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

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
Post Reply
RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

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

Post by RSR »

link to Kalki's view on Barathy vs Tagore controversy.
http://www.thehindu.com/books/bharatis- ... 420706.ece
---------------------------------------------------------------------
""In “Three days with Va. Raa.” an article that appeared in Manikkodi, (August, 1934) N. Ramarathnam, another Manikkodi writer, mentions what Va. Raa. seem to have stated during one of his campaign speeches: “I have read the great poets of English, Shelly and Shakespeare and India's Nobel Laureate Tagore, but I can say that all the writings of them put together will not equal a line of what Bharati had written”. Quoting Va. Raa's views, P. Sri Acharya, writing under the name of Nellai Nesan, disputes this view and says “Bharati is a good poet but not a great poet” ( Dinamani 1935 Bharati Malar)."
---------------------------------
"On November 3, 1935, in its Letters to the Editor column, Ananda Vikatan, edited by Kalki Krishnamurthy, had published a letter supposedly written by a “Student of Literature” (it was the editor Kalki himself!) in which a question was raised whether what was said by some one in Karaikudi (the name of Va. Raa was omitted) is correct, as the correspondent felt it was not.
Commenting on the letter the editor had given his views: “The name of the person was also given. I have omitted the name purposely, as I think he could not have said so.” Continuing, the editor says, “If someone had said so, it should be understood as this person does not have any idea about either literature or poetry. It is possible to conclude that he is an illiterate (Nirakshara kutchi). It is doubtful if he had read Shelly, Tagore and Shakespeare and if he had, probably he has not understood them. It is also doubtful, if he has understood even Bharati properly” (courtesy Anada Vikatan).
----------------
Va. Raa followed up with a detailed essay titled “Bharati and literary review” in Swadesamithran on November 30, 1935 and Kalki openly wrote opposing his views in the same journal on December 7, 1935, in which he went on to say that if Tolstoy had read “Vallippaattu” of Bharati, he would have burnt all the works of Bharati!
Then followed long articles by Chitti and Ku. Pa. Ra., questioning Kalki's statement and the contents were later published under the title Kannan en kavi by Sangu Ganesan in 1937.
Later Kalki became a great admirer of Bharati and took the initiative of building the Manimandapam at Ettayapuram in October 1947 and Rajaji, then the Governor of West Bengal, declared it open. Again, it was Chitti, as a member of the team, who covered the function from Ettayapuram through the All India Radio!

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

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

Post by arasi »

Great post, RSR!

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

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

Post by RSR »

@727-> Thank so very much, Madam. I am happy that you like it. The maNikkodi saga is inspiring and legendary. if you can share your reminiscences about people like 'chitti' Sundrarrajan and 'stalin; Srinivasan, in this thread, it would be very valuable. for people like me.

Ponbhairavi
Posts: 1075
Joined: 13 Feb 2007, 08:05

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

Post by Ponbhairavi »

In the field of arts,(poetry,music,painting, acting etc..) discussions as to whether x is greater than y, lead nowhere and no consensus can be expected.Same is the case about awards(Nobel,Magsaysay, Sangeetha Kalanidhi,Bharath rathna.)In a doubly slippery field like this my intention in my post 719 is not to reminisce about the views of the general Tamil public of those years. My interest is in what one poet said about another on the occasion of getting an award.I would be eager to know , if possible what any other contemporary Indian poet(telegu,Kannada, Malayalam Hindi etc...)like Sarojini Naidu for example have said on the occasion.

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

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

Post by rshankar »

+1 -could not agree more.

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

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

Post by RSR »

@729> I think, A.R.Venkatachalapathy's article has given sufficient proof that Barathy was all admiration for Tagore.
.....It is quite true that the awards mentioned have sometimes gone to wrong persons. ,but not entirely. There must have been some valid perception. Have to do some 'googling' to get the reaction of Tagore's contemporary Indian writers to the award. Not likely that there would have been any dissenting voice.. Sarojini included. .. Sir has carefully excluded scientists. Nevertheless, the Hall of Fame makes us proud. "Tagore, physicists C.V. Raman and Subramanyam Chandrasekhar, geneticist Hargobind Khorana, Mother Teresa, economist Amartya Sen and chemistry Nobel winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan are the seven Indian Nobel laureates who will be featured on the walls — though some modern historians argue that Indian-origin British author V.S. Naipaul, and India-born British writer Rudyard Kipling and scientist Ronald Ross should also be considered “Indian”. .."

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

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

Post by RSR »

Sarojini Naidu & Rabindranath Tagore..
.https://www.academia.edu/10520144/A_Stu ... ini_Naidu-
"They had great respect and admiration for each other....:"Sarojini was a highly talented literary artist, but she was quick to acknowledge Tagore’s superior merit. In a letter written on 16th November 1912, she calls him a “divine magician” (Paranjape 83) and expresses her gladness at hearing the ovations that his literary prowess had received in England. On another occasion, she calls him the “Master of many enchantments” (Paranjape 296). With the passage of time, Sarojini’s respect for Tagore increased to such an extent that she started to apotheosize him. In the letter dated 7th December 1933, Sarojini compares Tagore to Gods “whom you resemble” and continues her effusive praise for the “poet and seer” whose “voice has indeed awakened the people” (Paranjape 297)....."She was in England when Gitanjali was published, and considered it to be an achievement that “spread the poet’s fame across the horizon of western life like a rainbow” (quoted in Naravane 57). Happy at the attention that the world had showered on him by awarding him the Nobel Prize for literature, she acknowledges the honour that he has brought to his motherland with his literary abilities : “world wide recognition of your genius shines like a crown on the brows of Bharat Mata, the dear land of your heart’s desire”

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

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

Post by arasi »

It's not agreeable to compare talent unnecessarily because they exist in their own spheres. Bharathi did not live as long as Tagore at all. Also, only a handful of discerning people knew of his greatness while Tagore continued in his father's glory from day one.
We don't compare Tyagaraja and Swati Tirunal for instance...

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

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

Post by RSR »

Image
This is an article on Tagore's genius by ku.pa.rA, from Dr.Pasupathy's blog. ku.pa.rA says that Bengali people did not care much for Tagore before he got Nobel Prize. ...Barathy was a born poet. He cared more for country's liberation than personal achievement in Literature. . There are different genres in literature like poetry, essays, short stories, novels, art-criticism, social-commentary, literary criticism , travelogues , humor etc.. Barathy could have excelled in many of them, if he had been prepared to compromise but he did not care for it. Kalki comes to mind! Worthy successor to Barathy, and excelled in many fields . Kalki's poems have that simple elegance that Smt.DKP mentions The only advantage that Tagore had was that he did not have to worry about means of livelihood. We need not belittle Tagore and praise Barathy . We will be doing injustice to both. Bankim and Sarath Chandra were greater novelists than Tagore .but may be a personal preference. ( will try to give a translation soon)

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

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

Post by RSR »

( A rough translation) From 1915, the name of Raviondrabnath Tagore echoes from all the eight corners of the world. After the publication and award of Nobel prize for his book Geethanjali(Bengali original) in English translation (blank verse) , his name has become well known all over the world. But 25 years back, the world had not even heard of his name. In fact, even the Bengal that boasts about his being of their province, did not know about his greatness. The noteworthy fact is that he had already completed creation of all his books that reveal his special merit, before 1915.(....)Is it not a wonder that such a unique creativity after Kalidasa and Kamban,lay hidden from the eyes of the world and even of India, till he reached his 55th year.?. We cannot but marvel at his dedication and striving , that while living in virtual incognito in the Bengali wilderness, he went on adding to his huge literary output , without losing his creativity, self-confidence..... Today, the same people who praise him to the very skies, more out of regional chauvinism, did not approve of his writings that much, before 1915. Pundits were criticizing his writings as being unconventional and having many grammatical errors and abused him. The common readers, did not possess the literary equipment to appreciate his creations of high standard. More people read the novels of Bankim and SarathChndra and praised them and very few turned their eyes to Tagore's high poetry.
Even today, his royalty income from his Bengali books is very low. Tagore survived in such a non-supportive environment , just because he was of a wealthy family. By good fortune, he did not have to depend on income from his literary works, for day-to-day living. He had a huge ancestral property and was hence in a position to plan his literary work. ...Ravindranath began writing in his 15th year. Today, he is nearly 80 years old. he has been writing without rest, for the past 65 years. making the language a torrential flow. He has written huge number of books in every genre of the language conceivable. Not mere quantity but of sterling quality.
He beautified every genre of literature and astounded the entire world especially of Bengali literature . What a great variety in both aspects of literature, like poetry and prose! Long poems, short poems songs, geetham, prose-poetry, plays in poems ... In prose writing, story, essay, play, short drama, novel, lectures!, What else remains to be done? No other Indian Literary writer , has handled so many types of works that too so wonderfully well.
All this was shining brightly like a' candle put under a bushel.' The glow of that lamp did not reach the outside world. till GEETHANJALI was published and captured the minds of English readers. They were the first to see the brilliant rays from the East. At once they gave Nobel prize. In a single day, Ravindranatha became world-famous.
Ravindra's books have been translated into many Indian languages. But, only a few short stories and one or two novels have been translated into Tamil. There is no translation of his poertry , the most important of his creations, in Tamil. We do not know when Tamils are going to set right this deficiency.( ku.pa.raa article over)
******************************************************************************************************************
(by RSR...'bushel' used as in St.Mathew0 appearing in William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament: "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it lighteth all them which are in the house.

Post Reply