Bharati's legacy

Long after Subramanya Bharati's death, his poetic legacy continued to be contested by the eminent literary personalities of the time. A look at the debate.

When Bharati passed away on September 11, 1921, The Hindu carried a tribute to Bharati from S. Satyamurthi: “Had he been born in England he would have been the poet laureate and been adored by his race. Had he born in any other free country, he would have risen to such heights of eminence that he would have lived longer and enriched his language and race more than he was able to do here. Had he born even in Bengal, he would have been a Rabindranath Tagore. Those who know his poems will know I am indulging in no exaggeration. But born in India and in Tamil India Subramania Bharati had to spend the best part of an all too short life an exile from those who were near and dear to him. No wonder that he pined and suffered and has gone to a premature grave. So long however as the Tamil language lives and there is a spark of patriotism in Tamil India, Subramania Bharati's songs will live.”

There were very few at the funeral, and V. Chakkarai Chettiar, Krishnswamy Sharma and Ramachandra Aiyar spoke in Tamil while Surendranath Arya paid tributes in Telugu. The pyre was lit by Harihara Sharma, a relative and while the mortal remains were consumed, the fire he lit in the minds of the people continued to glow.

However, due recognition to Bharati came much later, but even then with such debates that made one feel that Tamil India had not remembered Bharati well enough!

Full report here Hindu

Tilak as seen by his fervent admirer VOC

That time belonged to sea-green, incorruptible supermen like V.V.S. Aiyar, Sri Aurobindo, Mohandas Kharamchand Gandhi, and Subramania Bharati. No wonder we hail them as Maharishi Aiyar, Mahayogi Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi and Mahakavi Bharati. For them patriotism was religion and the phrase ‘Vande Mataram' was mantra. V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872-1936), the intrepid nationalist from south India, was a disciple of Tilak and there existed a warm relationship between the two. Pillai referred to Tilak aptly as Maharishi.

POLITICAL GURU
Venkatachalapati, to whom we owe many important retrievals from the past, has brought back to print the life of Tilak written by Pillai for Veerakesari of Ceylon. Tilaka Maharishi carries a critical introduction as also five appendices of vital interest to assess the flow of historical events. A fervent admirer of Tilak, Pillai had also suffered in prison willingly and had trod with a bleeding brow the patriot's way. He was an excellent speaker and writer in English and Tamil. The preface to the biography is actually a Tamil translation of Pillai's article published in the third volume of Reminiscences of Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1927). The words come out clear and ring true: “Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is my political guru. From my 21st year … I was closely following his writings and speeches on politics. They made me feel that India was my country, that the British were wrongfully retaining it and that it must be got back from them.” How to do it?

Full report here Hindu

‘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

Best place to read Hamlet

No escapist haven, it is still an excellent place to seek seclusion. The statue of Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi (circa 1987) in a little plaza, off Maharshi Raman Marg, near Khan Market, offers the best urban evening in Delhi. As the sky turns crimson-blue, the bronze figure recedes into an illusionary dimness.

You feel for all those beautiful Tamil poems that you will never read because you don’t understand the language. The small plaza looks to the bungalows of Lodhi Estate. Behind is Kaka Nagar colony. The ground is paved with stone slabs. On two sides are weedy gardens with trimmed hedges. Both are raised on a platform, reached by a set of three steps. A triangle-shaped bushy plot is landscaped in front of the statue.

On rare evenings, there will be old men, sitting on the steps, discussing the state of the world. Once we saw a couple of boys doing acrobatics. Most likely you will be the only one there. But the plaza’s solitude is transient. You will never be able to feel completely alone for more than a few seconds.

Full report here Hindustan Times