Lasting regret of Tamil thatha

He could not meet the man who sent him palm leaf manuscript of Tamilvidu Thoothu

Portrait of U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer at Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. U.Ve. Swaminatha Iyer Library in Chennai.— File photo

It may sound like a tragic romantic story in which the lovers never get to meet each other.

U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer, the grand old man of Tamil, had a lasting regret that he never got to meet a man who had sent him a rare palm leaf manuscript of Tamilvidu Thoothu , an anonymous Tamil literary work in 264 stanzas.

In an essay, ‘Innum ariyen’, Iyer narrated his failure to meet the man who had brought the manuscript. Apparently, the man was in financial trouble and was hiding from his creditors. He was not able to preserve the manuscripts and sent them through Swaminatha Iyer’s student Sambasivam Chettiyar in 1900 in Kumbakonam.

“Iyer’s regret was that not only was the author of

Tamividu Thoothu unknown, he could not meet even the person who preserved the manuscripts,” said P. Saravanan, who is compiling 165 articles written by Swaminatha Iyer during various periods.

Most of these articles had appeared in Swadesamitran , Kalaimagal , Ananda Vikatan , Kalki and little known journals such as Darul Islam , Aadal Paadal and Silpasree . Twenty of these were never published.

Book release in August

Mr. Saravanan, a postgraduate Tamil teacher at the Chennai Corporation School, said the book would run into 1,000 pages and ‘Kalachuvadu’, the publisher, had plans to bring it out in three volumes . It will be published in August with a preface by Professor A.R. Venkatachalapathy of Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), who encouraged Mr. Saravanan to take up this venture.

“While compiling the book, I have depended on the first edition, and the second edition that contained corrections carried out by Swaminatha Iyer himself. I am saying this because subsequent editions are rampant with errors,” said Mr. Saravanan, who has already published the prefaces of Swaminathan Iyer titled Saminatham.

In search of

missing flowers

In Uthirntha Malar , Iyer had explained his journey in search of three flowers mentioned in Kurinjipattu . Nilavil Malarntha Mullai talks about the surprise discovery of a work called Mullaipattu .

Mr. Saravanan said Swaminatha Iyer had also reviewed Sangakaalathil Chera Mannargal , a book penned by Raghava Iyengar in 1937. Sanga Tamizhum Pirkala Tamizhum , originally delivered as a 10-day lecture at the Madras University, runs into 200 pages.

“A news reporter in Swaminatha Iyer can be spotted in the essay he wrote in 1904 about Tiruvidaimarudhur Vasantha Mahotsavam,” said Mr. Saravanan.