Remembering Bharathiar

Tamil Nadu’s Mahakavi came alive that evening as children and adults, led by Menaka M. Vinay, recited his verse

Photo: S.S. Kumar

When I was young, Bharathiar and his poems were an integral part of my life. When I misbehaved, it was the Mahakavi’s words that calmed me down.

The seeds of patriotism were sown when my mother read out ‘Endru Thaniyum Indha Sudhandhira Daagam’. Or, his ode to the Mahatma, ‘Vaazhga Nee Emmaan’.

Dr. Menaka M. Vinay had a similar effect on me at “Ennai Sudarmigum Arivudan Padaithuvittaai”, a small, beautiful event held on Bharathiar’s birthday by Yellow Train at That’s Y On The Go. About 50 children and some adults, with Bharathi’s famous meesai painted on their faces, imbibed the revolutionary poet’s spirit, as the evening progressed. Starting off with ‘Manadhil Urudhi Vendum’, the poet’s guide to living, the evening saw the children recite ‘Senthamizh Naadennum’, ‘Pandaara Paattu’, ‘Olipadaitha Kanninaai’, ‘Kadavul Engae Irukkiraar’ and a mazhai paatu. Most verses had been chosen keeping in mind the poet’s love for children and Nature.

The evening was a throwback to a time when the poet roused the consciousness of a State, and possibly Nation, with his fiery verses that spoke of societal upliftment and the hunger for freedom, and when his words worked as a conscience keeper for a people who were enslaved by the British, tradition and customs.

Menaka gave a short introduction to every piece in English, before reciting the verses that have seeped into her heart. Menaka grew up with the poet’s verses. Her parents instilled a love for the poet in her, and that intensified when at the age of 10, she visited his house in Pondicherry. “Seeing the desk on which he wrote, the chair he sat in, the handwritten notes….transformed me,” she said.

The evening concluded with clippings from Gnana Rajasekaran’s film,

Bharathi . It showed the poet as a youth with a fire in his belly for change. It also showed his angst when as a middle-aged poet, he who wonders why the Government feared his verses as if they were bombs!

“This then,” said Menaka, “was Bharathi. He lost his mother at five, a friend at nine, and his father at 15. He was married off when he was 14, to a seven-year-old girl. And, despite the burden of a family, and pressures at work, he managed to do so much before he was cruelly snatched away at the age of 39.

A total of 14 people were part of the funeral procession of this great man who transformed the lives of thousands!”

As the last clipping played out, strains of “Nallathor Veenai Seidhu Adhai Nalamkeda Puzhuthiyil Erivadhundo?” (Will you make a good veena and throw it in the dust?) filled the room. It’s a sad irony that Bharathi’s life was no different. He went unsung.

But, Menaka hoped that every child who attended the event would carry back a little bit of the flame that was Bharathi, and keep it alive inside their hearts.