The Blessed Mahakavi Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan For one who had the great fortune to get to write ‘Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar’ and be published- Kalaimagal Publications- and the work released on 11th Sept,2022, on the
The Blessed Mahakavi
Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan
For one who had the great fortune to get to write ‘Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar’ and be published- Kalaimagal Publications- and the work released on 11th Sept,2022, on the 101st death anniversary of the peerless poet, the next date, 11th December,2022 marks his 141st birth anniversary. Not an anniversary of any significance, you may say. But in the life and afterlife of Subbiah, every day, date and anniversary in the calendar is a day,date and anniversary to recall and remember.
In Arthur C Brooks’ (now a Harvard Business School professor, engaging students in a course on ‘Happiness’ much like Michael Sandel hosting on ‘Justice’), ‘From Strength to Strength’, he talks of two curves in the life of a homo sapien. ‘Fluid Intelligence’ which marks the growth and zenith of your productive life till age 40-50 and ‘Crystallised Intelligence’, the second curve, till you climb the stairs to meet the maker. The author Arthur argues that it is akin to ‘Vanaprastha’ in Hindu scriptural construct and if one realizes, accepts and pivots, it can be a far more productive span of one’s life, like in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach
than say the ‘disappointing second curve’ of Charles Darwin . He gives illustration after illustration, from researches across the world on the eternal truth of entering the Vanaprastha phase and embracing it with eager and willing expectation.
Well, Bharathi lived but for 39 years from 11th Dec,1882 to Sept 11,1921. Like Swami Vivekananda. They did not get to enter Vanaprastha. They however lived in Vanaprastha and entered Sanyasin life throughout. Bharathi’s brahmacharya ended at fourteen, as he married his dear Chellamma. He was in grahasthasrama till the lord almighty could miss him no more.
Kaviko famously mused
எட்டயபுரத்தில் ஒரு ரெட்டைப் பிரசவம்
நீயும் புதிய தமிழும்
( A twin birth in Ettayapuram
You and New Tamil)
Bharathi was not born a Tamil. He was Tamil itself born. At all of seven years, he and his classmate Somasundaram got called as ‘Bharathi’ for their prodigious talent. It was Somasundaram, to his eternal credit and our gratitude, nudged Bharathi to pen his poems in ‘simple colloquial Tamil’ and refrain from the classical sangathamizh mode, bringing home his prolific poems to the masses. Bharathi obliged, as only he could.
That was not enough for Bharathi to get the first prize in a contest for his செந்தமிழ் நாடெனும் போதினிலே and V V S Iyer was furious that the tamilian did not value Bharathi, by giving him just the second prize. Well, Bharathi led a ‘first class life’ said Bharathidasan ( his chela, as in a self confessed slave), so the second prize was not his loss. Does anyone remember who got the first prize?
I got my Bharathi published rather easily. More so, as we chose to go the chivalrous route to refrain from monetizing or commercializing him. Fifty percent of Bharathi’s works were published after his departure. Not one lent him the Rs.100/- he sought from twenty, to publish his works. His poems were nationalized (first of its kind) after A V Meiappa Chettiar chose to give it to the government as owner, upon purchase for Rs.400/-. Yes, four followed by just two zeros.
Bharathi lived in penury. Yet, he was not impecunious. He was rich in thought. Richer in delivery. Richest in reach. He was a Mahakavi with Prarasakthi’s munificence. She kept him financially poor so that he may dole out his millions in words to us. His magnum opus Panchali Sabatham may have fetched India its literature Nobel to match Tagore’s Geetanjali. Alas, it’s publication itself, second part, was still born, until he went. We are like that only.
Yet, above all else what endeared him to me and continues to, is his ‘child like’ not ‘childish’ acts. He loved to play goli ( marbles) and gilli thanda with street urchins. He came out of his house by hopping across to his neighbours stairs, not once, but many times and urged passersby to join him in the revelry. He loved the circus. He expressed himself as if a tiny tot. He loved Navarathri for the Sundals and Dolls. Visited multiple houses, to partake in the feast, after checking out the cuisine of the day.
And this other. A poignant moment like none other. Contrary to popular belief, he did not die from the kick of Parthasarathy Temple elephant in July,1921. He died on Sept 11,2021, after he suffered a severe stomach ailment. On the night of 10th, despite his close friends’ humble prayers and loving requests, he refused to have the prescribed medicine.
He who had proclaimed
காலா!உனை நான் சிறு புல்லென மதிக்கிறேன்; என்தன் காலருகே வாடா! சற்றே உனை மிதிக்கிறேன்
( Yama- I regard you as little grass
Come near my legs: I shall stamp you with my foot)
chose his day to go. Just around midnight, as his wife and friends were anxiously watching over his struggle- he called Chellamma to bring him his best and brightest white veshti and mundas. It was a struggle to get up and wear them. He refused help. Wore it himself while pleading and ‘cursing’ Parasakthi for her miserly benediction to him. He called out for his customary black coat (which he first wore in Varanasi- where Kashi Tamil Sangamam is now on- to align himself with the lowly and oppressed community which wore it with a Mundas while cleaning the roads and toilets) .
Stood as erect as he could. By shouting ( feeble it turned out) out his Vande Mataram. Asked for a mirror to be brought in. Saw himself with the pride of a Mahakavi. Said- I would like to meet my maker in my best. He may have been niggardly in giving me riches. But Parasakthi enriched me fully, so that I may sing her praise. I obliged as only I could. So, it is but appropriate I meet them in my finest).
So saying, with prayer of Vande Mataram on his lips and departing soul, he passed on to TIME. To become TIME.
( Author of Mahakavi Subramania Bharathoyar- Musings,Anecdotes,Episodes, Kalaimagal Publications,2022- practicing advocate in the Madras High Court)
