Musings on the Life & Times of Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan 28

Musings on the Life & Times of Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi
Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
28

These Musings danced around the edges, obviously lacking in scholarship,to ho beyond, on the Tagore-Bharathi construct. While Bharathi translated eleven works of Tagore to Tamil, Bharathi’s works did not get the reciprocity. Why is it that Bharathi, so much of whose poetic genius was about India and her future, means so little to non-Tamils.’ Prof. A R Venkatachalapathy suggests that his poor luck with translations was a major deterrent. That is why while Tagore is undoubtedly and deservedly celebrated as a national poet ( not necessarily for his national anthem) our own Bharathi had not had a rightful passage into the Hall of fame. We need to carry on a tussle and illustrate and demonstrate his right. It may be sensible to yield to these musings honoured tradition of talking in the words of better informed, to continue with a borrowing not stealing spree. In this occasion Mr. Charukesi.

Scholar and administrator Gopalkrishna Gandhi raised a question in the course of a speech: “Why does Subramania Bharati mean so little to non-Tamils?” This essay is not an answer to that question, as he has dealt with the subject in detail. In the second of the series of monthly lectures on books and literature in Kitabstani, published on May 26, he has elegantly (or vehemently?) put his perspective thus:

“I believe, the answer lies in two ‘facts’ which have nothing to do with Bharathi and everything to do with us as a nation today. India, as the North dominates her political and cultural imagination. Second, that ‘upper’ India is, today, using distortion and co-option to iconise, selectively, those Indian heroes (very few heroines among them) who serve a neo-nationalist agenda. And Bharathi being a south Indian, Tamil to the boot, and totally non-sectarian is not among them.”

In the book, Who Owns That Song?: The Battle for Subramania Bharathi’s Copyright? Prof. A.R. Venkatachalapathy. “With globalization” wrote, “we have entered a new and more stringent intellectual property regime. Fair-use clauses should be strengthened. As long as copyright holders don’t have a stranglehold — as was the case with Visva Bharathi and Tagore until 2001 — there is the case for state intervention. Ironically Tamil Nadu, which was a pioneer in this regard, has in the last two decades reduced this to a farce by nationalising all and sundry.”

Amrith Lal, writing ‘A Song Called Bharathi’ in a Sunday supplement (‘Eye’) of a newspaper in western India, recently, says, “Very few writers would be so confident of the worth of one’s creations, their public purpose. Bharathi, chased down by colonial administration and chastened by poverty, knew his worth, but there were few takers for the poet’s grand plan, which was estimated to cost Rs. 20,000 for production and Rs.10,000 for advertising expenses. A year later, in the wee hours of September 12, 1921 Bharathi passed away at his home in Triplicane, Chennai, at the age of 39. As the poet had predicted, they sold like ‘kerosene and match boxes.’ Sakthi Karyalayam’s edition in 1957 sold 15,000 copies in one month.”

There are several Subramania Bharati admirers, but the devotion and determination of octogenarian scholar Seeni Visvanathan is unparalleled. He has set the works of the poet in chronological order, in twelve volumes, besides authoring various other books such as Mahakavi Bharathi Varalaru, Bharathi Aayvugal-Sila Sikkalkal, Mahakavi Bharathi Noor Peyar Kovai and Kavi Pirantha Kathai. Alliance Company,Chennai has brought out over 16 volumes of his works and these Musings unashamedly pleads guilty to tucking into it all the time.

Seeni Visvanathan says he researched all these years to bring out flawless authentic versions of the poet’s works, dedicating his life to the revival of Bharathi literature. “I have no issues with writers quoting them. I only want an acknowledgement of my painstaking research!” he says.

Describing how Bharathi became popular and, a writer of the masses, nearly a decade after his death Prof. Venkatachalapathy says in Who Owns That Song… “First, very little of Bharathi’s works were published in his lifetime. Even the published works were not available in book form. Secondly, for over ten years of his rather short life, he was exiled in Puducherry and was cut-off from Tamil Nadu. Thirdly, as Bharati himself has mentioned, Tamil publishing was still in its infancy.

From the 1920s, there was great turbulence in the political climate in the wake of the boycott of the Simon Commission, Civil Disobedience Movement and so on. Mass movements began in the State and Bharathi’s patriotic poems became hugely popular. By this time, the Dravidian Movement, the Tamil movement and the labour movement were also on the rise. Bharathi’s writings addressed most of these issues that these movements were highlighting.”

The biography of Bharathi by V Ramaswamy Ayyangar ( Va.Ra. ) attained significance when it was published in 1944 mainly because it gave a fair account of the life of Bharati who Va Ra first met in 1911 when he (Bharati) was in a self-imposed exile in today’s Puducherry. (Subramania Bharati left Madras for today’s Puducherry in 1908 and remained there till 1918, to avoid arrest from the British government. Since Puducherry was under the control of the French East India Company, he lived there in self-imposed exile for a decade. It was during this time he wrote his great poems such as Kuyil, Kannan Pattu, Panchali Sabatham.)

Reviews suggest that even though many have written about Bharati, the biography of the great poet written by Va Ra still stands the test of time, as it reveals the poet’s character and the times he lived in. It also clears many misunderstandings among people about Bharati.

Award-winning filmmaker and scholar Amshan Kumar has translated the biography into English titled Subramania Bharati (published by Sol Aer Pathippagam) with an introduction and notes. It was while making a documentary on Bharati in the late 1990s that Amshan Kumar had first heard about Va Ra’s biography of Bharati.

“Eight months ago, when l learnt that the book had not been translated into English, I thought of doing it. It was challenging, mainly because some usages needed proper research and reference,” says Amshan Kumar, whose feature films Oruththi and Manusangada won accolades.

It was after declaration of the first lockdown on March 24, 2020 that Amshan Kumar started working on the translation. “Va Ra was a great writer and scholar who played a significant role in making Bharati’s works known nationally. I believe that Va Ra’s biography didn’t get the importance that it deserves. I translated it into English mainly to get the attention that it deserves,” he says.

And then there was Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954), better known by his pen name Kalki, was an Indian writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist. He chose the pen-name ‘Kalki,the tenth and the last avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu. He founded a magazine, which was also named Kalki, with T Sadasivam being the co-founder, in 1941. Kalki’s writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novellas, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews.

And now the piece dr resistance as to what transpired in the ‘heated exchanges over Bharathi’ between Kalki and Va.Ra. And in the words of a marine engineer turned Tamil writer K R A Narasaiah. Nephew of the famous writer Chitti Sundararajan, Narasaiah never imagined in his younger days that he would author celebrated books such as ‘Kadalodi,’ ‘Madras Pattanam,’ ‘Cambodia Ninaivugal,’ ‘Aalavai’ and recently ‘Lettered Dialogue’ (in English).

“My inspiration is my brother, Prof. K.R. Krishnamurthy, who is an ardent admirer of Subramania Bharathi. He has also written a book, ‘Kanavil Kanda Bharathi.’ He was influenced by my uncle, Chitti. At that time, I was hesitant about writing. That is why I wrote just two stories even for the hand-written magazine, Vinayaka, although I had a burning desire to write.

“While I was sailing on INS Vikrant, as a marine engineer along with 1,800 sailors, I began contributing in English to a cyclostyled magazine that was being circulated. I was a voracious reader and ‘Sinking of the Bismarck’ and books on marine life fascinated me. I also loved to read Nicholas Monsarrat. When the ship arrived in (Mumbai) India in 1960, I had the chance to read Ananda Vikatan, which was introduced to me by a group of Tamil friends. It was an eye-opener. Jayakanthan was writing almost every week.

The turning point came when I sailed on the ship, Govinda Jayanthi, in 1964. I wrote a 13-page short story and posted it to Ananda Vikatan from Rashbihari Avenue post office in Kolkata. Titled, ‘Theipirai,’ it was set in Vietnam, describing the miserable life in Saigon. When I landed in Tuticorin about five weeks later, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from the magazine Vikatan stating that my maiden story had been accepted. It was published as ‘Muthirai Kathai.’” Thereafter he wrote over 100 short stories.

SS Vasan bought Ananda Vikatan from Bhuthi Vaidyanatha Iyer for Rs 200 in 1927. Kalki was introduced to Vasan by Parali Su Nellaiappar, and he joined Vikatan. The magazine which had struggled to sell under its previous owner, sold 15,915 copies in 1930, a testament to the managerial talent of Vasan. Kalki was a commercialy successful writer with outstanding marketing skills.

Other magazines like Manikodi, Gandhi, Sudandira Changu, Dinamani also came out at this period. Va Ra became editor of Manikodi, a landmark Tamil magazine, which developed Tamil literature in that early period. Manikodi was the nursery of several stalwart writers, like Chitti Sundararajan, CS Chellappa, Puthumaipiththan, Na Pichamurthy, Ku Pa Rajagoplan.

In October 1934 Va Ra became editor of Veerakesari in Colombo. “Tamil grammar is a perfect example of tail wagging the dog,” was a memorable epigram coined by Va Ra. Va Ra wrote that others’ writings (such as those of Shelley and Shakespeare and Tagore ) were not equal to even one line of Bharati. Nellai Nesan, (a pseudonym of PC Acharya), opposing this, wrote that Bharati was a Kavi but not Mahakavi.

Kalki rebutted this, in an Ananda Vikatan editorial, that Valmiki Kamban Shakespeare Tagore etc who could be called Mahakavis (Great Poets) were writers crossing national boundaries. And that it was not fair to compare Bharati with them. Poets like Bharati and Shelley were National Poets of their time only. Kalki used a phrase “nirakshara kukshi” which means “illiterate” to describe Va Ra, which worsened the controversy.

But Kalki and Va Ra were much in admiration of each other and it was Kalki who collected funds for the Manimandapam for Bharati and a purse to help Va Ra, when the latter was in financial dire straits. There was no personal animosity between them.

One knows not whether Chellamma would even remotely appreciate our delineation on whether Bharathi was a Mahakavi or why he was not popular Pan India, unlike a Tagore. Let us check out if she may have a different take.

( Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)