Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

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Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

cmlover wrote:What is the first line of the song 'pizhaitta tennan thOppu'?
http://www.lakshmansruthi.com/tamilbook ... -III17.asp

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Thanks PB for bringing the poem pronto!

CML,
This poem also contains the memorable line: tanimai kaNDaduNDu, adil sAramirukkudamma!

nETRirundOm anda vITTInilE--inda
nEramirundAl en paDuvOm?

The poem puyal kATRu (16) mentions that they had moved house just that day!

dikkugaL eTTum SidaRi to which Bharathi did the abhinaya: poem 15.
Last edited by arasi on 21 Aug 2011, 21:26, edited 2 times in total.

cmlover
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by cmlover »

Thanks PB
சிறிய திட்டையிலே,உளதோர்-தென்னஞ் சிறுதோப்பு
வறியவ னுடைமை-அதனை-வாயு பொடிக்க வில்லை
very beautiful poetically.
Arasi
These happened in 1916 at Pondy. Bharathy died in 1919 at chennai. So when did he move to TN?
When did Iyer move to TN and start his gurukulam at Seranmahadevi?
Perhaps we should lookat the chronology of all events later after you finish!

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

CML,
Bharathi died in September 1921.
After the war ended in November 1918, but for Arabindo, the svadESis came back to TN. Bharathi was released from the prison in December of that year. He went directly to Kadayam from there. He went to Chennai briefly to give lectures on vEdAntA. That was when he met Gandhiji . Though he had sung about the Mahatma in 1908, he met him only in 1919.
He was back in Chennai in November 1920 to work as a sub-editor at SvadESa Mitran. In less than a year, in September 1921, we lost him.

Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

Bharati:-
Bharathi left Pondicherry on 20th November 1918. He was arrested at Cuddalore (British India territory) and was imprisoned. He was released on 14th December 1918 when he signed a suitable undertaking.

VVS Iyer:-
After World War, when the British government declared general amnesty in 1920, VVS Iyer left Pondicherry. He went to Madras and soon became the Editor of 'Desabakthan'. An article published on 6.5.1921 in Desabakthan was highly critical of the British Government's attitude towards the non-cooperation movement. For this, VVS Iyer was jailed for nine months. After release, Iyer moved to Seranmadevi where he started a Gurukulam in 1920.

Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

செல்:- பணம் வேண்டாமா அம்மாமி? எங்கள் ஊர்ப் பக்கத்தில் வரதட்சிணைப் பேய் தலைவிரித்தாடுகிறது. நல்ல வரன் எங்கிருந்து கொண்டு வருவது?
... ... ...
செல்லம்மா சொல்லவும் முடியாமல் விழுங்கவும் முடியாமல் எதையோ மனத்தில் வைத்துக் கொண்டு கஷ்டப்படுவதாக எனக்குத் தோன்றியது. செல்லம்மா-பாரதியாரின் மாறுதலுக்குக் காரணம் என்னவென்று எனக்குத் தெரியவில்லை.


Bharati wanted to get his daughter married to another Iyer freedom fighter (Class A terrorist according to the British), who was known very well to the family. He was a close associate of Bharati at Pondicherry. Chellamma did not accept this proposal of Bharati, and probably that was the reason for the strained relationship at that time.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Thanks, PB!
Fascinating. It's not as if Bharathi did not do his part in finding a groom. It was only natural that he wanted a spirited young man as a husband for his dear daughter and not a kaTTup peTTi. If not Chellamma, her family would have been dead against this match! The reason is obvious.

Whose book is the quote from?

Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

Chellamma was against the match proposed by Bharati. May be, her family too. She left Pondicherry with her daughters, and the marriage was arranged without Bharati's knowledge. Bharati was terribly upset. He gave away everything and left Pondicherry.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

TWENTY


nIrOTTam
(The Flow)


Dr. Ambeau had said that my health would improve if I walked for an hour every day. I followed his instructions. My mother looked after the baby, and I went to the beach for a walk every morning. This went on for a month. My father and sister kept me company.

One day at the crack of dawn, as we were walking, we heard someone sing in a morning rAgA. It melted my heart. When I listened intently, it sounded like a tiruvAimozhi verse. On my listening for a minute more, it sounded clear as a bell and sounded like a familiar voice--that of Bharathi. I asked my father what he thought.
My father said, ''Let's find him."

We walked in the direction from which the voice came. We saw Bharathi, seated on a kaTTumaram (boat). He was wearing a black top and a vEshTi. He was facing the sun with joined hands. It wasn't light yet. The song sounded majestic. The beautiful rAgam and the meaning of the words gave me goose bumps. It seemed like a divine vision. I was filled with joy.

Sri Sri: Bharathi, what are you doing here?

Bharathi: Is that Anna? Why are you and the children here so early in the morning?

Sri Sri: The doctor said that it was good for Yadugiri's health to walk for an hour every morning. Yadugiri thought she heard your voice and when we came closer, we realized that it was you, after all!

Bharathi: I came here last night. I was flying in the world of my imagination. I woke up and realized that I was on the beach. Such a pleasant hour, this. I was lost in the inspiring verses of the tiruvAimozhi, and you called!

Sri Sri (in a rather irritated voice): Some world of imagination! Do you realize how worried they'd be at home! Is it fair? What are you doing here at this hour?

Bharathi: (with his head bent): It was unbearably hot last night. The beach and the world of imagination were beckoning. Did Chellamma come to your house and ask about me? Am I a child?

My father got Bharathi down from the boat, and like a dear brother would, put his arms around him in a hug. He told me and my sister to keep walking and said that he would soon join us. He started talking to Bharathi in English. Bharathi did not answer but tears fell freely from his eyes. I can never forget that scene. We walked to Bharathi's house now. Chellamma was standing at the door. Thangamma and Sakunthala were asleep. Chellamma did not ask Bharathi where he had been. Seeing my father, with her head down, she went into the house. I woke the children up and then we went home.

My sister Ranganayaki questioned my father: Why did Bharathi cry like that? The tears wouldn't stop!

Sri Sri: Perhaps some sand got into his eyes.

Yadugiri: Bharathi wasn't home all night and yet Chellamma didn't say a word! Why?

Sri Sri: No, I don't think it's something new. Who knows where all he roams at night? The beach, the groves, by the pond...

Yadugiri: AiyyA! He doesn't look the same. I've been observing him ever since I came to Puduvai. Things seem so different when I go to see them now.

Sri Sri: Please don't ask Bharathi or Chellamma about it. It may upset them.

Iyer came home that evening and I told him about the incident at the beach.

Iyer: Did Bharathi recognize your father as soon as he called him?

Yadugiri: Yes, he did and he was surprised to see us so early in the morning. I don't know what's ailing him. AiyyA didn't say much. It's all puzzling to me. Chellamma looks grief-stricken. At least, you can tell me what this is all about.

Iyer: Yadugiri, when something new captures his imagination, Bharathi doesn't stop to think if it's right for him or not. I have appealed to him many times. He just keeps going. I don't know where it's all going to lead him.Trouble at home, too. A woman in our country can somehow manage to cope with problems when it's about children and others at home, but not with a husband. I don't think there is an easy solution for the problems. If a husband behaves justly and adheres to his duties, there won't be any trouble at all. If he doesn't, there will be no cheer--just tears and upheavals. Their home becomes a prison. The woman cannot give up her children--nor can she leave her husband. Troubles multiply and the husband, forgetting the problems at hand and forgetting even his own stature and his greatness, finds solace in hallucinating substances--just for those fleeting moments of pleasure--and starts living in an ivory tower. As the effect of the stimulant wears away, he is spent as a rag and his health deteriorates. If you stop a stupid man from going to the liquor shop, he would get annoyed with you and say, 'who are you to stop me? I'm drinking, spending my own money'. Yet, It's possible to restrain that fool for a while. It's impossible to do that with an enlightened man who is weak and is weak-willed. The one who tries to stop him ends up being the fool. We are all helpless. All that we can do is rue over it.

Yadugiri: The udaya (dawn) rAgam which he sang was divine.

Iyer: Bharathi's voice sounds like bell metal. Early morning, the birds singing, the sound of the waves and his majestic singing! I can imagine how it would have felt.
His association with a few sAmiArs and paNDArams is leading him to all this. A man who has control over his mind is a strong man. The one who follows the manakkurangu (a mind like that of a monkey) goes any which way, doing things as that quirky mind of his dictates. It isn't a good thing for him, and surely, not for his family!

Iyer sighed. His heart was heavy. What he said agitated me. I felt very sad.


* * * * *

rshankar
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

Yadugiri has presented the man, wrinkles and all! I am very glad that however obliquely and fleetingly, she has described the mahAkavi's flirtation with hallucinogens.

kaTTamaram = catamaran (one of the few English words that have a tamizh origin)

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Ravi,
As far as I know, it is kaTTumaram (bound wood). How the poor man's boat (similar to a raft) has morphed into a speedy catamaran today!Years ago, the Malibu used to be a cool car--malivu illai!).

rshankar
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

Arasi - you are right - it is kaTTumaram.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

rshankar wrote:Yadugiri has presented the man, wrinkles and all! I am very glad that however obliquely and fleetingly, she has described the mahAkavi's flirtation with hallucinogens.
Chellamal appears to be no saint, either. Iyer's account is of a withdrawn, reclusive Bharathi and makes it sound like its the husband's fault but C had some contribution to this state. Her refusal to accept Bharathi's choice of a son-in-law.

I am more convinced especially after reading what P.Bala says : that C left Puducheri with her daughters and even arranged Thangamma's marriage without Bharathi having a part in it. That must have been devastating to an idealistic sensitive man, one who loved his daughters immensely.
Last edited by smala on 23 Aug 2011, 09:12, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

If I understand it, the hallucinogens preceded Smt. Chellama's departure from Pondicherry.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

rshankar wrote:If I understand it, the hallucinogens preceded Smt. Chellama's departure from Pondicherry.

Yes, that is apparent. I meant Chellammal's contribution to Bharathi's state prior to her departure - around the time of her refusal to accept Bharathi's choice of son-in-law [P. Bala supplies this valuable light]. He must have put in a lot of thought being a thinking man on his growing daughters, and his ideals for a future son-in-law. That refusal from Chellama must have hurt him deeply, his idealistic passions spurned by a too pragmatic Chellamal. I'd even say - that's where it all began, the downhill trend. In a sense it was a rejection of who he was, more than what he stood for - from a life-partner. The hallucinogens didn't happen out of a mere desire for experimentation or a "mind-monkey" weakness.
Last edited by smala on 23 Aug 2011, 07:56, edited 3 times in total.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Chellamma was torn between her family and Bharathi--with his extreme ideas, in the way he lived. The safe haven of a piRandagam, where they played everything safe in life. Then Bharathi, living dangerously, playing with fate(all this a century ago!). The pressure from Kadayam would have been too much for her. Here was a 'rebel with a cause' at home, a daughter who needed to be married, no money and as Ravi says, in addition--Bharathi's addiction. That would have been the last straw. As we progress with the story, you see more of her being torn between the two worlds--still finding it difficult to inable to write him off. Iyer was right.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

The "addiction" - or respite - Bharathi gravitated to - I have already stated the impetus. It's not as if he was one with a fatal flaw. Rather, one who buckled under when the "rejection" [as stated in post 215 ] became unbearable. Like Lear, he didn't quite go mad but went under a "mad" influence...[re. hallucinogens, I think rshankar has it right with "flirtation" rather than "addiction", since he didn't become a junkie and did use his mind and even became a sub-editor towards his last days.]

Iyer's one-sided stance does not exonerate Chellammal with her middle-class comfortable upbringing and world-view influencing her treatment of a spouse, an idealistic Bharathi. She did not rise up to the occasion, to cherish his dreams. Had she been truly devoted to her husband, she might have felt his anguish and heeded his way of thinking and resisted her own birth-family pressures.
Last edited by smala on 23 Aug 2011, 10:03, edited 6 times in total.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

TWENTY ONE



SAgA varam
(Immortality)



In PingaLa varusham, many things happened in succession--all heart-wrenching.

I got a letter from home announcing the arrival of my baby brother. My father needed help and he had asked me to come to Puduvai. I stopped with my uncle in Banaglore on my way. Unfortunately, my child got sick and died there.
I went to Puduvai, my heart heavy with my loss. Another sad news awaited me there. My friend Meena had lost her baby too and was terribly sick. She was longing to see me. Chellamma took me to her house. Meena looked pathetic. When she saw me, like a possessed woman, she cried out: Yadugiri! Bring back my child!
After calming down a bit, she poured out her aching heart to me, about the loss of her child and of her ill health. I contained myself and consoled her. "Meena, don't you remember what Bharathi has said? Fear is like poison, to be brave is amruta. Don't lose heart, Meena!", I begged of her. She could not be pacified. She started screaming, "Baby, my baby!" Then she fainted. They said she fainted often. It was painful to see her like that.
I was reluctant to leave her side. I had turned my heart into stone when I was with her, but when I left her, all my grief which I had kept in check, flooded out of me. Leaving Meena behind in the shadow of death broke my heart. Chellamma and I cried copiously.
When he saw me, Bharathi had tears in his eyes too. He had started a fifteen day vow of silence that day. After some time, he signaled to us to come upstairs. He wrote on a piece of paper: It's our misfortune to see you without your child!
I looked up at him. He was a mere skeleton. His eyes were red and he looked very weak and drained. I couldn't bear to see him like that.

As if he had read my thoughts, Bharathi wrote down: I'm practicing a new kind of yoga. That's why I've lost weight.

He had just finished writing the tugiluriyum sargam of PanJAli Sabadam (the part where Draupadi is disrobed by the kauravAs). He sang the verses to me (he did not give up singing when he observed silence).

Then, Chellamma said with a heavy heart: Yaduguri, we have seen enough of the quirks of fate. If the gods deal out misfortunes to us, should we on our part add to the misery by our own actions?
Bharathi sang, 'eLLattanaip pozhudum payaninRi irAden nAvinilE' (without my being idle even for a moment, Sakti, let my tongue pour out poetry incessantly), and now to see him gesturing like a mute person breaks my heart! I don't wish this terrible thing even to my enemies.The Way, he calls it--and the tragedy of it! I can't bear to see him like this!

Bharathi wrote again: In my search for the magic word, I stay silent and Chellamma teases me for that!

I sat there for a while, saying nothing. Chellamma made me eat with her (had Bharathi eaten before, or was he fasting?--Arasi).

We went back upstairs and I asked: Will Meena survive, Chellamma?

Chellamma: I'm afraid not. Not for long.

Yadugiri: BharathiyAr told me once that he was going to find a way to immortality. AiyyA stopped him before he could tell me more about it. When my child died in Bangalore, I was thinking about what he had said. Death is such a horrible thing. If only he could save Meena from death!

Bharathi started writing something down. Reading it, Chellamma got up, caught hold of my hand and took me downstairs. "Yadugiri, it's not wise to speak of it to him now. It's getting late. You better go home!"

As I left them, I thought, Bharathi sang of freedom for women with all his heart but he made Chellamma do things his way. Rarely had she acted on her own accord. However much she had begged of him, he observed his vow of silence for days.
He once was silent for forty days in a row. That was when he started writing bhArathi aRubattARu.
When you read it now, you realize that it is a work born out of great penance.

*

After a few days, SivakAmi ammal and Subramania SivA came to Puduvai, bearing BhArata mAtA's flag. Since they went straight to Bharathi's house, he had to break his silence. They went with him to rishi Aravindar's house, to Iyer's and to other places and came to our house. We did not meet them because they were hurrying back. My father said that they stopped by and had spent a few minutes with him by the door.


* * * * *
Last edited by arasi on 23 Aug 2011, 08:04, edited 1 time in total.

PUNARVASU
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by PUNARVASU »

arasi, all the episodes bring tears to my eyes!

rajeshnat
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rajeshnat »

arasi wrote:
The safe haven of a piRandagam, where they played everything safe in life.
....
The pressure from Kadayam would have been too much for her.
Arasi
What is piRandagam and kadayam, I did not get both.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

piRandagam - house/home of birth (piRanda - Agam). A corrupted "aam" from Agam is commonly used for veedu.

Kadayam - location of Chellamal's home of birth/her upbringing.
Last edited by smala on 23 Aug 2011, 10:05, edited 2 times in total.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

KaDayam is a village near Tirunelveli where both Chellamma's and some of Bharathi's family lived.
Not far from my ancestral village vIravanallUr (and to HarikESanallUr). A folk song I remember goes like this:
villu villUrAm, vIrava nallUrAm
kallu kallUrAm, kaDaya nallUrAm
vil aDichchAn kOiIlilE viLakku ETRa nEramille (villu villUrAm).

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

PUNARVASU wrote:arasi, all the episodes bring tears to my eyes!
yes. Punarvasu, just tears. Nothing will bring Bharathi or Yadugiri back.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Punarvasu,
Here's something to put a smile on your face. A bit of humor ;)
Rather a mini chapter.
We are nearly at the end. The book ends with chapter Twenty six.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Punarvasu,
I'm sorry to keep you moist-eyed a little longer :( I got the chapters mixed up. The mini chapter is 23. Let's get on with 22 and then, bring 23 in!
Last edited by arasi on 23 Aug 2011, 09:36, edited 1 time in total.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

Arasi, is chapter 22 missing or is the numbering off - your post 219 had chapter 21 and in post 226 - it jumps to 23!

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Mala,
Thanks for letting me know! Yes, with all my going back and forth with the chapters (working on them and posting them at the same time) and with Punarvasu needing a break from her tears being on my mind ;) I missed the previous one. Let me post 22 tomorrow and then 23 once again. Let me erase this now.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

thanks, arasi - hope the files are saved on your hard drive.

rshankar
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

smala - I think PB's chronology is a bit off...the mahAkavi's flirting with hallucinogens happened before the issue of the marriage came up. I do not think that it was his wife and other family member's refusal to accomodate his wishes regarding the choice of a son-in-law that set him off. The mahAkavi was a man who was constantly trying to push the boundaries - he did not need external forces to move him in any direction, and his choices were (in his mind at least) very well thought out. It is eminently possible that the frustrations of constant poverty and the need to lead a responsible householder's life in the mundane existence of daily life was like a millstone to him, holding him down, when all he wanted to do was soar where his imagination and intellect lead him to, may have pushed him towards the temporary relief offered by the hallucinogens. Viewed from that point of view, his wife's anxiety about money to put food on the table, lead a respectable life etc., may be interpretted as 'nagging' that pushed him along certain paths. But she was a product of the times, who recognized how unforgiving society would and could be, helpless in many ways, and, financially dependent on the men in her life (her husband or father and brother). Regarding the wedding, I am sure that going against his wishes would have been heart-breaking for her, but the whole existense of living on the run from the law (which was the lot of many a svadESi, especially the ones branded as terrorists) must have been so difficult for her to put up with that she would not have wanted to visit it on her enemy, let alone her beloved daughter.

Pratyaksham Bala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

rshankar wrote:I think PB's chronology is a bit off...the mahAkavi's flirting with hallucinogens happened before the issue of the marriage came up.
I realise that bits of information offered here and there do create confusion.

His 'experiments' with abin started long long before the issue of marriage came up. He was hooked when he started moving with Kulla-sami and many other panDarams and sAmiyArs.

Later on, when family and social pressure mounted regarding the marriage of his daughter, he tried to find a way out and decided on his close associate. Chellamma did not agree to this suggestion and was worried that things would go out of her hands. She confided with her family members who came down to Pondicherry. The family went back with them leaving Bharati alone at Pondicherry.

The marriage was arranged, Bharati was intimated. Bharati was terribly upset and left Pondicherry. Before leaving, he gave away everything. The sword and Kali picture which he was using for Pooja was gifted to one of his local admirers. (In due course these changed hands. The sword went to France through an antique dealer.) The terracota idol of Bharata Mata was left with a leading personality. (The proud owners allowed me to see this.)

His family was not sure of his participation in the marriage function. But, Bharati did attend to perform his duty.

The versions of his close associates and friends reveal many details. Naturally the versions of admirers and family members are different. It is easy and advisable to accept acceptable versions.
Last edited by Pratyaksham Bala on 23 Aug 2011, 21:50, edited 1 time in total.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

"...he tried to find a way out and decided on a fellow terrorist..."

P.Bala, please consider editing the last two words - freedom fighters/rebels during the British Raj were what they were.

What is abin?

"...Bharati was terribly upset and left Pondicherry. Before leaving, he gave away everything..."

Where did he go?

cmlover
Posts: 11498
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:36

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by cmlover »

abin = Opium

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

TWENTY TWO



Inda daivam
(This God)


Chellamma was arguing with Bharathi when I entered their house.

Chellamma said to me, "Yadugiri, he's supposed to be a brahmin and he isn't one bit bothered about getting his daughter married! Isn't it shame enough? On top of it, he goes all over town and broadcasts all that happens in our house! Even if he doesn't bother, shouldn't he at least care about what other people will think? How can I face them? What will my parents say? (I have not heard Chellamma mention her mother before and I wondered if she was living--Arasi).

Bharathi: Yadugiri! You came at the right time! Why should Chellamma scream like this? Has the world come to an end?
I'm not a brahmin at all. I don't wear the holy thread. I don't do sandhyA vandanam, no SrArdham. I'm a SUdrA. The man of the house is SUdrA--how can his woman be a brAhmin? What I am, she is too! What's the big deal?

Chellamma: You may not care to observe traditions, but why shouldn't I?

Bharathi: Come, Chellamma! Do you perform aupAsanam and agni hOtram every day? How many orphans do you feed? Do you observe japam and tapam? Do the dEvatAs come directly and partake of your offerings? Tradition is just an empty word which is still with us. True traditions left us a hundred years ago! We have the left-over shell. In twenty years, that too may disappear.

Chellamma: All that you are supposed to perform, you make it seem as if I'm the one who has to do them! On top of it, you tease me as well!

Bharathi: Ah! Now that you have brought the question up, listen to what I have to say, without interrupting. You may not be as angry with me then.
In the times of the vEdAs, they were eating fruits and roots. Women did not have much work to do. They swept and mopped their parNa sAlAs and brought water from the river. Since the celestials were supposed to come in person to accept the offerings, women who had their periods were kept away from the sanctified parNa SAlA where the rituals took place. Even then, the women would take their baths, wash their linen and kept themselves clean--unlike the way in which I see you women now, not bathing for three days but sweating in your dirty clothes!
Only the infants they nursed stayed with them and they relaxed. They were not fit for religious rites at that time, or to be with their husbands. So, it was a sensible custom in those days. Even then, if there were philosophical discussions with women, they let them participate with a screen between them.

As centuries passed, women started doing hard work at home--from the pounding of the rice to the cooking of it. They had to do it because they wouldn't let women from other castes come into the house. It wasn't a good thing to make the woman of the house work so hard during those three days. So, they were kept away from the house and from all the heavy work.

Later, when they settled in the cities, there were no facilities for them to bathe during those menstrual days. There was not enough room for the women to move about. To isolate them, they put them in a little cell-like room and made them suffocate and stay there, even without a wash!
In a joint family, men had no problem about getting fed, If not, they did the cooking themselves. They did not go to a an eatery. Nowadays, the SudrAs cook and the brahmins eat there.
There aren't that many joint families anymore in the cities. When the woman of the house is not in a position to cook, the food prepared in restaurants by kitchen maids is fine by them, but at home, the same maid is not allowed to come into the kitchen!
The food in those eateries are not at all sanitary like the home-cooked food. Yet, they don't mind. What they don't see is fine by them!

Brahmin girls tend to mature sooner these days. It wasn't so before. Even if they got married at eight, they did not mature until sixteen or so. They don't seem to bother about marriageable age when it comes to boys. Why does this rule apply only to girls? It should be the same for both boys and girls. The boys have to finish their studies and then get a job. They are twenty or twenty five by then. Only eighteen or twenty year old women will be right for them, not a child!
We live in the British RAjyam. We do servile work. After hard work, we return home with dinner on mind--not on japam or tapam. Whatever is done, is just for show. I don't like hypocrisy.
Yes, I did mention our Thangam entering womanhood to others.What's wrong about it? I'm going to find a good man for her. Why do you worry?
I don't want Thangamma to feel imprisoned during these three days! She can rest and if you don't want her to, she needn't come into the kitchen or to the pUjA nook.
It's a good thing for her to shower in running water every day. We have the tap water now, which is like the falls! Let her bathe on all three days. It's stupid to make her stay in a cell!. Give her warm water to bathe in if you want--separately in a pail if you wish, Chellamma. She should be happy, be clean and wear fresh clothes.The only things she can't do is lift heavy things or walk too far. That's all.
All the things you seem to observe are like taking the skin of a snake (which it has shed) for the snake! These so-called traditions have become larger than life, but they make no sense at all.

Chellamma: You got shaved yesterday, on an inappropriate day! How many more transgressions!

Bharathi: Silly! The barber used to handle corpses. He does not deal with them now. So, there were those specified days for his coming to our houses to give us a shave. Now, it's just the upper class brahmin boys who do what the barbers did, in the medical schools! Those who work, can't observe vizhuppu (that this is not acceptable; this is untouchable). It' s only the ones who are idle who indulge in the habit of observing all this nonsense!

The kOmuTTis, mudalis and nAiDus have changed their ways to suit the times. When it comes to marriage, it's only the brahmins who follow the customs of the dark ages!
We will get to be more civilized when things change with the brahmin community too.

Chellamma: Is bathing in the pond not good for you? Or, is that also a superstition? (Yadugiri's mother sticks to this custom even after the calamity of the worst storm! Anything new was taboo, and running water from a tap surely was!-Arasi).

Bharathi: It's good to bathe in clean ponds. It will cool you down, more so on such days. The old custom of immersing yourself in the water for specified number of times, makes a lot of sense. We find that in the cities, there are no clean ponds. Instead of getting sick by bathing in filthy ones, it's better to shower with the running tap water. White people fill water in wide baths and soak in them. That's a good thing too. Luckily, we have plenty of clean ponds in Puduvai. You may bathe in them to your heart's content.
By the way Yadugiri, how's your little baby brother Valimai maindan?

Yadugiri: He's fine, but why do you call him that?

Bharathi: Chellamma told me that when he was born, it was stormy and windy. So, I call him 'the mighty wind's son'! (You find this expression valimai maindan in one of his verses-Arasi)

Yadugiri: With your blessings, may he be as mighty as HanumAn! Let him live a hundred years!

Bharathi: Yadugiri, don't think of your lost child and cry all the time. Plead with Sakti. At dawn, meditate upon her. She will bless you. You are young. Don't groan and moan like an old woman. What's the use of your reading the gItA? Your prayer to Sakti shows that you are brave in asking her to give back what has slipped out of your hands. Only worthless people groan and moan. You may ask me, 'how do you know my grief?' and you have a right to ask me that. Yet, it's not a good thing to cry over it. Be strong!

Chellamma: What do men know? What would you know about how the mother who gave birth to the child feels? Will gItA and vEdAntA come to her aid? However much you may beg of Sakti, will the child come back to Yadugiri? Will her sorrow disappear?

Bharathi: We should strive to do what we are supposed to do, and have the grace to accept what God deals out to us.We should do all that is humanly possible. Beyond that, we should not kill ourselves with grief. When trouble comes, we cry, and we should.Yet, we shouldn't cry all the time and be a tragic figure. The saying goes: Console yourself in sorrow by looking at those whose suffering is greater than yours. And with wealth, look at those who have less than what you have, and take heart. Some face sorrow when they are young, others in their old age. Yadugiri, you are going to see only better things from now on. Don't pine for what is not there. Look forward to all good things which are going to be yours, and meditate upon Sakti.

He then said, "Let me sing to you the poem which came to me on the day pApA Thangamma entered womanhood!
He gave me a copy of the song:



* inda deivam emakkanukUlam
ini kavalaikkiDamillai (inda daivam)

1: mandirangaLai SOdanai SeidAl
vaiyagattai ALvadu daivam
anda deivam gatiyenRiruppIr--
AkkamuNDenRanaittumuraikkum (inda deivam)

2: marattin vEril adaRkuNavuNDu
vayiTRiniIE karuvukkuNavuNDu
tarattilotta darumangaL uNDu
SaktiyenRilO muktiyuNDu

3: ulagamE uDalAi adaRkuLLE
uyiradAgi viLangiDum deivam
ilagum vAnoLi pOl aRivAgi
engaNum parandiDum deivam

4: Seigai yAvum deivattin Seigai
Sindai yAvum deivattin Sindai
uygai koNDadan nAmattaik kURin
uNarvu koNDavar dEvargaLAvAr

5: nOyillai vaRumai illai
nOnbizhaippadilE tunbamillai
tAyum tandaiyum tOzhanumAgi
tagudiyum payanum tarum deivam

6: achchamillai mayanguvadillai
anbum inbamum mEnmaiyum uNDu
michcham illai pazhanduyar kuppai
veTRiyuNDu viraivinil uNDu

inda deivam namakkanukUlam
ini manak kavalaikkiDamillai


*This poem has not appeared in any of Bharathi's anthologies so far (the publisher)



* * * * *

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

rshankar, I would seriously hesitate to say Bharathi was constantly pushing the boundaries. He was a man far far ahead of his times, his was a lofty progressive vision beyond the immediate and the mundane, while he was mired in it, anchored by Chellamma. It was not as if she shared or looked up to his ideals in anyway even as she tolerated his writings, hoping it would bring money in! As he flouted some meaningless conventions, he was a man who thought outside the box while being within the box! [He lived within bounds, had an arranged marriage, accepted the hand that the powers dealt him, lived an acceptable lifestyle even while close to penury in Puducheri.]

Penury often sharpens the mind as it forces the best minds to look inwards to tap resources. Some of the workings of his genius seems to have poured out during Bharathi's stay at Puducheri. Chellamal a product of her times, circumscribed within the circle of her middle-class immediate world, someone who also leaned on her birth-family whenever needed, seems to have been a limiting factor in her partnership with Bharathi !

*****
Chapter 22 is a clear presentation of the depth and breadth of the sheer genius workings of his mind - the man who thought ahead of his time and sought to live it! - questioning and rejecting shackling brahmanical orthodoxy, born a Brahmin himself - he saw the hypocrisy of ways by Brahmin men - towards women, Brahmin men vis-a-vis other caste men. His mind gushed like a fountain, soaring, onward bound, yet Chellamal could not absorb even a fraction of his outpourings, fathom at least some of his depth, leave alone translate some of his yearnings into real life !

That act of taking off with her daughters along with her parents and then getting Thangamma's marriage fixed by herself - AFTER having listened to these outpourings straight from his heart, his love and poetic recognition of his first child blossoming into a young woman -- that was severely clipping his wings by a Chellama, who could not have suffered or even seen his anguish.
Last edited by smala on 24 Aug 2011, 02:30, edited 4 times in total.

rshankar
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

Why would you hesitate? I happen to admire the ones that do push boundaries - IMO, what the mahAkavi pursued can be described as being miles ahead of his times, or, on the flip side, as having pushed the boundaries of what was proscribed those days. In either case, I am a fan of the man and his intellect, warts, wrinkles and all - and would not want him to be any different, because I think his life expereinces made his writing fantastic.
I think any woman of those times would have had the same issues being married to a man like bhArati, just as kastUrbA did with Gandhiji. While men such as they were pioneers and did not care much for what happened to them, the women unfortunately could not; and certainly their children could not, because, then, as now, society was cruel - it boxed people in and allowed very little leeway. The role of the woman was to find a way of making everything fine in the end, and not to really aim to be different or be a pioneer; and sometimes, the pressure of that burden was probably unbearable. Decades later, even women like Smt. RDA had trouble with society, and prefered to travel abroad for years instead of forcing society to accept their choices.
And yes, his writing was a way to make money for Chellamma - how many women of her generation even knew or were interested in knowing what their spouses did outside the home? At least she had the distinction of having some of her ideas worked on by none other than the one and only mahAkavi!

smala
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:55

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

...At least she had the distinction of having some of her ideas worked on by none other than the one and only mahAkavi!"

Yes. Collateral damage, err...benefits..., for having lived with a genius, someone who could find something outstanding even in a blade of grass. That he could take something from her and run with it, speaks of his greatness, not hers. Any distinction that accrued by proximity or default.

He also took Yadugiri's ideas and ran with it. She, at least, became a public speaker on the emancipation of women till it had to be curtailed by some old women in her family - drawing something from Bharathi's genius, unlike Chellamal. So women of his times, how many chose to differ? At least one did! [This para, I write drawing from Arasi's Chapter 23 which she had posted yesterday out of sequence.]
Last edited by smala on 24 Aug 2011, 01:37, edited 1 time in total.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

"...When it comes to marriage, it's only the brahmins who follow the customs of the dark ages!
We will get to be more civilized when things change with the brahmin community too..."

They did not change even sixty years after Bharathi's time.

I can relate to ALL of Bharathi's views, esp. Chapter 22, without exception, but this one, quoted, I have felt starkly in my own times.

My sister, went further and paid a price for it.
Last edited by smala on 24 Aug 2011, 01:39, edited 1 time in total.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

TWENTY THREE



UpanyAsam
(The Speech)

In the month of Chitra in the year kALayukti, on a friday, Bharathi had a gathering at his house.
He started with vandE mAtaram and sang the peNgaL viDudalai kummi. He had asked us to speak on any subject we chose to. I spoke on the rewards of effort. Bharathi published this in svadESa Mitran. In Chennai, our relatives subscribed only to English papers and journals. The women in the family of judge M.O.Parthasarathy used to get the svadESa Mitran.They read it and decried it. 'The world has come to an end!', they moaned. It was the talk of the town in tiruvallikkENi's ManDyam community.

The week after, TiruvaLLuvar Day was celebrated in Iyer's house. They fed the poor. Bhagyalakshmi Ammal and Chellamma did all the cooking. Iyer spoke of VaLLuvar's life and works. Bharathi sang. I spoke about the advancement of women. I quoted Gandhiji and spoke about satyAgrahA. I ended my speech by saying, 'Women are their own enemies in their progress'.This angered the older generation of women no end. My father told me that they read about it in the svadESa Mitran.
Soon after reading both my speeches, my grandmother, my elder aunt and her daughter happened to be in Puduvai. My aunt said that they couldn't show their faces in TrtuvallikkENi because of my women's emancipation speeches! They argued against my taking part in them with my father and finally made me put a stop to my speaking in public.

The week after, we gathered in Bharathi's house. Bharathi had invited my grandmother and aunt. My aunt spoke instead of me and she said that women should not learn English but should stay home and be good housewives. Bharathi spoke after her, with quotes which supported women's education. They did not agree with him. They also asked Bharathi not to print what was said by my aunt that day. Bharathi did not, but in his own essay, he has quoted my aunt without mentioning her name, in a humorous way!


* * * * *

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

Compariong Chellamma to Yadugiri is no fair, since Yadugiri and Chellamma were not from the same generation - it must have been tougher for a woman from an earlier generation brought up in a household much, much stricter (even backward perhaps) than Yadugiri's was. Chellamma's behavior was completely normal for her generation and standing in life - boring perhaps, unintellectual may be, but the norm nevertheless. In comparison to the searing intellect of the mahAkavi she shows up as 'lacking' - which I think is not fair. Given the situation of the days when she got married, I am sure she had no say in it, and probably all she wanted out of it was stability and the ability to perform her duties as she had been taught, or perhaps been indoctrinated. She got much more than she bargained for, and a ride in which the peaks were as high as the troughs were low. I certainly don't feel competent to judge her. I see Yadugiri as a person who saw bhArati at his best, and went home to comfort and security eventually, while Chellamma had to live with him.

smala
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:55

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

" ...Chellamma's behavior was completely normal for her generation and standing in life - boring perhaps, unintellectual may be, but the norm nevertheless."


I am shocked at what Chellamal did, among other things, in taking off with parents, her daughters in tow, that was callous enough. Then fixing Thangamma's marriage by herself - leaving Bharathi out in the cold - that would have cut him deeply and yet she did it. She was certainly bold enough to do something unconventional here!

That he went to attend his daughter's marriage, performing his duties as a parent, leaves me no doubt of his humanity, the extent of his love and gracious humility.
Last edited by smala on 24 Aug 2011, 04:53, edited 1 time in total.

rshankar
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Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

Reading between the lines, I bet it was Chellamma's family that orchestrated this whole scenario - I do not think they were big fans of the mahAkavi to begin with. Given the lack of money, Chellamma's father/brother must have been the ones who were going to pay for the wedding. I am sure it was they (the men-folk) who got her to go with them, and agree to the marriage that they arranged for. I agree that bhArati was a loving father who swallowed his pride and performed his duties by giving his darling daughter away - a phenomenally forgiving man.

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

TWENTY FOUR



Van tALiNai vaNangi
(At His Mighty Feet)




Chellamma told me that Murugesam Pillai's son Raja Bahadur was coming back to India from Paris after finishing his studies in engineering. The world was still in the grips of the war.

In all their pride and excitement, Raja Bahadur's parents had planned a grand welcome for him. They had decorated their home like a wedding house and had invited friends and family from everywhere.

Man proposes and God disposes. The day that Murugesam Pillai thought was going to be jubilant, turned out to be the saddest day of his life. On a day of such joy, a telegram came in place of Raja Bahadur. The ship that he was on was bombed by the Germans and was destroyed, it said.

Murugesam Pillai fainted after reading this. When he came back to his senses, he fell on the ground and wept. Any amount of consoling did not help. He did not get up again.
Bharathi sat by his side to pacify him. He said that Pillai was in the same plight as daSarathA was when Rama was banished.
Murugesam Pillai recalled amid sobs, Raja Bahadur being an adorable infant. He went on weeping, recounting how his son was such a delightful baby who charmed them with his crawling, baby talk and play, and how he grew into a fine man, possessing such a keen mind.
ANNiammAL wailed. When she was pregnant with her child, Pillai had heard from a holy man that the early morning sun's rays were good for a pregnant woman, and that the child she was carrying would grow up to be strong and healthy. Pillai took her every morning to a hill top for her to catch the rays, in spite of protests from the family.

Bharathi tried very hard to console the couple. He sang in a moving way, verses from kamba rAmAyaNam of MaNDOdari's cry when Indrajit was killed--kulaSEkara AzhvAr's van tALiNai vaNangi about daSarathA's grief and dEvaki's Alai nIL karumbannavan tAlO, where she grieves about infant Krishna being taken away from her. Murugesam Pillai and ANNiammAL were quietened for while, but started wailing again.

Pillai was already a sick man. The doctors couldn't help him. His grief shook him up and he got worse. He kept repeating: Has Raja Bahadur come back?

To let him die in peace, family and friends decided to tell him a white lie--that Raja Bahadur had survived, and that he was expected to arrive a week later. They sent a false telegram to this effect and decided that Arabindo should take the telegram to Pillai. This, they thought was bound to convince him. Arabindo, who never left his house, agreed to do this because of his love for Pillai. Even then, Pillai would not believe in the news. After listening to Arabindo calmly, he said: Not that I don't believe you, but my inner being does not believe in it. What I had in hand, slipped away. You took the trouble to come out of your house for my sake! How can I ever repay you?

When this ploy didn't work, they tried another. They found a young man who resembled Raja Bahadur, dressed him up in a suit and brought him to Pillai who was speechless at first. He opened his eyes wide and looked at the man for a while. Then, he looked cynical. His hopes were shattered. He turned in his bed, as if to turn away from this performance. Within a few hours, death came to him.

As if what the holy man had told Pillai was the truth that the rays of the sun would make him grow into a healthy man, to lead a long life, and as if the father's plea to God to bring back his son did work, on the twenty seventh day after his father's death, Raja Bahadur arrived safely in Puduvai. He had floated to an island with the help of a broken piece of the ship, and was spotted by another ship soon after!
He was welcomed with a sigh of relief but with heavy hearts.

Bharathi said, "Murugasam Pillai gave his life away for his son. Had he not died, his son might not have returned. Who knows?"


* * * * *

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

Beautiful poignant episode.

Arasi, I'm going to be very tearful when you post chapter 26.

rshankar
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by rshankar »

Arasi - thank you for bringing this 'painting' - no, actually a video of the events that have been so elegantly captured by Yadugiri. She really was a very gifted writer, and your translations are just what she needed. I am amazed at the really lovely, and perfectly appropriate songs/verses that bhArati sang - his was indeed an encyclopedic mind.
After you are done with Chapter 26 (how I want this to go on for ever and ever!), can you please post these songs in the sAhitya section?

veeyens3
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by veeyens3 »

श्री

CML With ref. To your request for a PDF version of ARASI's translation of yadugiris's book, I have been in copy-paste mood of the translation alone with the fond hope one day when I am fed up with watching the squirrels, dove or occasional falcon or kestrel or bairi in tamil, a much hated bird of pigeon lovers in Madras and swallows , ( I understand that swallows are entirely wiped out inMadras. What a sad thing. They will be flitting in and around the house, building their nests behind life size photos of grand parents by the one and only one C.Coomaraswamy Naidu ,photographer, or Vinolia White Rose Calenders depicting RaviVarma's Lakshmi, Saraswathi and sometimes inside the cowl on the rod connecting the ceiling fan to the power point in the ceiling resulting in moratorium in use of fan during evening and morning hours when they return and leave the nest)I will be able to peruse vis a vis the fragmented and heresay information I had especially his attitude to Chellammaal in the early days of their marriage. It is about 86 kbs. As on date and is on the same font as in the Rasikas body. It can be converted to PDF if required. I am only a hammer and chisel techie and if that is passe, I can e.mail it to you May Sri Rama bless you all
Last edited by veeyens3 on 25 Aug 2011, 22:41, edited 1 time in total.

smala
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

Sri Veeyens, with due respect, the pic above is misplaced in this thread on Yadugiri memoirs.

arasi
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

Veeyens,
You are simply marvellous! You are inspiration indeed, our revered elder! NamaskArams to you for your interest and effort!

arasi
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Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by arasi »

VeLiyETRam
(The Exit)


When I was in Puduvai, Chellamma went to Kadayam to take part in the preparations of her brother's wedding. Bharathi was observing a month of silence. He did not come to see us and we did not go to his house.

Chellamma came back after the wedding. Within a few days, her father died. She went back, leaving the children behind. They were in our house most of the time. She was back soon after. She now was intent on going back to British India. It was evident that her relatives at home had fortified that wish in her. Bharathi too was getting bored of living in Puduvai but could not go back with all the police vigilance. Chellamma's family had also urged Bharathi's siblings to write to him and persuade him to come back to Kadayam. Yet, Bharathi didn't. Not having the heart to leave Bharathi on his own, Chellamma stayed behind.

In the month of puraTTAsi, she came to our house to see my new baby. She said she was intent on her family returning to Kadayam. She did not say when. We did not think Bharathi could go.

The next morning, Bharathi came to our house to tell us that Chellamma had left for Kadayam with the children, taking some of their belongings, however much he begged of her to stay. "She wouldn't listen to me. I need to get married again, I think," he quipped.

Chellamma came back again after a week with her brother Appadurai. In the month of aippasi, around the fifteenth, they went to Villianallur with Appadurai. The border police arrested Bharathi there and took him to the Cuddalore prison. They released him soon after. Bharathi came to Chennai and stayed with us for a few days. He spoke at public meetings at the beach.

Some of his relatives tried hard to get him back to Kadayam and settle the family there in a place of their own, but it didn't work.

*

For about a year and a half, I was out of touch with Bharathi's family. I used to read his writings in the issues of svadESa Mitran, and that was about all.



* * * * *

veeyens3
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by veeyens3 »

smala, That photo was inserted since a reference had been made in my posting. If it is felt that it does not merge with the main theme, the moderator may delete it as I do not how to do so. . Sorry for any infringement of the protocol May Sri Rama bless you all

smala
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Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 00:55

Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by smala »

"...The next morning, Bharathi came to our house to tell us that Chellamma had left for Kadayam with the children, taking some of their belongings, however much he begged of her to stay. "She wouldn't listen to me. I need to get married again, I think," he quipped."


Much as her family may have suggested that Chellammal return to Kadayam, it was her decision alone to leave Bharathi behind as she took off with the children.

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