Date/Time
Date(s) - 16/09/2022
2:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location
Seminar Hall
Categories
National Poet Subramania Bharati: Thinker ahead of times from Tamil Nadu
Abstract
National Poet SubramaniaBharati: Thinker ahead of times from Tamil Nadu Subramania Bharati stands as a true symbol of freedom and nationalism. He passed away on 11th September 1921. Only handful of people attended his funeral due to caste expel from the community and as well the fear of government. That was a depressing part of the tribute, this society gave to this great poet. Bharati (1882 – 1921) was a Tamil bard hailing from Tamilnadu, a fierce freedom fighter and iconoclastic reformer. He was also referred as Mahakavi Bharati, which means “Great Poet”. Bharati, a true patriot and was one of the yuga purushas. He had a far-sighted vision. He has written thousands of literary work on different subjects such as National flag, Indian nationalism, Mahabharata, love songs, children’s songs, Kannan Pattu, Kuyil Paatu, environmental poems, glory of the ancient Tamil language, and odes to notable independence heroes, to name a few. Apart from Tamil, Bharati was proficient in several other Indian languages including Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Sanskrit, and also international languages like English, French.
One of his poem, he sings with pride. “The fabulous Himalayas are ours; besides there is none to make similar with it on this earth… The illustrious river Ganges is our river; as well there is no river to equal its virtue….” Even during the 1910–1920, when freedom was far away and when Mahatma Gandhi was then a vibrant force, with a happy outlook, he imagined a new and free India. He was emotionally concerned with all economic and social development. He talks about building the strong structure of Indian defence, his high-rise ships, success in producing and educating the world. He asks to share between the provinces with interesting metaphors such as diversion of the many waters of the Bengal delta into areas of need. He sings about a bridge to Sri Lanka in front of Ceylon. He even demanded greater cooperation between India and its neighbours a view that was adopted decades after his death under the SAARC agreement.
Bharati was a multifaceted Persona. He was against starvation. He affirmed, ‘If one person suffers from starvation, we will destroy the whole world’. Bharati always talked about equality and women’s role in the society. It’s a new kind of woman who raises her voice for equal respect and work opportunity within the same society. Bharati visualized modern women as a leader, a legislator, a free, self-sufficient, and most importantly a fully realised human being. Bharati vociferously vouched that New Woman with her head held high and looking everyone in the eye, Courageous and unafraid of any one and confident in her own knowledge. The Modern Woman never gets disheartened, he is optimistic.
Bharati was noted for his contribution to women empowerment and his open thoughts on malebureaucracy, colonial attitude, casteism, poetical exuberance, blind beliefs, social evils, missing sense of oneness amongst the citizens, Universal brotherhood .Still his noble thoughts hold good even today.
Key words: – Casteism, Freedom struggle, Male bureaucracy, Social evils, Visionary, Women empowerment.
Dr. S. Ramanathan
Visiting Scholar, IIAS