As the first Vice President of India, when Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan visited Madurai during Pongal celebrations in 1953, in one his speeches he said, "A library gets its fillip only when it has the Bhagavad Geeta, the Bible, the Koran and literary works of Shakespeare.”
History records that the speaker found a challenge from a member in the audience, Karmegha Konar, who questioned why Tirukkural, the classical Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets did not find a mention his speech. He then requested the former Vice President to ensure that one of the most intellectual works in Tamil should also find a place in all the libraries, not only across the State, but also the country and the world.
This conversation is recorded in Karmegha Konar's biography “ Senthamil Valartha Sennapulavar ” written by his grandaughter K Alagi in 2006. A summarised biography was released by the State Government as a five-page booklet on his 100th birth anniversary 31 years ago. (The book can be purchased from “Aadhithya Padhipagam” in Reserve Lines, Madurai).
Sharing the incident with Metroplus, Alagi, who retired as Principal of Yadava College, says so much of her grandfather's research on Tamil language still remains undocumented. She spends most of her time now searching, compiling and publishing his writings.
The forgotten scholar had a unique life which began in a small village called Agathar Iruppu, near Madurai and went on to the hallowed halls of great institutions, such as the Tamil Sangam where he was a student and The American College where he taught Tamil for close to four decades while heading the Department of Oriental languages.
Born to a farmer couple in 1889, it was his father who was keen to put his son through formal education and ensured that Karmegha completed his t hinnai pallikoodam before the age of 15.
The young boy joined a local businessman, Thupasu Kadhar, as an accountant, who noticed Karmegha's passion for Tamil language and suggested that they admit him to the fourth Madurai Tamil Sangam that was beginning to establish itself at the turn of the century.
Alagi says, “Only 35 students were allowed to learn in a year and more than 30 seats were already taken. But his father had tremendous faith in his prodigious son. Karmegha joined the institution in 1904 and passed out as ‘Pandithar ‘ in 1912. He was the only non-Brahmin student.”
It was Tamil Thatha U.VE.Swaminatha Iyer who recommended the 22-year-old's name for the post of lecturer in the newly begun Tamil department at The American college. He chose to call himself Karmegha Kone in English to avoid being identified with his caste. Kone means king in tamil
The early 1900s was also the time when the Tamil printing press was setting up and epics like Cilappathikaram and the Tirukkural were published. For a man who immersed himself in his mother tongue, says K Kalavathy, 70, another grand daughter of Karmegha, the city has forgotten the scholar today. Two dates, February 19 - the Tamil doyen U V Swaminatha Iyer's birth anniversary and February 21, the International Mother Language Day, quietly slipped by with no recall of the two scholars.
“There is a story about my grandfather who made his first impression with Tamil sangam’s principal.Narayana Iyengar, when he was asked to recite “Palum Theli thenum “ hymn. He was only 17 but his pronunciation and style of recitation was marked as noteworthy," says kalavathy.
In 1955, Sir PT Rajan , conferred the title ,’Sennapulavar’ to Karmegha Konar at The Madurai Thiruvalluvar Kazhagam. He also arranged for Karmegha to be brought to the function in a chariot pulled by two horses which was a rare honor to Tamil scholars.
Karmegha Konar's speech at the Madras University on Tamil culture was translated and published in The Hindu in 1927 under the title Ancient Tamil culture and civilisation. In 2006 Tamil Nadu Government purchased 17 of his books including 'Nallisai Pulavargal ,Kannagi Devi ,Arivu Nool thirattu and nationalised them.
“The boy from a remote corner lived his dream but the people have forgotten the scholar in him”, says Alagi.
