‘Bharati’s writing in English was superior'

“Of all the languages I know, I have seen none beautiful as Tamil”, Mahakavi Subramanya Bharati said. Such lines are dime a dozen these days, but it is especially heartening to hear such a salutation to Tamil from Bharati, says E Ramamurthi.

“Bharati knew six Indian and seven foreign languages. A salutation that comes from a man who knows 13 languages is an educated and cultured statement, not mere rhetoric”, says Ramamurthi, better known as ‘Bharati Kavalar’ or ‘The Protector of Bharati’, a title given to him by poet Bharatidasan in 1964.

In the course of his research, Bharati Kavalar found a line in praise of the firebrand poet, which many would find hard to digest today. “Rajaji said Bharati’s writing in English was superior to his Tamil works. Will you believe it?” says Ramamurthi with a twinkle in his eye. He says Bharati’s works existed in five different languages. Apart from his prolific writing in Tamil and English, he wrote three poems in Sanskrit, translated seven short stories of Rabindranath Tagore from Bengali and also translated a number of French works along with contemporary VVS Aiyar.

Full report here New Indian Express