pandian was excited for teachers and students, not just to sing his song, but to use it as a springboard to create additional verses, to add accompanying movements, and to extend its themes into their own realm of personal experience, thus making the learning their own. 15