Tamil poet S. Abdul Rahman, popularly known as 'Kavikko,' passed away in Chennai in the early hours of Friday after a brief illness. He was 79. He is survived by a son and a daughter. The funeral will take place tomorrow, according a family member.
Born in Madurai on November 9, 1937, Abdul Rahman obtained his post-graduate degree in Tamil before joining the Islamiah College in Vaniyambadi, Vellore district, as a teacher. He subsequently became the Head of the Tamil Department in the college and held the post for nearly 20 years. Later, he took to writing on a full time basis.
When he got the Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for his collection of poems, Aalapanai , it was a “poetic irony.” He was, till then, known as a bitter critic of the Akademi for not giving Tamil poets their due.
His criticism was not unjustified then, as it took over 30 years for the Akademi to identify a work of Tamil poetry for its award. The last piece of Tamil poetry bagging the award was Vellai Paravai , authored by A. Srinivasa Raghavan, and that was in 1968.
After Abdul Rahman’s, three more works of Tamil poetry received the national institution’s recognition and one of them was Akayathukku Aduthaveedu , written by Mu. Metha, for 2006.Vairamuthu, another prominent Tamil poet, was, however, given the Akademi award for his novel, Kallikattu Ithikasam , in 2003.
In an hour-long meeting with this writer some years ago, Abdul Rahman had blamed his literary fraternity for failing to project to the outside world "the unique aspects of Tamil poetry." He had strongly felt that it was due to "our deficiency" that Tamil poetry was not accorded the importance that it deserved at the national level.
As one who demonstrated his skill in using the complexities of imagery and symbolism in poetry, Abdul Rahman called himself a neo-classicist. In his later part of life, he devoted time to read the Vedas and Upanishads, “whose literary value,” he said, “is immense.” He acknowledged that many of his expressions and symbols were taken from them.
He was not the one who would ignore lyrics used in Tamil feature films which were also, according to him, one form of poetry. He was of the view that Kannadasan’s best pieces were his film songs.
Abdul Rahman received several awards and honours such as the State government's 'Kalaimamani' title (1989), and 'Agni Akshara' Award (1992).
Abdul Rahman closely identified himself with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi who, he once said, was a “pioneer in adopting the form of poetic prose.”
D. Ravikumar, Tamil poet-writer and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi general secretary, said "Kavikko" had successfully experimented new forms in Tamil poetry.
Here is a poem of Abdul Rahman in his work, Pyramids in the Desert :'
The leaders also die like all of us
But, the leaders' death alone becomes irreparable loss
Still, the thrones are not kept vacant.
