|
The Great Tamil Poet - Subramanya
Bharathiar
‘Bharathiyar’ is the name that reminds Indians of nationalism,
patriotism and Tamil prose and poetry. Born in 1882 he was
conferred the title of ‘Bharati’ for his poetic talent at a
tender age.
‘Bharathiyar’ is the name that reminds Indians of nationalism,
patriotism and Tamil prose and poetry. Born in 1882 he was
conferred the title of ‘Bharati’ for his poetic talent at a
tender age. Bharati emerged as a prolific poet earning the name
of ‘Mahakavi’, meaning a Great Poet. He died at the age of 39
but in his short span of life he had made immeasurable
contribution to his country and language.
Life of a patriot
He lived in the eventful years of our country’s freedom
struggle. He had met his contemporaries who influenced his
political thinking like Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak, Sister Nivedita,
Aurobindo Gosh, VVS Iyer and Lajpat Roy. The Tamil poet and
writer’s life itself is a shining example of upholding the
spirit of freedom, equality, justice and love despite poverty
and against the oppressive British rule. He was the assistant
editor of ‘Swadesamithran’ a Tamil daily from 1904 to 1907. He
launched ‘ India ’ the Tamil weekly of which he was the editor
and later edited a newspaper ‘Bala Bharatam’ in English. He had
a turbulent life laced with living in exile, arrest, being
jailed amidst abject poverty. He resumed as editor of
Swadesamithran a year before his death in 1921.
Social reformist
His lofty dreams about our society and the country came out
brilliantly in his songs and prose. He had the uncanny ability
of using his literary skills to the best to kindle the
patriotic feelings of the masses and about the evils of the
society which caused all their problems.
Patriot
He proudly proclaims that the there is no other country in the
world can equal the greatness of India which has the Himalyan
mountains, the sacred river Ganges and the Upanishads in his
song “Mannum Imaya malai’ and ‘paarukkule nalla naadu’. He is
equally proud about the Richness and sweetness of the Tamil
language in his lines ‘yamarindha mozhiugalile’. He proclaims
with equal pride the richness and uniqueness of the Tamil
language.
Advocating Freedom and Casteless society
He fearlessly wrote about freedom for individuals as wells as
nations being influenced by ‘Vande Mataram’ the patriotic song
by Bankim Chandra. These meetings have injected fearlessness
into his writing. Considering this to be a divine inspiration
he went on to write revolutionary compositions that were packed
with national unity and the spirit of freedom His songs brought
a spiritual dimension to the freedom movement. ‘Swathesa
Geethangal’ and ‘Janma Bhoomi’ which he dedicated to sister
Nivedita are examples of his patriotic songs and serving the
underprivileged and emancipation of women. They were
distributed to the people during the freedom movement of India
. His dreams of a free India and a society that is educated,
devoid of its social evils and living in harmony. We can see
that many of his dreams have come true today. His writings when
he was in exile in Puduchery were so
powerful that the British even jailed him.
His songs for the children in ‘Paappa Paattu’ and ‘Pudhiya
Aathichoodi’ evoked a sense of equality, love towards all
living beings, casteless society and courage etc. His simple
words convey the ethical and moral principles to the young
minds effortlessly. His unique style was simple with a
technique of weaving the spoken language and rhythm into
beautiful prose and poetry.
The literary genius Bharati has made an indelible mark in the
minds of crores of Tamil people through his writings that
included novels, short stories, essays and
poetry.
by Venkatesh Iyer - 27th August 2008
Back
to Top
You can download Subramanya Bharatiyar's poems for free on
www.Sangapalagai.com
Download and read Tamil stories and Tamil magazines from
Sangapalagai.com. There are many Tamil Magazines, novels and stories
available for free download at Sangapalagai. You can meet
Tamil authors and interact with them at
http://www.sangapalagai.com
Article Source: http://www.bb-articles.com
| 
BlinkList
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Fark
Furl
Google Bookmarks
Livejournal
Ma.gnolia
Netvouz
Newsvine
Reddit
Spurl
Stumbleupon
Wists
Yahoo My Web
