A Vanambadi Poet, Blessed with a Sense of Biting Satire

Senior Vanambadi poet Thenarasan

The Vanambadi poets of Coimbatore, who severely criticized the conventional verse for its strict prosodic rules, were on a priceless mission in taking modern poetry to the masses in 1970s. Addressing social issues in modern verse, the poets strongly believed that their creations would bring a reformation in the society. And one such veteran Vanambadi poet is 77 year old Thenarasan, whose poems are known for his exceptional satire and pleasant rhyme.

“Like all other Vanambadi poets, I too was writing only conventional Tamil verse before my entry into the poetry movement. And it was no easy task to transform myself from a conventional poet to a modern poet. I even felt that the new kind of verse called ‘Puthu Kavithai’ written without prosodic rules was like lass renounced of her beautiful clothes and ornaments” says the Pollachi-based octogenarian poet.

An author of the popular books of poems Vellai Roja and Manvaasal,

Thenarasan’s flair for writing verse is something inseparable from him. He has recently penned two more books of verse Peythu Pazhakiya Mekam (The cloud that is used to rain) and Panikaalam Mudhailya Kavithaikal - The Mist and other poems

The latter, a bilingual work, includes the English rendering of Thenarasan’s poems by his poetry peer Sirpi Balasubramaniam, eminent Vanambadi poet and a two- Sahitya Akademy awardee. A few other verses in the book have been translated by one Muthukumar and Bala, a late Vanambadi poet.

Born in an agriculture family in the hamlet Chellappampalayam near Udumalpet, Thenarasan had his schooling in Gandhi Kalanilayam Higher Secondary School at Pungamuthur, where he later worked as a Tamil teacher.

Sharing his early day interests in poetry, Thenarasan reminisces:

“My teachers Peri.Sivanadiyan and Ki.Venkatasamy, who were also poets, ignited my passion for poetry in my school days. When I was a budding poet, the school provided me an opportunity to read out a poem, welcoming the Tamil scholar Ki.Aa.Pe. Visuvanatham, when he visited our school”

Recalling his days in the Vanambadi poetry movement, Thenarasan points out:

“We, the Vanambadis, were radicals in poetry. We used to conduct our literary meetings as Kavi Raathiris (Nights of poetry) in Coimbatore. Though the pillars of the poetry movement like Puviarasu, Elamurugu and Gnani discussed and debated over ideas of poetry, I would just be an observer”

However, listening to Thenarsan’s poem in a Kaviarangam, the audiences cannot help complimenting his biting satire with a rousing applause.

Parodying a modern day love affair, Thenarasan writes a poem in the voice of an unworldly lover, as he speaks to his lady love, a practical girl:

My dear, dear darling,

You were always practical

Only I was…

When I was planning, dear,

To bring a Kamadhenu to your back-yard

You ran away with a milk-vendor!

My dear darling

I was waiting to take you in a dream-chariot

But you eloped with him

On a rickety old bicycle! 

Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/3790595