Early life and education Beck was 14 when her father, who worked in
Beirut,
Lebanon, drove Beck and her family around
Syria,
Turkey, the
Kingdom of Afghanistan, the
Dominion of Pakistan, and
India. In February 1965, Beck first heard the village bards narrating the
Annanmaar Kadhai - which translates literally to The Elder Brothers' Story. It is the epic tale of triplets, two brothers known as Ponnar and Shankar, and their younger sister. The story spans over centuries and takes place in the
Kongu region, where Beck lived and studied. The folktale, which has been passed from generations through song, speech, and dance, was thought to be set in the medieval period between 1000 and 1300 C.E. With their permission, Beck recorded the story. It took a total of 38 hours to perform over 18 nights. In addition, Beck collected over 20,000 pages of folk stories and traditions in her two years at Olapalayam. Beck said about the experience, "It was magical. I recorded the story in my cassettes and when I ran out of blank ones, I erased my collection of North American folk songs to keep the recording going." Beck helped develop an app to teach Tamil to students in Toronto, which has a large population of Tamil Indians. The app took eight months to develop and was released in 2016. In the same year, Beck donated $10,000 to Tamil Studies at the University of Toronto. Beck spent time lecturing about the Annamaar Kadhai, describing its origins, and comparing it to other folk tales in the Kongu Nadu region. Beck continues to research the
Tamil Diaspora or the migration of Tamil Indians throughout the globe.
Scarborough has one of the largest populations of Tamil Indians outside of South Asia. Currently, Beck serves as president of the
Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada, a charity that "promotes the use of storytelling at all educational levels". Beck hopes that with the work of the University of Toronto Scholars and input of the Scarborough Tamil community, there will be further strides in Tamil research and cultural preservation. She also hopes to bring the tale of Ponnivala and thus Tamil culture into classrooms for increased accessibility for young students. In 2019, with Beck's assistance and input, the University of Toronto at Scarborough's held its first Tamil Heritage Month celebration. The performance was unique in that it was performed as a
Villu Paattu, which translates to "bow-song". It is described as a "musical technique that combines narration and a 10-foot bow-string struck for rhythm". Eighteen (18) performers made history by illustrating parts of the legend. It was the first time two ancient Tamil arts came together – an ancient tale told in a musical storytelling form too old to accurately date. Beck says about the story, "It is something that should be shared internationally, and it's something that Tamils can be proud of". ==Research publications==