Sharing Pains of Migration in Tamil Diaspora Literature

Poet Cheran Adressing the conference

Ponnavaikko speaks on Tamil as language in computers

Due to the migration of thousands of Tamils to various countries of the world, it is true that the modern Tamil literature penned by authors living abroad reflects the pain and anxiety borne out of the isolation from their native land. In order to introduce and analyze this new form of literature in Tamil, the first day of the conference on Diaspora Literature and Education included a symposium on the title Pudhiya Sirakukal  ( New wings) in which popular Tamil poets from abroad addressed here on Tuesday.

Presiding over the symposium, popular Tamil poet and a two time winner of Sahitya Akademy award, Sirpi Balasubramaniam pointed out that Eelam Tamil poetry written by women in the island nation is unique in modern Tamil literature.

Addressing in the symposium, popular poet Cheran, who is also a professor in the University of Windsor, Canada, said:

“When I read the great Tamil epic Silapathikaram for several times, I realized the pains of migration from the two main characters Kovalan and Kannaki, who left their original land Pukar  and settled in Madurai, where Kovalan was murdered for a crime, which he did not commit”

Cheran noted that people, who migrate to foreign countries due to wars and other political turmoil, are isolated in there, experiencing the pains of nostalgia and anxiety.

However, pointing out the popular line Yadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir  ( All countries are ours and all people are our kin) from a Sangam lyric penned by Kaniyan Poongundran, Cheran said that writers of Diaspora literature seek solace from such cosmopolitan elements found in ancient Tamil literature.

The conference also included a session on opportunities in Tamil through developing information technologies for publication of Tamil e-books in the internet and Tamil as language of internet through smart mobile phones.

Addressing the session, Ponnavaiko, Vice-chancellor, SRM University, said that internet played a very important role in communication among the immigrant Tamils spread across world countries.

“The first electronic computer was invented in the early 1940s and the user’s language of the machine was English. However, later on, many immigrant Tamil software technologists created Tamil software for communication through internet” he added.   

Muthu Nedumaran, a software technologist from Malaysia, who spoke on the title Kaipesiyil Tamil (Tamil in mobile phones), said:

“In making Tamil as the user’s language in smart phones, technology is not a barrier. However, the popularity of using Tamil in mobile communication devices depends on the number of Tamil users” added Muthu Nedumaran, who has been in the mission of creating software technologies for using Tamil in mobile phones for over two decades.    

Poet Perundevi from USA, poet Anar from Sri Lanka, Tamil software technologist, Tirumurthi Ranganathan from USA and writer and publisher Badri Seshadri spoke in the function.  

Link to my article in The New Indian Express:http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2266105 

      

  

Writers, Who Penned Kongu’s Fragrance

The fertile Kongu region, whose people were once inseparable from the occupation of agriculture, has gradually lost its cultural identities due to rapid urbanization at the cost of agriculture. And it sad that the region’s rural fragrance with its unique culture can be experienced only from the short stories, novels and poetry penned by the region’s popular writers.

Hence, in order to introduce the realistic lives portrayed in the works of eminent Kongu authors, the Tamil Cultural Centre of Dr. N.G.P Arts and Science College in the city has recently brought out a book Kongu Manam Kamazhum Padaipukal ( The literatures filled with the fragrance of Kongu culture) compiling articles from various research scholars on the works of as many as nine eminent Kongu writers including the yesteryear personalities  R.Shanmuga Sundaram, M.P. Periyasamy Thooran, Era Vadivelan and  Ku. Chinnappa Bharathi.

“The Tamil Cultural Centre is committed to work for the development of Tamil by bringing out such valuable books on the works of Kongu writers” says Dr. Nalla Palanisamy, President of the cultural centre and publisher of Kongu Manam Kamazhum Padaipukal.

The book, which is edited by Sirpi Balasubramaniam, popular Vanambadi poet and P. K. Ponnusamy, Former Vice-chancellor, University of Madras and Madurai Kamaraj University, introduces the Kongu writers with critiques on their respective works.

“Kongunadu was a separate region with its unique tradition and culture, though it was under the rule of Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas in different periods. This fact can be understood by reading ancient pieces of Tamil literature including Purananuru, Pathittrupaththu and Thevaram” writes P.K. Ponnusamy in his foreword to the book.

Speaking on the literary glory of Kongunadu, Ponnusamy points out that the land was also the birth place of unique pieces of Tamil literature including Perunkathai by Konguvelir, Thakkai Ramayanam by Emperuman Kavirayar and Ravana Kaviyam by Pulavar Kuzhanthai.

 

On the trends of writing regional literature, K. Panchangam, eminent literary critic, says:

“R. Shanmugasundaram from Keeranur in the then Coimbatore district pioneered the trend of writing regional fiction in the entire India through his popular novel Nagammal in the early 1940s. Moreover, the trend has gained momentum these days due to extensive globalization, which has created an urge in regional writers to document the disappearing cultural aspects of their respective native lands”

In his article on popular writer and editor of the ten- volume Tamil Encyclopedia M.P. Periyasamy Thooran, Sethupathy, a research scholar, writes:

“Thooran, who was born in 1908 at Manjakaattu Valasu in Erode in the then Coimbatore district, penned plenty of books from short story collections to science fiction, portraying his land and people in a realistic manner”  

Mahudeeswaran, Tamil professor and research scholar, opines on the works of the late poet Vadivelan:

“Vadivelan developed his passion for writing after inspired by the literary activities of his grandfather, who had staged several plays including Vaanaasura Natakam, Ottakootha Natakam and Silapathikara Natakam at his village Perodu near Erode.

The book Kongu Manam Kamazhum Padaipukal also contains articles on the works of contemporary Kongu writers K.Rathnam, Perumal Murugan, C.R. Ravindran, Ma. Natarasan, Suryaganthan, Patchi, Sivakumar and Pazhaman.  

 


Link to my article in The New Indian Express:http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2063208

Throwing New Light on Bharathi’s Life

A participant in the fancy dress competition at a school, who plays the revolutionary Tamil poet Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi, wearing a white head gear, black coat and white dhoti with a long stick in his hand, may not know the reason for the poet’s covering his neck and chest with white cloth that is visible in a shape of triangle. But, ask Prof. Sethupathy, a well-known researcher into Bharathi’s life and mission, and he will tell you the story behind it.

“A popular photo, which shows Bharathi wearing a white cloth inside his coat, was taken in Madras by his disciple Kanaka Subburathinam alias Bharathidasan. Had Bharathidasan not shot his teacher without the white cloth covering his neck, the country could have understood from his weak emaciated body, the poverty he experienced in his short span of life” informs Sethupathy, a 43 year old researcher.  

Sethupathy, who is a professor of Tamil at Bharathidasan Government College for Women, Puduchery, was in the city recently to address on the poet’s birth anniversary at the literary organizations Tamil Nadu Arts and Literary Forum and Sangamam.

Sethupathi is an author of around 50 books including Bharathi Thedalil Pudhiya Parimanangal and Thamizhil Mahakavi Thondruka, which are research works on Subramaniya Bharathi.

Admiring the literary merits in the devotional writings of the poet, Sethupathy says that Vinayaga Naanmani Malai is Bharathi’s masterly work, in which he describes Lord Ganesha as an embodiment of religious harmony and sees in Him Jehovah, Jesus and Allah.   

“But, Lord Vinayaka, whom Bharathi adores in his Vinayagar Naanmani Malai, is not the present day Ganesha, which has become the symbol of Hindutva politics” underlines Sethupathy.  

Sharing interesting information from the great poet’s life, Sethupathy says that, as many believe, Bharathi was not trampled by an elephant.

“The poet, who was very weak due to abject poverty, died naturally” he informs.

In contrast to the common belief that Bharathi went underground in Pondicherry by boarding a train from Madras, Sethupathi’s discovery throws new light on the poet’s life history.

“Bharathi, who was wanted by the police for his revolutionary activities in Madras, escaped to Pondicherry by boarding a boat at the Buckingam Canal in Madras”

In support of his discovery, the scholar shows evidence from the book Glorious Years by G.K. Damodara Rao, a retired judge and the grandson of Dr. Nanjunda Rao, a medical practitioner and philanthropist, who provided shelter to Bharathi at his home Sasi Vilas in Madras.

“Dr. Nanjunda Rao, who smelled the possible arrest of Bharathi, woke up the poet in the dead of night and made him board a boat at Buckingam Canal and sent him to Pondicherry accompanied by his loyal servant Raman Nair”  

Sethupathy says that Damodara Rao collected this new information from his grandmother Mrs Nanjunda Rao and also confirmed it from Raman Nair, who accompanied Bharathi to Pondicherry in the boat.

B.Meenakshi Sundaram

Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2100660

  

  

Tracing Black Aborigines of Coimbatore

From the suffix ‘Pathi’ in the names of certain villages like Maruthapathi, Appachigoundenpathi, Chinnampathi, Kumittipathi and so on, begins the history of Coimbatore. Though the suffix ‘Pathi’ suggests the meaning of a tribal Irula village, many hardly know that the aborigines of Coimbatore were the Irulas and Koniamman, the sentinel deity of Coimbatore, was once their Goddess with Her name ‘Konamma’

Though the Irulas earlier worshipped their Vanadevathais (Female deities of the wood), they were later incorporated in the Hindu pantheon. Moreover, the Irulas were also made worshippers of Hindu Gods like Shiva and Vishnu.

For instance, the Irula tribe in the forests of the Nilgiris worships Lord Rangasamy at a shrine in Karamadai and Rangasamy peak in the Nilgris. However, legend has it that Lord Rangasamy, who used to live on the plains at Karamadai, came and settled on the peak after a quarrel with His wife! But, the creation of the legend must be to save the hill folk from the toilsome journey from the Nilgiris to Karamadai for attending the annual car festival of the Karamadai  Rangasamy Temple. The Irulas of the Nilgiris, in order to prove the legend, also point out the two footprints of the ‘deity’ on a rock below the Rangasamy peak.  

The shrine on Rangasamy peak, where an Irula man is a hereditary priest, is visited by other tribal groups like Kotas and Kurumbas too on festival days. During the ceremonies held at the shrine, they also follow the priest’s chanting the name of the lord as ‘Govinda! Govinda!’  At a nearby overhanging rock, which is called Kodai- Kall (Umbrella Stone) the Irulas extract a whitish clay for drawing Naamam (A Vaishnavite mark) on their foreheads.  

However, the Irula tribal people earlier worshipped only their Vanadevathais before the Cholas and the later Vijayanagar rulers ‘streamlined’ them by spreading their respective ‘official’ religions Shaivism and Vaishnavism with their aim of extracting the tribe’s forest wealth including pepper and ivory. Further, when the Cholas attempted to clear the forests of Coimbatore and construct Shiva temples there, the Irulas protested against their attempts of deforestation. Nevertheless, the kings convinced the tribe by constructing temples for their deities too. They also ‘appointed’ priests at the temples built for the tribal deities and donated lands to the shrines.                     

Interestingly, as the name ‘Irula’ takes its root from Irul or darkness, it is believed that the people emerged from the dark jungles of Coimbatore. It is also said that they  got their name for their darker complexion in comparison with any other tribes of Coimbatore.  

At a time, when the world mourns the demise of Nelson Mandela, who struggled against apartheid in South Africa, one can recall how the dark- complexioned Irulas would be criticized in an exaggerative statement, which reads thus:      

“Even charcoal would leave a white mark on the skin of Irulas “

Sources: Ithuvo Engal Kovai, Cholan Poorva Pattayam – By Kovai Kizhar, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume II – By Edgar Thurston

Link to my article in The New Indian Express http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2035257

The Kongu Scholar, who Crowned Ravana

Poets Valmiki, Tulsidas and Kambar, who glorified the fictitious King Rama in their grand epics, could not have imagined that, one day, a renowned Tamil scholar from Kongunadu would pen a similar grand epic, but in praise of their villain Ravana and making him the hero of his epic.

When Pulavar Kuzhandhai wrote the epic ‘Ravana Kaviyam’ in 1946, the then Congress government, which ruled the Madras state, imposed a ban on it for its pro-Dravidian views. However, when the DMK captured power in Tamil Nadu, the ban was lifted in 1971.

Praising the book and commending Kuzhandhai’s creativity and knowledge in Tamil, DMK founder C.N. Annadurai noted that Ravana Kaviyam, which consists of 3100 songs, was equal in all literary merits in comparison with Kambaramayana, the epic penned by great Tamil poet Kambar. But, he also underlined that Kuzhandai’s epic differed only in the central idea.

A close associate of  Dravidian Movement leaders  like Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and C.N. Annadurai, Kuzhandhai was a staunch atheist, rationalist and great lover of Tamil.

Born at Olavalasu near Erode in the then Coimbatore district in 1906, Kuzhandhai learnt the Tamil alphabets by writing them on a heap of sand at a Thinai Pallikoodam         (Pyol School). He had a passion for composing conventional Tamil poetry even while he was a 10 year old boy. He mastered the elements in Tamil prosody all by himself, as there were few Tamil scholars in his village.  

Pulavar Kuzhandhai, who worked as a Tamil teacher at Bhavani Board High School between 1941 and 1962, is also an author of various other books like Arasiyalarangam, Kamanjari, Nalathambi Sarkarai Thalattu, Velakovil Vazhinadai Sindhu, Thirunana Siledai Venba, Nerunchi Pazham and many more. He also wrote commentaries on Thirukural and Tholkappiyam, besides authoring Tamil grammar books like Yaappathikaram and Thodayathikaram. 

At a time, when a religious political party plays the ‘Rama’ card to grasp power in contemporary politics, it is surprising to know that Kuzhandhai penned a grand epic even several decades ago to register his opposition against the themes in Ramayana, which praised the Aryan practices of sacrificing animals in Yagnas, dividing human beings in the name of four varnas and demeaning the Tamil race as Rakshasas and Asuras.

Glorifying Ravana as a Tamil king, Pulavar Kuzhandhai, in his Ravana Kaviyam, desribes the Aryan settlement in the northern parts of Tamil Nadu, where Saint Vishwamitra performed Yagnas and sacrificed animals in the fire, until the Lankan king Ravana stopped the merciless practice. In contrast to the ideas propagated in

Ramayana, Kuzhandhai justifies Ravana’s abduction of Sita as being only his retaliation for Lakshmana’s severing off Ravana’s sister Surpanaka’s private parts, as she did not yield to Rama’s lust.

Interestingly, Kuzhandhai has made Sita herself explain the virtues of Ravana, as she tells Hanuman that Ravana was ready to let her go, if her husband Rama made an apology to Ravana, realizing his evil deeds.

Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/1800237

In Honour of Kovai's Vanambadi Poets

Dr Manjualadevi addressing at Tamil Nadu Ilakkiya Peravai

At a time when the learned few failed to address social and political issues in their conventional Tamil poetry, it was the Vanambadi poets of Coimbatore, who used their modern verse to boldly address issues from the objective world.

“Despite the pride in calling Coimbatore as The Manchester of South India for its fabulous revenue through numerous textile and spinning mills, the exploitation of labourers at the mills could be one of the reasons for the birth of Vanambadi Poetry Movement here“ said J. Manjula Devi, author of the book Manudam Paadiya Vanambadi

Addressing at the 264^th monthly literary meeting of Tamil Nadu Ilakkiya Peravai, on Saturday, Manjula pointed out that the Vanambadi poets, who wrote verses in the early 1970s, dared to question power and capitalism even during the Emergency period.

“Vanambadi poets like Puviarsu, Sirpi, Gnani, Pulavar Aadhi and many others are still active in the world of literature, though they are nearing 80 now” noted Manjula Devi, who researched their lives and mission for her PhD.

“At a time when the contents in classical Tamil literature were confined just to propagate ethics and devotion to God, the revolutionary Vanabadi poets addressed day to day social and political issues in their verse” she averred.

Tracing the history of the modern poetry movement, she noted that poets like Mullai Aadhavan, Agniputran, Gnani, Puviarsu, Pulavar Aadhi and many others drew inspiration from the Naxalbari movement in West Bengal and founded the organization in Coimbatore.

“As how Tamil women could not have obtained liberty from the clutches of the conservative culture, had Periyar E. V. Ramasamy not fought for their rights, Tamil verse could not have been liberated from the learned few, had the Vanambadis not founded their poetry movement here” she compared.

Manjula Devi, who is working as the Headmistress of a primary school at Kallapuram in Udumalpet, is an author of various other books like Paapavin Natchathira Kavithai, a children’s literature, Kannadasanin Kavi Mozhi, a collection of articles on the poetics of popular poet Kannadasan and Nadhikarai Sirpangal, a collection of  Sirpi Balasubramaniam’s verse.  

Citing the famous poems found in Vanambadi magazine, Manjula read out a humorous one penned by eminent Tamil poet Erode Thamizhanban, which was published in one its issues:

The bridegroom, who tied the golden mangalsutra

Around his bride’s neck, knows its value

The bride too knows the auspicious jewel’s worth

But, the one, who knows more about its value

Is the Marwari pawn broker!  

Link to my article in The New Indian Express:
http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/1710245 

A Freedom Fighter, Named after his Megaphone

The 97 year old veteran freedom fighter Ramasamy alias ‘Bu. Bu.’ Ramu of Ondipudur is well- known to everyone in the area, as he is seen everyday strolling from his house to the Kamaraj statue on the Trichy main road to have a glance at his departed leader.

“I saw the three leaders Gandhi, Nehru and Kamaraj together at Ondipudur when I was a 13 year old boy. I listened to Gandhi speak for about 20 minutes. T. S. Avinashilingam Chettiar, the then president of the District Congress Committee interpreted Gandhi’s speech in Tamil” recalls Bu. Bu. Ramu.   

Bu. Bu Ramu joined the Congress movement soon after he saw the leaders and first worked as Gram sevak, doing sanitary works and selling Khadar in the villages surrounding Palladam. Later, he became a member of a labour union founded by famous freedom fighter and trade unionist N. G. Ramasamy.    

“The Sessions Court Judge, who was a man from Andhra Pradesh, first referred me as ‘Bu. Bu.’ Ramu, since my job was to announce trade union meetings through a megaphone cycling from street to street in the villages” he recalls.

As Mahatma Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement with the slogan ‘Do or Die’ in 1942, there were numerous protests throughout the nation to drive away the British. The trade unionists including Bu. Bu Ramu assembled at Kokkali Thottam in Ondipudur for a meeting to chalk out strategies to derail a train carrying explosives at Singanallur Tank. The meeting, which was conducted in the dead of the night on August 11, 1942, was presided over by N. G. Ramasamy.  

“As discussed in the meeting, on the midnight of August 12, 1942, we successfully derailed the goods train, which was carrying explosives to Madras from the cordite factory in Aruvankadu” informs Bu. Bu. Ramu.

Asked about his participation in torching the Sulur Aerodrome, which was another landmark protest in the freedom struggle of Coimbatore, Bu. Bu. Ramu recollects:  

“As we wanted everyone to get out of the Sulur Aerodrome before setting it ablaze, we pelted stones using a Kavan (a sling). However, as many as three British soldiers guarding the aerodrome died in the fire”

Bu. Bu. Ramu was awarded a total of 47 years imprisonment on various charges. However, after spending 3 and half years in Alipore jail, he was released after the interim government formed under C. R Rajagopalachari as Chief Minister of Madras Presidency.

“When I was arrested, the cops at Singanallur police station immersed my hands in water and pierced needle between my nails and flesh forcing me to disclose the names of my comrades. They made me lay nude on the floor and thrashed me from head to toe with their lathis. When I asked for water, they forced me to drink my urine” he signs off.

Link to my article in The New Indian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/1716344