From: ssankara@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Sornam Sankara)
Subject: Re: Gandhi statue in Villupuram blown up
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 05:38:23 GMT




In article <kat.728165020@reg> kat@doe.carleton.ca (Kathiravan Krishnamurthi) w
rites:
>
>        Mahatmaa Gaandhi silayai udaithathu paRRi emakku theriyaathu.
>        Indiayaavil Congress kaararkaLE Gandhiyai mEdaikku thaan
>        payanpaduththi koLvar.
>
>
>        MK Gandhi's name is used only for political rhetorics by
> Congress-I people. None of them including Nehru, Indira stood
> by any Gaandhian principles. Now they might cry foul after the statue
>is broken. Everythinh is Indira mayam. IG National Stadium. Nehru stadium.
>JN Univ. Even airport.

     I agree.  Will you also admit that Anna, MK, Veeramani, MGR did not stand
for any of Periyar's principles ?  Did they really fight for the abolishement
of caste, upliftment of the most backward and the scheduled castes ?  Did they
really contibute anything useful for the constructive development of Tamil,
except their anti-Hindi and  pro-English rhetorics ?  Did they aontibute
anything seriously for the quality of the Tamil literature and art except
writing some sensational dramas, stories and narrations ?  Did they contribute
anything positive for the popular culture of Tamil Nadu.  They were trying to
portray Vellala culture as the only Tamil culture in their fight agaisnt
brahmin culture.

     The simple reason is that they are all politicians and they do anything
for getting votes.

     If it is congress, they will put Congress names everywhere and if it s 
Dravidian party they will put Anna's name.  It is also another politics.

     Pro-Brahmin lobby will question Periyar, Anna names and the anti-Brahmin
lobby will question otherway.


>
>     About paarathi, I personally feel he is a mini kayavan. 1000 people
>may try to convince me otherwise but I do not agree.
>here is an example of his kayamai:
>
>            thamizhth thaai: paarathi:
>
>    "aathi sivan peRRu vittaan
>     agathiyan enROr aariya mainthan
>     niRaimEvum ilakaNaj seithu koduththaan"
>
>     What does he mean. His ancestors might be aarians 2000 years ago. But
>       he should not give wrong information like this.
>

     I also agree that Bharathi was a very confused poet as far as his 
ideological leaning.  For example, about Soviet Revolution he wrote,

     kaLiparaacakthi kadaikkaN vaiththaL        (The verses are not exact here)
     `aha'vena ezhunthathu paar yukappuRatchi

Is it not belittling the great revolution ?


Similarly he praises gandhi and Ahimsa on the one hand as

`eNNila noyudaiyar ivar ezhunthu 
    nadappathaRkum valimaiyilar
 ..............................
 ..............................
 thazhvuRRu vaRumaiminji viduthalai thavaRikkeddu
 paZhpattu ninRathOr paarathathesanthannai
 vazhvikka vantha Mahatma nee vazhka vazhka
 ..............................'

On the other hand, about poverty ..

`iniyoru vithi ceivom athai
     entha naLum kappom
 thaniyoru vanuku uNavillaienil
     cakaththinai ezhiththiduvom'

which is a very terrorising sentence.

But I dont think he really had any serious thought about his ancestry or Tamil 
ancestry.  Some of his poems were written just for the sake of poetry.

I want you to think how many of  the pseudo-periyarist or the pseudo-marxist
poets (or leaders) will be willing to antagonize his own caste as Bharathi did 
?  He brought a harijan boy `Chinnasamy' and made him wear `poonool' and called
him as Brahmin.  That was in the 30s. Even now nobody will dare to do it.  He 
insulted Brahminism by cutting and throwing his `poonool' in the Ettayapuram 
Samasthanam.

My mother (who was a child during the last years of Bharathi in Ettayapuram) 
used to tell that the Brahmin community treated him like a `thur avathar' and 
the children called him as `kOtti mama' because he ridiculed brahminism.  In 
some of his poems he expresses Brahminstic beliefs because of cultural impact.
He did not do any rational research but he did fight injustice.


It is our fault to expect everything from a particular person without going 
into his background or time.  For example, our society is so sickened to search
for every other truth, Tamil word, moral etc in TirukkuRaL and then come up 
either excessive praise for Tiruvalluvar or complaint that Tirukkural does not 
have so and so.


>      Last year in OTTAWA we had a patti manRam titled, "paarathi
>     inRu irunthaal kaLipuRuvaanaa! kavalaip paduvaanaa!" The majority
>     5 of the 6 speakers were eezham people. I was the only Indian speaker.
>     They know about paarathi and do have some discussions about him.
>     But they do not do like some Indians who go to the extent of
>     naming thamizh sangams as "paarathi sangam" as if paarathi is thamizh.



     I agree with you here.  This is again a disease for Tamils to bring
Bharathi for everything.  If Bharathi had not been a Brahmin, the popular Tamil
magazines would have ignored.  Since he is a Brahmin, he got serious attention 
of the popular magazines also.  But it is not Bharathi's fault.



>     These are the same people who ostracized paarathi for his liberal
>     views on caste.

     I dont think people really talk about his liberal views on caste.  In that
case, he would not get much publicity in our TV and Radio.



>
>      I shall write later about how people work in distorting thamizh
>      literary tradition. One Premaa Nandakumar has written in her
>                            ***********************
>      book that "paanjaali sapatham " is the first drama-poem in
>      thamizh.
>
>        All these kayavars have to stop writing and spreading
>        misinfo to make paarathi look bigger.
>        paarathi will have his own place in thamizh literature[a small
>       little sure corner for singing about women liberation and
>       freedom]
>      What a kayamai?
>
>     silappadikaaram is the first drama-poetry written in the subcontinent
>     to my knowledge. I shall correct myself if somebody can quote
>     any other work as good as silappadikaaram that talks about
>     dance, drama and poetry so early in Indian history.
>     [mEgathootham came very late in 12 th cent]



     I agree.  But it is not Bharathi's fault. It is a question of identity
crisis for the vested interests.  It is nothing to do with his talents.
The same vested interests were responsible for insulting him when he was alive 
and let him suffer.



>
>
>   Kathiravan


S. Sankarapandi
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil