132ND BIRTH ANNIVERSARY : Bharathiyar, a people’s poet

The remembrance of the poet  Bharathiyar is an occasion to recall his noble work and great ideals. His poems continue to inspire us and rekindle in us a sense of pride and  solidarity bringing about  rhythm and grace in our life thus widening our visions.
“Of all the glorious and unique cultural heritage it is the literature which is most striking and outclasses other precious gifts bequeathed to us by our great and grand forefathers’’ – Governor of Punjab   M.CHANNA REDDY.
It has been very rightly observed, ‘’Good literature knows no nationality nor any bounds. » Subramania Bharathiyar with his versatile imagination and poetic fervor has contributed immensely in enriching the literary mines of the world.
Widely known as the ‘’Morning Star’’ in the world of Tamil literature, Subramania Bharathiyar was a poet of  originality, perception and expression who had his poems in Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Emerson, Browning, Tennyson, Tagore and other great poets. He was truly the precursor of renaissance in  Tamil literature. He gave a new dimension and direction to the historic Tamil literary traditions of the timeless past and stood at the vanguard of a literary renaissance.
Born on December 11, 1882 he was eleven when he delighted everyone with his striking originality, pure music, simple diction and technical precision. He was a natural genius, a poet born. He was progressive in his thinking.  Tamil literature can afford to forget everything but not Subramania Bharathiyar.
A star which shines with its own peculiar luminosity. A composer of brilliant verses, an intrepid fighter in the cause of social justice and political freedom.
He proved to be a pace setter for an unprecedented trend in Tamil writing. He was not only an omniscient poet but also a prophet of total revolution. His songs and poems inspired thousands of youths.
Bharathiyar was a living example to prove that a poet and a genius is born but not made. His poetry breathed a rare aroma of a flower in the wilderness combined with master strokes of exceptional vivacity and vigour. His simple and elegant Tamil made the language acceptable to one and all. Especially to the musicians who, by all the musical adaptation of his compositions, gave them a dynamism and dash that was acceptable to the common man.
To the Tamil people he said,
“Tamil friend believe in God. Be not afraid. Good times are ahead for you. Great men have been born in your community. Divinely inspired poets, brilliant musicians, artistic sculptors, many a scholar of learning, many able industrialists, many genius are born in your community. Men who fearlessly follow the path of ethics are day to day increasing in number. Divine saints are born in your fold. Wipe your eyes clean and look around. Look at yourself in the mirror.
Among our women many have been born as the incarnations of supreme Shakti. Brightness, power, strength, courage, poetry, beauty and happiness and all these are coming to you.
Our ancestors were great apostles of this mother worship. Para Shakti, supreme energy, is the name whereby they knew her. In the dark ages of our history, this worship  of the supreme energy began to be misunderstood . Mother worship will save humanity, for the supreme energy renders immortal all that reflects her beauty and her fire.
Create Tamil schools in every town and village.
Arrange to teach arts and science of European knowledge in Tamil. To him art and science could survive together supplementing each other.
Do not enhance caste differences. The Tamil adage that there are only two castes, the good and the bad
Let that be your gospel in life
Do not think of women as chattels. In the previous times our elders used to call their wives ‘’Helping hands in life. The male and female are equal’’. Nations are made of homes. And as long as you do not have justice and equality fully practiced at home, you cannot expect to see them practiced in your public life.
To Bharathiyar, women were the personification of everything high and great. He was for total emancipation of womanhood. He hits out at atrocities towards them.
No wonder he said, ‘’If only it is decreed that men and women are equal, learning will thrive to uplift the world’’.
The great visionary that Bharathiyar was, he could visualise and feel unity in diversity. He could contemplate a beautiful mosaic, in which multi-lingual groups could live in peace and amity, as members of a happy family
He called upon the people to shed fear and fight falsehood. ‘’Even were the skies to fall on your head, have no fear’’ was the message of courage, this was also a crusader against injustice which he put into his song. Bharathiyar wrote,
‘’We shall enact such a law that,
    Should a single person go without food,
  We shall destroy the world’’.                                                                                                                                                        
 Bharathiyar was a people’s poet. He wrote for the people and about the people. His poems breathe of the natural freshness and fragrance of the joy of living.
Bharathiyar had his roots firmly in the traditions of the past but he was indeed a poet of the future and heralded an era where enriched with our experiences, we should march forward towards new horizons  in every sphere of life. Love of ancient culture and the yearning for modern progress met and mingled in Bharathiyar’s melody.
‘’There is no use’’, he counseled, ‘’in secretly regaling ourselves with colourful tales of the prosperous past’’, we should catch up with the most progressive advances in arts and sciences, in thought and literature. Our past shall equip us, not envelope us; it shall inspire us, but not imprison us.
It was Bharathiyar who boldly struck new ground in the field of poetry and gave it an inspiring modern touch. An accepted feature of Tamil style, the ‘’Poetic Prose’’ heard so much these days on almost every platform, owes its beginning to Bharathi. It was he who initiated this trend. He was the father of modern Tamil poetry.
His invigorating songs gave the clarion call of freedom from fear, from superstitions and  from poverty and ignorance. His was the voice of the poor and forlorn masses of the people. His simplicity of verse sheathed in soul stirring sentiment was capable of penetrating into one’s heart. His poetic themes covered a wide range of subjects, from spiritualism to humanism, from romanticism to nationalism.
His famous songs of love, nature, patriotism, religious devotion and social reform give perennial pleasure. Special mention must be made of his masterpieces Kuyil Pattu (the song of the nightingale), Kannan Pattu (lyrics on Kannan) and Panchali Sabatham (the vow of Panchali).
A revolutionary and literary genius, he gave a new shape to Tamil literature. A gifted poet and a zealous patriot who contributed with the might of his pen to the cause of freedom. Bharathiyar’s writings have a universal applicability to the world’s cultures, philosophies and life systems.
To sum up, Subramania Bharathiyar left behind to the new generations a legacy unmatched in power and strength. His poetic output has stood the test of time. He is our proud gift bestowed to the world. Mauritius has rightly honoured this universal poet by naming the Moka Eye Hospital after him.