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

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
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cmlover
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Re: Oy BhAratiyArE!--A Child's Eye View of the Poet

Post by cmlover »

Bharathy himself was not wearing a pooNool. During his daughter's wedding the priest had to put on one for him.
Instead of making the Dalits into brahmins Bharathy should have declared himself to be a Dalit. Still I doubt whether the DKs would have espoused him as eagerly as they did Bharathy Dasan!
The caste barriers are unbreakable!

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Was this poor family any less (in caring for Bharati)?

The aging maid servant in the Ponnu Murugesam Pillai household was almost like Avvai Patti (1) in her looks. Her name was Ammakkannu. While the Master and the Lady of the house were quite fond of Bharati, this unlettered deaf old woman had boundless affection for him. Likewise were her three sons.

Ammakkannu ministered to Bharati in Ponnu Murugesam Pillai’s house, totally unmindful of his prankish behaviour, including his random acts of spitting.

Once – perhaps it was in 1917 – Bharati had grown sick of his confined life in Puduvai. He had made up his mind to go back to British India, no matter what the consequences would be. Perhaps angry at his own wife, he had left home, without informing anyone.

News got around that Bharati had gone missing; people went in search of him. In the end, Bharatidasan chanced upon him in the railway station and brought him home after pacifying him. Back then in Puduvai there used to be ‘Push Cart’ Rickshaws that required pushing from behind. Bharati and Bharatidasan arrived by one such rickshaw. Getting to know this, Ammakkannu rushed to welcome them with a bagful of sundal(2) and other such simple treats. Bharati was pleased immensely.

Ammakkannu and her three sons are all dead. Venugopal Naicker, the eldest, had been given the nick name of ‘pulippaal vENu’ (tiger milk Venu) by Bharati. He used to run a magazine called ‘thai nadu’ (motherland) in later years. He was also an expert diamond assessor. Deiva Sigamani passed away just recently in his old age.

In our country, even if people with a higher social status had friends from the lower sections of society, it is very rare to see them partake of food or join in prayers or worship in their friends’ homes. Bharati was an exception. He freely mingled with people in their homes, be they Paarppaar(3) or Pallar (4). It needs no mention that in those times this was nothing short of revolutionary.

When this author visited Ammakkannu in her home in 1938-39, occupying pride of place in her pooja room were an idol of Dattatreya, two swords and a dagger. They revealed that these were worshipped by Bharati.

It seems Bharati used the swords for his fencing practice. While he had immense desire for physical exercises, he did not have the habit of practicing regularly. One day he decided to try fencing in moonlight on the sands of Puduvai’s beach. A friend – this could have been Ammakkannu’s son Venu – demonstrated to him how to hold and thrust the sword. Bharati took the sword in his hand, and whirled it a few times. Suddenly, like a man possessed, he swung the sword very fast and moved as if to attack the friend facing him. It was a herculean task to prise the sword out of his hand. No one dared teach him fencing thereafter, seeing how quickly Bharati tended to lose his sense of reality.

Bharati did not at all care about caste differences: besides Ammakkannu’s family, he had a varied bunch of friends such as Raa. Kanakalingam, a Harijan youth, the paNDaaram (Dalit priest) from the Uppalam Mariamman temple, koTTaDi vENu Naicker, et al. He would never bother about the caste or religion of any of his friends, moving freely with them, chatting and eating with them, and sleeping at their place. He spoke on the topic of ‘Caste Differences’ in the Progressive Union Cricket Club of Puduvai in 1912. Young Kanakalingam was slapped with a fine of three rupees for organizing this meeting without prior permission.

Bharati has dedicated his ‘dESa muttu maari’ song to the deity of the Uppalam Muthu Mariamman temple, which was revered by the Harijans.
Bharati was often heard repeating that three things were very essential: “Sending the Englishman back home”, “Uprooting the toxic weed called casteism” and “Liberating women”. He was valiant enough to carry these out in deed, in his time.


1. avvai or avvaiyaar – a legendary Tamil poet(ess), always depicted as a wizened old lady
2. sunDal – snack made of lentils, beans or peanuts boiled and spiced
3. paarppaar – another name for Brahmins
4. paLLar – Former name of a Dalit community (Devendra Kula Vellaalar)
Last edited by sridhar_ranga on 19 Nov 2012, 01:22, edited 3 times in total.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Counter-clockwise, from top-right:

-- Ammakkannu
-- The swords, dagger and idol of Dattatreya worshipped by Bharati in Ammakkannu's home; standing nearby is Venu, Ammakkannu's eldest son
-- Govindasamy, the second son
-- Deivasigamani, youngest of her sons who passed away 'recently'

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

Post by Ponbhairavi »

CML post no 601
I agree with you.
But why should we expect a recognition by DK or anyone else.A lion does not care if a rat does not recognize it.They try to prop up the dasan to such a size thatthey hope to conceal the giant behind. But unfortunately for them Suppurathinam himself has found glory in calling himself his Dasan. ( It will be worth finding out what ( if any) the MASTER has said or written about his dsiciple..The communists reconcile with him because he said thani oruvanukku unavillai yenil jegathinai azhithivom. But neither the DK nor the communists are anywhere near Bharathi in practising what they preach.
Bharathy did not wear punool or gave punool to anyone because he considered punool nothing but a symbol and did not attribute any importance to it not by aversion to any vedic tenet nor GOD.His thought was fully preoccupied with the plight of the nation and the inertness of the society which is wasting its energy on secondary things..One should raise to his level of political and humanitarian thinking to understand his action. It is neither an antibrahmin nor a pro dalit act.
Y es the caste barriers are unbreakable and indian govt , the politicians and the society aredoing their utmost to make it more and more strong for selfish reasons

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Thiagaraja Pillai Madu - the pool in which Bharati and Kuvalai Kannan took morning baths. Bharati wrote his "Bharata Mata Thiruppalliyezhucchi" inspired by the sights and sounds he encountered while walking to this pool in the early mornings.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Thiruppalliyezhuchchi Maḍu (The “awakening pool”)

Kuvalai Kannan came to Bharati with a proposal: “There is a nice pond around here called Thiagaraja Pillai Maḍu. It is good for taking a dip, but a little far away. Would you like to come with me every morning to bathe in the pool?”

Bharati agreed eagerly.

“It is situated some two miles to the west of the town. We can have a peaceful bath if we start early at 4 A.M.”, said Kuvalai. “I’ll be happy to join you at whatever time you wake me up”, said Bharati.

The next day, Kuvalai knocked on Bharati’s door at four in the morning as agreed. Bharati stepped out with an authoritative voice that responded with “who’s there?” The two of them started walking towards the pool. Bharati grew ecstatic by the sights of the lush green fields on either side of the road and the coconut groves, as well as the gentle early morning breeze and the bird calls. He took a bath in the pond and returned pleased.

This was repeated for a second day. On the third day, Bharati did not even wait for Kuvalai to arrive. He went himself in search of Kuvalai and knocked on his door. Kuvalai’s mother opened the door and took him inside.

As soon as Kuvalai introduced the newcomer to his mother as ‘Bharati’, the lady responded: “Oh this is the person you have been talking about, a good singer...let me see, can you ask him to sing Suprabhatam?”

“What is Suprabhatam?” asked Bharati.

The old lady could not contain her smirk. “He doesn’t even know what Suprabhatam is! So much for your Bharati!!”

The Samskritam word Suprabhatam means “hymn of awakening” or “tiruppaLLiyezhucci” in Tamil. On their way to the pond, Bharati learnt from Kuvalai what exactly Suprabhatam was. Within a few days, he composed a song “Bharata Mata Thiruppalliyezhucchi” and sang it to Kuvalai’s mother.

“Kaalaip pozhudu”, one of Bharati’s poems (‘tanip paaDal’) describes vividly the early morning scenes Bharati encountered en route to the pond.
On the stepped embankment of the Thiagaraja Pillai Madu, surrounded by thick trees, was a bungalow where Bharati once treated his friends to a feast.

Having become a daily visitor to the pond, Bharati had a question for Kuvalai Kannan on one of the days: “Kannaa, what is the count of Azhwaars?”
“They were twelve in all”, replied Kuvalai Kannan.

“How many songs have they sung?”

“A total of four thousand. In fact, the count is slightly less than four thousand.”

“Is that all? Look, I alone will compose six thousand verses. If the Azhwaars gave ‘naalaayira divya prabandham’ (collection of 4000 divine hymns), I will, all by myself, come up with Bhaarati aaRaayiram (Bharati 6000)”, said Bharati.

He took a vow of silence for the next 40 days and started writing many poems. The collection of poems started with an invocation to the divine, a verse that went ‘enakku munnE siddhar palar irundaarappaa. Yaanum vandEn oru siddhan inda naaTTinilE’ (there have been many siddhas - mystics with miraculous powers - before me. I too am one such siddha). There was a chapter (kaanDam) with a prayer to paraaSakti. The way to overcome death, ills of anger, virtues of patience, where is god, praise of the guru, Kuvalai Kannan’s nobleness, vision of the guru, women’s liberation, the virtues of love, equality of religions, etc., are among the other topics Bharati has written about in this collection.

Unfortunately, the series ended rather abruptly with 66 songs, instead of growing to the intended 6000. When Bharati Prasuraalayam published it, they named the collection as “Bharati Sixty-six.”

Even though it contains only sixty six verses, the squeezed essence of Bharati’s experiential knowledge can be found in this collection.

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

Post by cmlover »

Like the famous story of Avvayaar and the 'poRkizhi' each of the 66 verses of Bharathy is worth a crore (ஒவ்வொன்றும் ஒரு கோடி பெறும்).

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

True CML.

Subramania Aiyar, the proprietor of Swadeshamitran, is said to have told Bharati that his writing deserved one lakh per letter ('akshara laksham' peRum). But he was clever to extract work from Bharati using sweet talk alone, as recounted in this interesting article in Tamil.

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

Post by cmlover »

Many thanks for that Ref!

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

I am taking a 'season break' and will continue the translation of Chitra Bharati in January.

Meanwhile here is an interesting article from The Hindu about Bharati and Nevinson, the British Journalist who wrote about a public meeting on the beaches of Chennai addressed by Bharati. We read about Nevinson earlier in one of the Chitra Bharati pages.

Today (Dec 11) is Bharatiyar's birth anniversary.

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

Post by Nick H »

There is a lovely family picture in today's Hindu --- will add the link if I find it, if nobody beats me to it.

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

Post by rshankar »

sridhar_ranga wrote:Today (Dec 11) is Bharatiyar's birth anniversary.
Thank you for the reminder - a great day for mankind...
And can't help wondereing how important dates for noble souls get bunched together - today (December 11) is also Smt. MSS rememberance day...

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

Post by cmlover »

Have a well-deserved break sridhar_ranga and come back with renewed vigour. Happy New Year in advance!

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Kuyil pATTu tOppu (The Cuckoo-Song Orchard)

‘Vellachu’ Krishnaswamy Chettiar owned a beautiful orchard in Muthialpet, near Puduvai. Bharati loved to roam its spaces for hours. This orchard is the setting for Bharati’s Kuyil Pattu (song of the Cuckoo). It has achieved immortality and will be remembered as long as Tamil language exists.

It is human nature to grow weary from constantly gazing at the same set of faces. More so in case of poets. Bharati, who always sought new experiences, hardly spent time at home when he was in Puduvai. Even chatting with friends got him bored pretty quickly. During times when he was possessed by the creative frenzy of a poet, he simply couldn’t stay in one place.

Bharati would forget all his sorrows by the sight of a green orchard, the sound of a bird call, the swift flight of a sparrows soaring into the sky, the roar of the sea which ‘clapped its white-surf hands’, the splendour of mellow sunlight or the dazzling colours of sunset. Content by the experience, he would sing ‘ettanai kOTi inbam vaittAi, engaL iRaivA! iRaivA!!’ (Our Lord – you gave (us) millions (of things) to rejoice)**

One could see him go through birth pangs when he was about to create a poem. He could be seen humming notes: Sa-Ri-Ga-Gaa-Maa. Those around would understand that he was trying to form a tune for a new song. He did not like anyone to watch his agony or make fun of his repeated trials. He would ask a close friend to accompany him to Krishnasamy Chettiar’s orchard or another garden in villiyanur.

He would lose himself in the natural beauty: staring at a tree or intensely looking at a pond. Looking skyward, chest thrust forward, tapping a foot to rhythm, he would sing aloud the notes of the new song. If the song came alright, fine! Else, the ground below will be the recipient of a forceful kick! Some silence would ensue. A cry of “Sol aazhi veN sangE” (Speak, the white conch from the seas –a line from ANDAL’s poem ‘karpooram nARumO’) or a loud chant of Thayumanavar’s kaNNI, “mattagajam ena vaLarttAi” (brought up like an elephant in rut). A round of swaras would be sung again. In the end, success & great joy: the song would be born. Kavitaa dEvi would shower nectarine rain, squeezing every ounce of life out of Bharati’s weak frame.

The Muthialpet grove, described at the beginning of Kuyil Paattu as “a mango grove some distance to the west of the southern Tamil town of Puduvai”, was always a happy refuge for Bharati.

On the eighth day of kaartikai in the year NaLa (22-11-1916), Puduchery was struck by a severe cyclone. Bharati has described the scene of destruction in the song “dikkugaL eTTum sidaRi”. The details of the providential escape by Bharati and his family on that day are described in the song “kARRaDikkudu kaDal kumuRudu”, presented as a dialogue between a man and his wife.

The cyclone completely felled and destroyed all the gardens and orchards in Puduvai, save for Krishnasamy Chettiar’s coconut grove, which stood undamaged.

Kuyil Pattu is drenched in the shades of the mango orchard. As one looked outside from within its cool confines, which did not let in any heat even when the sun was at its oppressive worst, one could glimpse a green expanse of fields as far as the eye could see. Amidst the lush fields stood a lone coconut grove. While all the trees in the surrounding area were uprooted, the miraculous escape by this solitary coconut grove which defied the cyclone moved Bharati to write a song “pizhaitta tennantOppu” (the coconut grove which survived):

‘SiRiya tiTTaiyinilE – uLadOr tennanchiRu tOppu
vaRiyavan uDaimai – adanai vAyu poDikkavillai”

(On a tiny raised patch of land, is a small coconut grove.
A poor man’s possession; the wind did not pound it.)



** you can find here the text and RShankar’s translation of this Bharati song.
Last edited by sridhar_ranga on 18 Jan 2013, 00:11, edited 1 time in total.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Top: The Cuckoo-Song Orchard: the shady mango grove in Muthialpet near Puduchery where Bharati spent many a day-time. This is described in the Kuyil Paattu. Beyond the orchard is the coconut grove that survived the cyclone.

Bottom: Looking out from the orchard: the beautiful expanse of lush fields that enchanted Bharati

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

Post by cmlover »

Welcome back!
Trust you had a nice break and are rejuvinated...
Nice to start off with the kuyil pATTu..

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

Post by rshankar »

Sridhar - welcome back! Nice of you to resume the translations!

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Pondicherry’s Beach


Puduvai’s beach is not as expansive as the one in Chennai. The small beach had its own charm, nevertheless. Puduvai had one special feature, which Chennai didn’t have. Puduvai used to have an iron pier which extended into the sea for one quarter of a mile. Puduvai did not have a port in those days where ships could drop anchor. Passengers and cargo would be offloaded from ships a few miles away from the shore and brought to the pier in boats. This iron sea-bridge disappeared in due course due to rusting, sea erosion and cyclones. A few remnants of the pier can be seen these days opposite the Gandhi statue.

When it was intact, the iron pier served a useful purpose as a place where people could go for an evening stroll and chat sitting on the benches there. Bharati and his friends used to go for a stroll on the pier. Puduvai city presented a beautiful view when seen from mid-sea on the pier.

Bharati and his friends also used to spend time on the sands near the pier. In his essays ‘Mazhai’ (rain) and ‘Varnaasrama sabha on the sea-bridge’, Bharatiyar has described such scenes.

Bharati loved bathing in the sea too. On Sundays, Bharati, V.V.S, Aiyar, Srinivasachariyar and their children took a morning dip in the sea. Bharati did not know swimming while Aiyar was a strong swimmer.

One day Bharati was making his children take a bath in the sea. The children, scared by the waves, ran towards the shore. Bharati ran after them and brought them back to the water. This went on for a while, and suddenly Bharati saw a big crowd in front of them and a policeman making his way forward, shouting at the crowd. The policeman started rebuking Bharati. What happened was that someone in the crowd, seeing a bearded man chase the kids, had imagined that Bharati was trying to drown the kids! He alerted a policeman who was nearby and had brought him there.

After finding out the truth, the policeman apologized and went away.

Unlike others who enjoyed the pleasures of the beach in the mornings or evenings, Bharati had no such time restrictions. He would go there at mid-day or even mid-night. Many times, unable to sleep or overcome by a creative trance, he would go to the beach and stay there all night. The beach also served as a place where he could lose himself in poetic ecstasy without causing disturbance to others, at times aided by intoxicant substances which helped remove the pains of poverty.

Yadugiri Ammal, the eldest daughter of Mandayam Srinivasachariar, has described one such incident in her book ‘Memories of Bharati’. One early morning, a young Yadugiri along with her father and younger sister was walking along the seashore when they heard the sound of singing from a distance. Set to a morning raga, the singing was at once sweet and heart-wrenching. Upon some concentration, it became evident that the song was from tiruvaimozhi. “The three of us walked in the direction of the sound of that song. There we saw Bharati sitting on a catamaran, clad in a black shirt and a Veshti tucked into a kachcham. His hands were folded in prayer. He was singing to the fresh Sun, just rising in the sea.”

Having gone there at night, Bharatiyar had stayed on the beach all night. When asked to explain, he simply said “I had a flight of creative imagination”. Imagine the worry any such man would have caused to his wife and family members, not being home for the night, gifted poet or not!
Last edited by sridhar_ranga on 23 Jan 2013, 01:03, edited 1 time in total.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Top: View of Puduchery from the sea-bridge (iron pier) in 1956
Bottom Left: Uppalam Desa Muthu Mari Temple, sung by Bharati
Bottom Right: Manakkula Vinayakar Temple; Bharati composed his ‘Vinayakar Nanmani Malai’ on the famous Ganesha deity of this temple

Image

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

Post by cmlover »

Rare pictures indeed.
The beach of course contributed a lot in stimulating Bharathi's creative spirits..

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

Post by rshankar »

All those times I was able to go to the manakuLa vinAyakar temple, I did not know that the mahAkavi had composed on this temple! My loss..:(

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Year of Toil

Within two years of his stay in Puduchery, Bharati’s journalistic ventures came to an end. Thereafter he did not attempt to start any newspaper or magazine till the end of his stay in Puduvai.

After 1910, Bharati put an end to his affairs with journals and began focusing on writing material that could be published as books. 1912 was a very important year in his life. In that single year, he completed authoring several famous works.

It was in 1912 that four major works took shape: “Bhagavad Gita - Tamil Translation”, “Kannan Paattu” (Kannan Songs), “Kuyil Paattu” (The Cuckoo Song) and “Paanchaali Sapatham” (Panchali’s vow).

Kannan Paattu, written in 1912, got published only in 1917. Parali Su. Nellaiyappar who was based in Chintadripet, Chennai, published it. The first volume of Paanchaali Sapatham alone came out as a book in Puduvai in 1912. Its second part was published only in 1924, after Bharati’s death. Kuyil Paattu was published in 1923; there are no indications of it being printed earlier.

In his foreword to the first edition of Kannan Paattu, Parali Su. Nellaiyappa Pillai wrote with great conviction: “Sriman Bharatiyar is a great genius; a great scholar. A poet with divine inspiration and a self-realized soul (jIvanmukta). He is the Rabindranath (Tagore) of Tamil Nadu. He is a blessing to this country.....I can envision the sight of Tamil Nadu’s men and women reading his poems with utmost delight much after his time, even many centuries from now”

Va. Ve. Su. Aiyar, in his foreword for the second edition of Kannan Paattu in 1920, writes: “As early as ten years ago, in Janma Bhumi which Bharati published, we find a couple of his poems entitled ‘Sri Krishna Stotram’. But it was later that he became fully enchanted with Kannan’s playful acts and divine sport. One reason for this attraction to Lord Krishna was Bharati’s practice of singing Periyazhwar’s hymns to his heart’s content.”

Va. Ve. Su. Aiyar reminds the readers not just to enjoy the lyrical beauty of Kannan Paattu, but also not to forget the musical excellence (paN azhagu) of the work: “A majority of the songs in this collection are meant to be sung to a rhythmic tune. Whoever has heard the author sing his newly composed keertanams in his majestic voice full of creative enthusiasm, on peaceful evenings by the beach, or by the moonlight which imparted a milky hue to the blue ocean, will treat every song in this book as a true gem.

“Because our countrymen don’t patronize our author’s books, his zeal has unfortunately diminished; he who wrote such priceless lines as these:

-- SuRRi nillAdE pO, pagaiyE! tuLLI varugudu vEl (stay away, adversity! a-leaping comes the lance {of Lord Muruga} )
-- and
-- Kai tanil villum uNDu, gANDIvam adan pEr (the hand holds a bow, its name is gANDIva).

I sincerely hope all lovers of Tamil will encourage the author by buying this publication and make him grow in enthusiasm, enabling him to create many new works of literature in Tamil”

The above was an appeal made in 1920. But even this foreword came to be printed only two years after Bharati’s death.

Bharati’s write-up on Paanchaali Sapatham’s dedication was noteworthy: “I submit this book at the feet of gifted Tamil poets of the future who will create classics that shine eternally and their would-be patrons who will offer them due support”

Another objective worth emulation by present day writers is mentioned in the foreword by Bharati: “Anyone who creates literary works using simple words, a simple style of writing, a metre that is easy to follow, set to a tune that appeals to the general public, would be infusing fresh life into our language”.
Last edited by sridhar_ranga on 03 Feb 2013, 17:06, edited 2 times in total.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

A page from Bharati’s translation of the Bhagawad Gita. Four important works were created in 1912 including the Bhagawad Gita translation. The others are ‘Paanchaali Sapatham’, ‘Kuyil Paattu’ and ‘Kannan Paattu’.

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

Post by rshankar »

Sridhar - again, thank you! The man probably never slept!
Do you know the compositions/poems that were listed under kaNNan pATTu and kuil pATTu collections?

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Here is the list, Ravi:

Kannan pATTu

1. KaNNan en tOzhan (Punnagavarali, tisra Ekam, ‘vatsala’ rasam - these are as specified by the poet) starts with “ponnavir mEni subattirai mAdaip puRangonDu pOvadaRkE”
2. kaNNan en tAi (noNDi chindu) – “uNNa uNNat teviTTAdE ammai uyirenum)
3. kaNNan en tandai (noNDi chindu – main rasam: adbhutam) – “bhUmikkennai anuppinAn”
4. kaNNan en sEvakan (no raga specification) – “kUli migak kETpAr” - the most famous lines in this song: “engirundO vandAn iDaic chAdi enRu SonnAn, ingivanai yAn peRavE enna tavam Seidu viTTEn”)
5. kaNNan en arasan – () – “pagaimai muRRi mudirndiDu maTTilum”
6. kaNNan en SIDan – (AsiriyappA) – “yAnEyAgi ennalAR piRavAi”
7. kaNNan – enadu saRguru – (punnAgavarALi, tisra Ekam, rasa: adbhuta, bhakti) – “sAttirangaL pala tEDinEn”
8. kannammA en kuzhandai – (Bhairavi, rUpakam) – “chinnanjiRu kiLiyE kaNNammA Selvak kaLanjiyamE”
9. kaNNan en viLaiyATTup piLLai – (kEdAram, khanDa Ekam, rasa: adbhutam, SRngAram) – “tIrAda viLaiyATTup piLLai kaNNan teruvilE peNgaLukkOyAda tollai”
10. kaNNan en kAdalan – (SenjuruTTi, tisra Ekam, rasa: SRngAram) – “tUNDiR puzhuvinaip pOl” includes the famous lines “pAlum kaSandadaDI sakiyE paDukkai nondadaDI”
11. kaNNan en kAdalan -2 – uRakkamum vizhippum – (nAdanAmakriya, Adi) – “nEram migundadinnum nittiraiyinRi”
12. kaNNan en kAdalan – 3 – kATTilE tEDudal – (HindustAni tODi, Adi, rasa: bhayAnakam, adbhutam) – “dikku teriyADA KATTIL UNNAIT TEDI TEDI ILAITTENE”
13. KANNan en kAdalan -4 – pAngiyai tUdu viDudal – (tangappATTu meTTu, rasam: SRngAram, rowdram) – “kaNNan mana nilaiyai tangamE tangam kaNDu vara vENumaDi tangamE tangam”
14. kaNNan en kAdalan – 5 – pirivARRAmai – (Bilahari) – “ASai mugam maRandu pOchE idai AriDam SolvEnaDi tOzhi”
15. kaNNan en kAntan – (varALi, tisra Ekam, SRngAra rasam) – “kanigaL kONDu tarum – kaNNan kaRkaNDu pOlinidAi”
16. kaNNammA en kAdali – 1 – kATchi viyappu – (SenjuruTTi, Ekam, rasa: SRngAram, adbhutam) – “SuTTum vizhic chuDartAn kaNNammA sUriya chandirarO”
17. kaNNammA en kAdali – 2 – pin ninRu kaN maRaittal – (nAdanAmakriyAm Adi, SRngAram) – “mAlaippozhudiloru mEDai miSaiyE vAnaiyum kaDalaiyum nOkkiyirundEn”
18. kaNNammA en kAdali – 3 – mugattirai kaLaittal – (nAdanAmakriya, Adi, SRngAram) – “dillit turukkar Seida vazhakkamaDi! – peNgaL tiraiyiTTu mugamalar maRaittu vaittal”
19. kaNNammA en kAdali – 4 – nANik kaN pudaittal – (nAdanAmakriyA, Adi, SRngAram) – “mannar kulattiniDaip piRandavaLai – ivaL maruva nigazhndadenRu nANam uRRadO?”
20. kaNNammA en kAdali – 5 – kuRippiDam tavaRiyadu – (SenjuruTTi, Adi, SRngAram) – “tIrttak karaiyinilE – teRku mUlaiyil Senbagat tOTTattilE”
21. kaNNammA en kAdali -6 – yOgam – “pAyum oLi nI yenakku – pArkkum vizhi nAnunakku”
22. kaNNan en ANDAn – (punnAgavarALi, tisra Ekam, rasa: adbhutam, karuNai) – “tanjam ulaginil enganum inRit tavittut taDumARi”
23. kaNNammA enadu kula deivam – (punnAga varALi ) pallavi: “ninaic charaNaDaindEn! kaNNammA ninnaic charaNaDaindEn” + 5 charanams


Kuyil pATTu

1. kuyil – “kALaiyiLam paridi vISum kadirgaLilE”
2. kuyilin pATTu – (SankarAbharanam, Eka tALam) – “kAdal kAdal kAdal, kAdal pOyiR kAdal pOyiR chAdal, SAdal, SAdal)
3. kuyilin kAdaR kadai – “mOhanap pATTu muDivuRap pArengum”
4. kAdalO kAdal – “kaNDadoru kATchi kanavu nanavenRu aRiyEn”
5. kuyilum kurangum – “maRRai nAT kaNDa marattE kuyilillai”
6. iruLum oLiyum - “vAna naDuvilE mATchiyuRa njAyirutAn”
7. kuyilum mADum – “”kAlait tuyilezhundu, kAliraNDu munpOlE”
8. nAngAM nAL – “nAngAm nAL ennai nayavanjanai purindu”
9. kuyil tanadu pUrva janmak kadi uraittal – “dEvanE! Ennarumaic chelvamE ennuyirE”

A PDF file with the full set of these two songs (in Tamil script) can be downloaded from here

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

Post by cmlover »

BhArathy's wrtings and poems were never a success in the market place then or even now!
If he lived in penury that was due mainly to the indifference of the Tamil public. It was only
a few rich Tamil Lovers who sustained him, lucky for us!
Situation unfortunately, has not changed much now either!
It is prophetic saying:
தமிழ் இனி மெல்ல சாகும்...
Even our Forum is proof for that !

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

Post by rshankar »

Sridhar - thank you!
Very interesting that the kaNNammA pADal are included in this - in my book, they are classified under parASaktiyai (kuzhandaiyai/kAdaliyAi/etc). Surprising that kARRu veLiyiDai kaNNammA is not in the list of songs.

Of these, I do not think I have heard the kuyil pATTu compositions sung anywhere.

Sri Rajkumar Bharati has sung 'engirundO vandAn, iDai jAdi nAn enrAn' very evocatively...
If tUNDir puzhuvinai pOl and tIrtha karaiyinilE evoke the viraha aspect of SRngAra, I wonder how kanigaL koNDu tarum fits into the overarching rasa of SRngAra

CML - the last time I checked, our forum was not an exclusive tamizh forum - so, it certainly can't be the baraometer of whether or not tamizh as a language will survive.

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

Post by cmlover »

Shankar
As you know many of these songs have been rendered in the movies by veterans like DKP/MLV/TMS...
Still there are too many which have not been tuned. Is there any musical rendering of Pancali shabhatam?
You must be aware of Dance dramas...

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

Post by rshankar »

cmlover wrote:Is there any musical rendering of Pancali shabhatam?
Yes - Sri Rajkumar Bharati has rendered it...

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

rshankar wrote:Sridhar - thank you!
Very interesting that the kaNNammA pADal are included in this - in my book, they are classified under parASaktiyai (kuzhandaiyai/kAdaliyAi/etc). Surprising that kARRu veLiyiDai kaNNammA is not in the list of songs.

Of these, I do not think I have heard the kuyil pATTu compositions sung anywhere.
Ravi, I just picked up the songs/ typed them out based on what Project Madurai has classified under the two collections (Kannan Pattu and Kuyil Pattu) in their e-books. Not sure if this is the definitive list.

We will need expert comments form the likes of Hariki (not a member of our forum but known to a few of our fellow rasikas), Pasupathy sir, et al.

I too found the Kuyil Pattu verses unfamiliar - no one seems to have popularized them in films or on CM platform.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Siddhanta Swami Mutt: The famed hermitage and temple in Puduchery, sung by Bharati who used to spend his day-times in its peaceful environs

Image

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Friendship of Holy Men

“Two miles to the north of Vedapuram is a temple known as ‘siddhaanta swami temple’. Nearby the temple is a mutt. A holy man known as siddhaanta swami used to stay in the mutt many years ago. The temple is built over his samaadhi.

“On Monday the 9th of Chittirai, at about 9 AM, I was sitting in the manDapam in front of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple along with a Brahmin boy by name Naraayanaswamy. We went there because we wanted to spend the day somewhere quiet, away from the town. It was usual for us to go for a bath in the pond (maDu) and spend time chatting in the mango orchards. But after the cyclone of the year NaLa, there was no shade left in the orchards. So we went to the said manDapam

The above reference to the Siddhanta Swami temple and hermitage is found in an essay entitled “pingaLa varusham” (pingala year), in the book “kadaik kottu” (bunch of stories ).

Bharati has also composed a couple of stand-alone verses on this Siddhanta Swami temple. Here are two stanzas from that:

“Siddhaantac chaami tirukkOil vAsalil
-- deepa oLi uNDAm – peNNE,
muttAnda veedi muzhuvadaiyum kATTiDa
-- mooNDa tiruc chuDarAm – peNNE”

“uLLattazhukkum uDaliR kuRaigaLum
-- OTTa varum SuDarAm - peNNE,
kaLLat tanangaL anaittum veLippaDak
-- kATTa varum SuDarAm - peNNE”

( Lit by lamps, Siddhanta Swami Temple’s portal
Holy flame that shows the path to liberation
Driving away inner filth and bodily deformation
Flame born to expose deceit and chicanery )

Bharati was friends with many mendicants and swamijis around Puduvai. KuLLachAmi (dwarf swami) also known as mAngoTTaicchAmi (mango-stone swami), Govinda Swami, Yaazhpaana (Jaffna) Swami - in each of these itinerant monks Bharati saw some virtue. He has even sung their praise in (the poetry collection) Bharati sixty-six.

Bharati has revealed in a song that Govindaswamy the mendicant caused to appear before him a vision of his deceased father. Kullachami made him realize that one should ‘live like soil, live like a wall’. This swami would claim that he was a washerman by profession, his job was to cleanse the filth of the mind.

Once, seeing kuLLachAmy carry a bundle of dirty rags on his shoulder, Bharati wondered aloud about the crazy act of the Swamiji. A smiling kullachaami replied, “I carry it externally. You carry a lot of muck inside”. The mahaakavi realized something profound from this, and conveyed in one of his poems that “it is futile to die of afflictions, accumulating lies inside oneself. It is necessary to play the tune of freedom in one’s heart”. Bharati had the ability to draw great insights from seemingly banal happenings, easily overlooked and ignored by most people.

In his essay ‘koTTaiyasaami” Bharati writes about a yogi of the same name, played host to by a Zamindar of koTTaiyapuram, a place set in the southern Pandyan country. It is easy to guess that koTTaiyapuram was an oblique reference to Ettiaiyapuram (Bharati’s birthplace). From this it is evident that Bharati had the acquaintance of holy men right from his days in Ettaiyapuram.

Though the friendship with such swamis helped him realize many a vedantic truth, Bharati also picked up a few unsavoury habits from them.

Thanks to the influence of the swamis in Puduvai, he fell into the misfortune of becoming addicted to opium (‘abin’). Though it helped him forget the hardships of poverty and traverse a world of poetic creativity, the habit enfeebled his already emaciated frame, and caused him to pay scant attention to his familial responsibilities.

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

Post by cmlover »

That is the tragic side of his life!
But then some of his exquisite creations may owe to his addictions just as we know some of
Our famous CM exponents were too!

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Beat the drum of victory (‘Jaya bErigai koTTaDA’)

“We saw the spectre of fire amidst smoke” sang the poet, who must have experienced it in his daily life too. He managed to see and extol the golden form of Parasakti amidst all the smoke arising from his many troubles including huge debt, diseases, family problems and the pain of creativity.

The short poem ‘jaya bErigai koTTaDa’ (beat the kettle-drum of victory) is a fine example of the fount of his never ending hope.
The first stanza of this song proclaims “we will strike the ghosts of fear”. Bharati has reiterated at many places and on multiple occasions that fear is the foremost enemy of man.

He once sang, “accham illai, accham illai, accham enbadillaiyE! Ucchi meedu vaan iDindu veezhuginRa pOdilum accham illai, accham illai, accham enbadillaiyE” (Foresake Fear – or literally. ‘there is no fear’ – foresake fear, there is nothing called fear. Were the skies to come crashing down on our heads, there still is no fear!). In his song ‘The way to overcome death’ under the collection Bharati Sixty Six, Bharati declares: If you destroy fear and wants, even death will vanish!

The line ‘kAkkai kuruvi engaL jAdi’ (crows and sparrows are but our own clan), which occurs in the third stanza of the above song, is a good example of his broad perspective. It may be easy to show broad mindedness in the poem one writes; how difficult it must be to demonstrate it in one’s own life, through one’s own actions! Bharati had the conviction to do so.

Yadugiri Ammal the daughter of Mandayam Srinivasachariyar has described many events from Bharati’s life in Puduchery in her book “Bharati - Sila Ninaivugal” (Bharati - A Few Memories).

One day, a young Yadugiri went to Bharati’s home. There was no one present other than the poet’s wife Chellammal. Even she was not her usual cheerful self. On probing a little, Yadugiri came to know the reason: it was the usual matter of ‘(shortage of) material’ and a specific act of ‘charity’ indulged in by Bharati.

It seems Bharati hadn’t yet sent his daily article to Swadesamitran on that day. After his morning bath, he had duly had his coffee and betel leaves; shortly Chellammal placed paper, pen and a bottle of ink on the table. It was a cue for Bharati to sit down and write his article for Swadesamitran.

As Bharati was seated on the table, Chellammal took out some rice for cooking, spreading it on a winnow; she cleaned it by picking the small stones and put down the winnow before going to the kitchen for some work. When she returned, a quarter portion of the rice grains were scattered on the floor of the courtyard. A few sparrows were picking on the grains, to the great delight of Bharati who kept watching the birds. He had thrown the rice down to feed the birds.

Chellammal broke down on seeing this. Bharati told her, “come here, Chellamma. Look at these sparrows. See how happy they are. Why can’t we be like them?!”

This was not a one-off incident. Later, when they left Puduchery to live in Chennai’s Triplicane, Bharati would similarly share the rice meant for the day’s cooking with sparrows, crows and squirrels.

* * *

The copy of this song is also proof of Bharati’s beautiful hand writing. We learn many things about his personality by observing his hand writing: the neat, “pearl-like” letters, beautifully uniform spacing between the words, and the clear flow of his thoughts taking physical shape as evidenced by the absence of any striking over or corrections on the paper!

Often times Bharati could not even find a good piece of paper to write on, or a good quality pen or ink. Even then, his writing looked so beautiful and shapely, increasing the overall appeal of his writing.

The children of Tamil Nadu should practice their hand-writing taking Bharati’s pearly-neat manuscripts as a model. If they practice writing beautifully, it will surely help them execute any task neatly.

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Jaya Berigai Kottada - poem (with a one line pallavi and three charanams) in Bharati's 'pearl-like' neat handwriting

Image

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

Post by arasi »

Sridhar,
Thanks for continuing your good work! I'm grateful.

I came across a satire of Bharathi in an anthology, and the irony in the story really had an effect on me (as it would have on Pudumaipithan and others, I'm sure) and though I do not have the ideal quiet hours I used to have to do some writing, I had to share it with you folks and willed myself to translate it then and there. Have a peek at the Prose Writings of Bharathi thread ;)

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

Post by Pasupathy »

[quote="sridhar_ranga"][quote="rshankar"]Sridhar - thank you!
Very interesting that the kaNNammA pADal are included in this - in my book, they are classified under parASaktiyai (kuzhandaiyai/kAdaliyAi/etc). Surprising that kARRu veLiyiDai kaNNammA is not in the list of songs.




"kARRu veLiyidaik kaNNammA is part of 'Bakthi songs' or 'dheiyap pAdalgaL' . Not part of "kaNNan songs".
See
http://tinyurl.com/cca6x5e

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

Post by rshankar »

Very interesting that the mahAkavi uses ஜய, and not சய, which is the spelling that I have seen used for 'jaya' - is that usual??

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

Post by arunk »

I would think it is a personal preference (now, and even then?). Per that, it is as common to include those few glyphs not part of original alphabet (depending on your background), as it is to omit them due to that reason (and some would even extend to the phonetic sound behind them).

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Left: The Fox With the Golden Tail (Pon Vaal Nari) - An English Satire by Bharati written in 1914 based on a few happenings in Chennai. This copy was a gift from Prof. N. Subramania Aiyar ('Brahmaraaya Iyer') to this author (Raa. A. Padmanabhan)

Right: Arya, an English monthly brought out from Puduchery by Aurobindo Ghose in 1914. Bharati has contributed articles to this magazine.

Image

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Bharati, English Writer


Bharati continued to visit Babu Aurobindo Ghosh even after the latter moved to his own Ashram. During one such visit, Bharati was reading something to Aurobindo. Aurobindo could not contain his laughter as he kept listening. He called in the young scholars in the Ashram and told them. “Look, what a fine story of fiction Bharati has written in English! He himself is reading it for us, but you are talking among yourselves, not listening to him or paying attention!”

That humour-laced story appeared in 1914 with the title ‘pon vaal nari’ in Tamil and ‘The Fox With the Golden Tail’ in English. It was a satire on Annie Besant’s politics and how she was bringing up J. Krishnamurthy and his brother, and created much sensation in Madras. The famous Mylapore Physician and patriot Nanjunda Rao heard about this novel and sent an order for 500 copies through V.P.P.

Many graduates holding B.A. and M.A. degrees wrote congratulatory letters to Bharati, celebrating this book. Bharati was going through one such letter when Kuvalai Kannan wanted to know what he was reading.

Said Bharati, “I wish these widowers got lost. I wrote ‘Panchali Sapatam’ in my mother tongue, after racking all my brains, but none of these worthies wrote me a single letter appreciating it. You are the lone person who reads it. But they want 500 copies of this ‘pon vaal nari’ which is in English!”

The reply reflects Bharati’s deep sense of anguish at the slave mentality of the Tamils and their infatuation with English.

In his Ettayapuram days, Bharati had enjoyed reading the English poems of Keats and Shelley and even formed an association called the “Shelley Guild”. He even had ‘Shelley Dasan’ as his nom-de-plume. He had employed English poetic forms such as the Sonnet in Tamil. He has even composed his own poems in English. Not only that, he even translated into English some of his own poems, as well as those of Nammazhwar and Andal. These were published in the ‘Arya’ magazine of Aurobindo and in ‘New India’ and ‘Common Wheel’ journals run by Besant. (In 1937, Bharati Pracuraalayam published these under the collection ‘Agni and Other Poems’).

Bharati’s own translations of seven of his songs are found in this book: ‘Engal Velvi Kooda Meedil’, ‘Payum Oli Nee Enakuu’, ‘Unna Unna Thevittadhe’, ‘Madhavan Sakthiyinai’, ‘Pagaivanukkarulvai’, ‘Kummiyadi Thamizh Nadu Muzhudhum’, and ‘Iyarkai Endru Unnai Pugazhvaar’.

Bharati has also rendered in English songs held sacred by the Vaishnavites such as ‘Vaaranam Ayiram’ from the (Naalayira Divya) Prabandham.

There used to be a Chennai based daily by name ‘Madras Standard’. The debate on Bhagawad Gita on its pages between Bharati and Prof. K. Sundara Raman (Father of K.S. Ramaswamy Sastri) reflect the highest standards of journalistic discourse. While Sundara Raman based his argument on Sastras and Vedic philosophy, Bharati used his sheer brilliance to put forward many novel ideas. This debate by Bharati is yet to be published as a book.

Another English write-up by Bharati that has not seen the light of day is ‘Political Evolution in the Madras Presidency’. In that, Bharati has clearly stated that he was not in favour of violence (to attain political goals).

A few of Bharati’s essays in English were published in 1937 under the title ‘Essays and other Prose Fragments’. In his 1918 essay ‘Coming Age’, a far-sighted Bharati had envisioned thoughts echoing the Bhudaan movement.

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

Post by cmlover »

Are the english writings of Bharathy on the internet or available as books to buy?
Pasupathy/PB
can you pl find out?

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

Post by rshankar »

I second CML's request..the mahAkavi's translations of his own works and those of ANDAL's should be in the 'must-read' category....
Now, after satirizing Annie Beasant, wasn't the mahAkavi influenced by her later in his life to take up women's issues (mAndar tammai izhivu seyyum maDamai koLuttuvOm....)?
Last edited by rshankar on 25 Feb 2013, 11:16, edited 1 time in total.

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

Post by Pasupathy »

There used to be book called " Bharathi in English" .
http://books.google.ca/books/about/Bhar ... edir_esc=y
Don't know if it is still in print.

Another recent book is Bharathi's letters to the Hindu. "Bharathi karuvoolam"

http://www.mids.ac.in/b1.pdf

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

Post by cmlover »

Thx
But how to get them?

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

Post by kvchellappa »

Some are available piecemeal in bharathi blog
http://bhaarathi.blogspot.in/

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

Post by sridhar_ranga »

Thanks for that pointer KVC.

I found this site which has a few English articles by Bharati: http://www.mahakavibharathiyar.info/articles.htm

You can find 'The Fox With the Golden Tail' here

Here is his translation of ANDAL- a few verses from Nachiyar Thirumozhi, including 3 stanzas of vaaranam aayiram.

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

Post by Pasupathy »

cmlover wrote:Thx
But how to get them?
I am told by a Bharathi scholar that all of Bharathi's English writings have also been integrated into the Series of Books published by
Cheeni.Viswanathan ( Bharathi's creations according to chronological order.)

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

Post by cmlover »

Thanks Sridhar.
Interesting story. I am at a loss to figure out what the satire is about.
Can somebody help?

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

Post by rshankar »

sridhar_ranga wrote:Here is his translation of ANDAL- a few verses from Nachiyar Thirumozhi, including 3 stanzas of vaaranam aayiram.
Sridhar, thank you so much. Can you post the corresponding tamizh verses? I got the ones from vAraNam Ayiram - and it's interesting - I recently had an opportunity to provide a padArtha for vAraNam Ayiram for a bharatanATyam dancer - and my interprettation (in prose) is not that different from the mahAkavi's...

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