Thread by @sheshapatangi1

#SubramanyaBharati – The Warrior Poet.

A R Venkatachalapathy in his book “Who Owns That Song” compares Subramania Bharati with Tagore, and he writes…
Why is Subramania Bharati not as well-known as Rabindranath Tagore?
The Nobel Prize? Part of the answer but not the whole.

A R V gives a most meaningful illustration about Bharati, he says Bharati’s life was short. Of his thirty-nine years, over ten were spent in exile in Pondicherry to escape the British Indian police. At a time when Tagore was being feted, Bharati was pleading with the governor

of Madras for justice. If the crowds at the time of Tagore’s death caused near riots, Bharati’s funeral procession drew eleven persons and there was a confusion over who would light the pyre.

Mahakavi Bharathiyar is considered to be one of the greatest Tamil poets of the

modern era. Most of his works were on religious, political and social themes. Songs penned by Bharathi have been widely used in Tamil films and Carnatic Music concert platforms.

Born to Chinnasami Subramanya Iyer and Elakumi Ammaal as "Subbayya" on December 11, 1882, Bharati

had a difficult childhood after losing his mother when he was 5.
His fascination for poetry and Tamil Classics wasn’t acceptable for his father who dreamt his son to be an engineer, but as years subsided, the father understood he can’t change his son & sent young Subbaiah to the

services of Tirunelveli Raja.

Once it so happened that 16 year old Subbaiah had a debate in king’s court with Pandit, when he finished, the Stunned King’s court got overwhelmed and decided to confer the title #Bharati to Subbaiah.

After his father’s demise in 1898, Subbaiah &

his wife Chellamma (He got married when he was 14) goes to Varanasi where his uncle & aunt were residing looking after a Matha, there he joined Central Hindu College, learnt Hindi & Sanskrit also fine tuned his English.

It was during his student days, at Varanasi that Bharathi

began to dress in the way now familiar to us. He cut his hair to the dismay of his uncle, grew a moustache, dressed in the North Indian fashion, and adopted his classic turban.

The Etteyapuram Raja asked Subbaiah to return back, so he did in 1904, but he felt uneasy amongst the

richness & grandeur, he left the king & went to Madurai. THEN HIS DESTINY INTERVENED.
He met G Subramania Iyer, the editor of #Swadeshimitran & joined him as Sub Editor in November 1904.

His main work was to translate into Tamil the news published in English dailies.

That is how Bharati came to translate speeches of Swami Vivekananda, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Veer Savarkar and other Nationalists. Gripped by the messages of these men, Bharati became a sympathizer of the Nationalists. This work gave him good training in the art of writing.

His language gained in a power of expression till then unknown in Tamil.As the subeditor of Swadesamitran Bharati went to attend the twenty-first All-India Congress Session at Benares. There he met Sister Nivedita. His 2 volumes of poetry, Swadesa Gitangal (1908)

and Janma Bhoomi (1909), were to be dedicated to Sister Nivedita, "who without words, in a split second, taught me the nature of true service to the Mother and the greatness of sacrifice."

THE KARNATAKA CONNECTION
Tirumalchariar and Srinivasachariar, the Mandayam brothers, were

great patriots, and did not see why they should not spend their inherited fortune for the Motherland. Thus in 1906, born a new Tamil weekly, "India", based out of Madras.
Bharati became its editor. He was also the editor of an English magazine Bala Bharati, Tamil magazine

Chakravartini, and a Tamil daily, Vijaya.

In "India" Bharati poured out his flaming heart in poems of fire. His prose targeted the Moderates, and poured scorn on the Indians who did not join the freedom struggle. In a cartoon published in India in 1908 the Moderates are

portrayed as dogs eager for the bones Lord Morley is throwing to them while the British wished to loot the mansion of India; and sadly looking on is the caged Lion, Balgangadhar Tilak.

Naturally enough, the British admin got his pen-lashings in full measure.

The interpid

Bharati spared no one. The Government was ready to crack its whip & Proceeded to arrest the team…

Bharatiyar escaped to French India. Mandayam Srinivasa Iyengar was arrested, sentenced to 5 years transportation, his brother Mandayam Tirumalachari, also escaped to Puducherry

That was in October 1908. On 10 October the first issue of India came out from Pondycherry.

During his exile, Bharathi had the opportunity to mix with Aurobindo, Lajpat Rai and V.V.S. Aiyar, who had also sought asylum under the French.Bharathi assisted Aurobindo in the Arya

journal and later Karma Yogi in Pondicherry.

Bharati was that kind of poet who relied on inspiration to write.
Bharati’s complete poems total to some 600 pages. He wrote about sixty stories of varying length which do not conform to accepted forms of the novel or short story.

He wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, translated some Vedic hymns. As a journalist he wrote editorials & political commentary. He was the pioneer of column writing in Tamil & the author of arguably the first published autobiography in Tamil.

Why then is Bharati so little

known outside Tamilnadu?
Translation into English – its quality or its lack thereof – is the prime culprit.
Little was done in his own lifetime to translate his poems.

When the Indian independence movement was oscillating between phases of vigour, dullness and momentum,

Bharathi sang for political freedom and emancipation from social stagnation. His radical humanism was rooted in Advaitic Vedanta as he battled against the evils of caste system and subjugation of women.

His poetry stands out for many facets of his love for his motherland.

He berates his countrymen for many social evils. He chastises them for a fearful and pusillanimous attitude towards the rulers. He sound a clarion call for national unity, removal of casteism and the removal of oppression of women.

Even in the period 1910-1920, when Gandhi was

a not a force, with a tremendous sense of positive expectation, he talks of a new and free India where there are no castes. He eloquently imagines all-round social and economic development. He talks of building up India's defence, her ships sailing the high seas, success in

manufacturing and universal education. He calls for sharing amongst states with wonderful imagery like the diversion of excess water of the Bengal delta to needy regions. He talks of a bridge to Sri Lanka. He even desired greater co-operation between Bharat and her neighbours

a vision realised more than 60 years after his death through the SAARC agreement. Truly a visionary.

Bharathi also fought against caste system. Born as a Brahmin, he tried to remove the disorder in Brahminism brought up on other castes through Misconceptions.

CONTINUES.....

a vision realised more than 60 years after his death through the SAARC agreement. Truly a visionary.

Bharathi also fought against caste system. Born as a Brahmin, he tried to remove the disorder in Brahminism brought up on other castes through Misconceptions.

He used to say,

“There is no caste system. It is a sin to divide people on caste basis. The ones who are really of superior class are D ones excelling in being just, intelligent, educated and loving”.
He also said, 'There are only 2 castes in the world: one who is educated and one who is not.'

He considered all living beings as equal and to illustrate this he even performed Upanayanam to a young Harijan and made him a Brahmin. He also scorned the divisive tendencies being imparted into the younger generations by their elderly tutors during his time. He openly

criticised the preachers for mixing their individual thoughts while teaching the Vedas and the Gita.

Meanwhile, with poverty looming over him, Bharati was badly affected by the imprisonments and by 1920, when a General Amnesty Order finally removed restrictions on his movements

Bharati was already struggling. He was struck by an elephant named Lavanya at Parthasarathy temple, Chennai, whom he used to feed regularly. When he fed an expired coconut to Lavanya, the elephant got fired up and attacked Bharati. Although he survived the incident, his health

deteriorated a few months later and he joined his mother early morning on 11 September, 1921 at around 1 am.

Though Bharati was considered a people's poet, a great nationalist, outstanding freedom fighter and social visionary, it was recorded that there were only 14 people to

attend his funeral.

While Bengali Minds Kept Tagore Relevant Over The Years, The Tamilians Clouded By Periyar & Karunanidhi Denied Bharat, The Beauty Called Subramanya Bharati.

He was more Left than Karl Marx himself, but the only reason No Liberal Endorse Him Is Because,

He Lived, He Wrote, He Sang, He Died & Whatever Be It, He Left A SANATANA Stamp.

#BharatiyarJayanti
#ForgottenHeroes
#VandeMataram

@jananisampath ma'am, reason why Left doesn't endorse him