Mira T. Sundara Rajan
AUTHOR, PROFESSOR, MUSICIAN
About
Mira T. Sundara Rajan
Mira was born in Vancouver, Canada to Indian parents who settled there in 1969. Her father, P.K. Sundara Rajan, was an English lecturer who came to Canada for graduate studies. He was welcomed to the country by Kenneth Conibear and his wife Barbara and became a member of the first graduating class at Simon Fraser University.
Mira’s mother was a granddaughter of Indian National Poet and Tamil “Mahakavi”, C. Subramania Bharati. Vijaya Bharati (her given name) was the first scholar to study Bharati’s writing for a doctorate, which she completed at Annamalai University in 1966, thereby inaugurating the academic field of Bharati studies.
Mira is a fourth-generation writer. Her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-grandfather were all writers. She is also a fourth-generation musician. In keeping with South Indian cultural traditions, Subramania Bharati set his own poems to music and taught them to his wife and daughters, who in turn taught them to their children. Vijaya Bharati was a leading practitioner of this family oral tradition and was an outstanding singer of Bharati songs and of Carnatic classical songs.
Mira’s affinity for the English language was acquired from her father. Her passion for French was the product of her early association with Barbara Conibear, who studied at the Sorbonne and gave Mira her first gift of French books from her own student days. She inherited her love of Tamil from her mother, and has also studied Spanish, Italian, and Russian.
Mira is a passionate and devoted classical pianist. She has also learned to sing Bharati’s songs from her mother.
Mira is an accomplished scholar with a DPhil in Law from Oxford University, fulfilling her parents’ and great-grandparents’ passion for education and for women’s empowerment. She has been privileged to work as a professor in diverse countries, teaching students of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities.
For information on Mira’s latest projects, publications, and media efforts, please feel free to explore this site!
“Brothers and sisters... Imagine yourselves as noble and godly. And act on this imagination.”
Featured
Celebrating Bharati's 140th Birthday
Mira reads from Bharati's English writings as part of the National Public Readings program sponsored by the Writers' Union of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Subramania Bharati’s legacy
As poet Bharati’s fame, continues to grow, let's consider the essential role played by his wife, the extraordinary Chellamma, in preserving his legacy.
The Coming Age
Discover Bharati's original writings in the English language in an exciting new collection edited by Mira and published by Penguin India.
Seoul Copyright Forum
Seoul Copyright Forum
Mira speaks on Artificial Intelligence under Copyright Law to the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association BC Branch.