Bharatiar-The Morning Star of Modern Tamil Poetry
Poets Bharatiar and Bharatidasan have played a predominant role in the development of modern Tamil poetry.Bharatiar, the morning star of modern Tamil poetry, dedicated his poetic career for the emancipation of the society from poverty, ignorance, communalism, superstition and untouchability.Emancipation of Dalits and emancipation of women were more important for him than the political freedom. When he envisaged the freedom of
Among the poets in the erstwhile British India, during the colonial period, we can not cite any other poet as progressive and as futuristic like Bharatiar.Being a Brahmin by birth never prevented him in condemning the atrocities of the Brahmin community, who practiced the custom of un-touchability,and ostracized the ‘lower caste’ people.
"None should be called as poor ,or considered as lower by birth ,In dia
Thus proclaimed Bharatiar.
When he dreamt of the Independence of India from the British rule Three decades before we got freedom, he desired the emancipation of the oppressed and downtrodden people from the clutches of upper-caste peoples’ domination.
Oh! Freedom,
The Paraiyaas,Thiyyaas and Pulayas
Are freed from their enslavement.
In the Independent India, nobody should be considered as inferior; those who were given
much reverence, just by their birth in a caste or race, will loose such respect hereafter, he warned:
The time has gone
When we were used to call
The Brahmins as of the ‘High breed’
And the British people as ‘Lord”
Bharatiar is not a mere poet. He was a rebel and his revolt was against Religion, particularly the Hindu religion, which propagated a lot of superstitions in the name of religion and made people believe that their sufferings were the order of the God, and the mighty destiny has to be obeyed passively. He never cared to wear the sacred thread, which is a symbol of the Brahmin supremacy, among the Hindus. But he conducted a homam and taught the ‘gayathri manthra’which was hitherto a Brahmin property and made a poor man, by name Kanakalingam, who belonged to a caste which was considered as the lowest among Hindus.
While a Brahmin eats, nobody from the non-Brahmin sects should come to that place. Even if a person who is a non-Brahmin sees that, it will be considered as an evil-bearing insult to the Brahmin .It was called as Dhrishti dosham’.
During that period of such discrimination under the name of religious custom,Bharatiar had the courage to visit slums inhabited by poor people who belonged to ‘lower castes.’Bharatiar practiced what he preached and was condemned by his relatives and the Brahmins during his period for his progressive views and revolutionary approach.
Bharatidasan and his followers
. Bharatidasan may be described as a poet of the 20th century who endeavored to
achieve a cultural renaissance in Tamilnadu and who dreamed to usher in an egalitarian society. Poetry in his hand turned as a powerful weapon to fight communalism, religious fundamentalism, conservative determinism, sexism and many more social evils under whose grip not only Tamilnadu but the whole Indian sub-continent suffered a lot for many centuries. With his unique style and revolutionary mission Bharatidasan attracted a large number of poets during his lifetime and thereafter. After the advent of Bharatidasan Tamil poetry became the domain of Bharatidasan and his followers.
”Bharatidasan, together with his senior contemporary and mentor Subramania Bharati, resuscitated the art of Tamil poetry in the twentieth century when it had become decadent and was almost in its death-troes.”says Marudanayagam in his Introduction to the English translation of Bharatidasan’s poems. Even though it is a little bit exaggeration, his comparison of the two great poets, is apt and unbiased.
“If the master destined to live a short but eventful life, focused his attention on arousing the patriotic feelings of his countrymen through his poems during the pre-independence days, besides breathing a new life into a language that had been put to constant poetic use for an incredibly long period of more than twenty centuries, the disciple, blessed with a full life ,could attend to all the other social needs after the country won its freedom and show the world that Tamil, which flourished during the Sangam period, continues to be an astonishingly rich medium for poems on a vast variety of themes demanded by modern age.”
An in-depth analysis of Bharatiar’s poems will show his keen desire for social emancipation in all aspects. In Bharatidasan we get a complete switchover to a radical and rational approach. Poetry in his hand turned as a powerful weapon to fight communalism, religious fundamentalism, conservative determinism, sexism and many more social evils under whose grip not only Tamilnadu but the whole Indian sub-continent suffered a lot for many centuries. The social evils and atrocities committed in the name of religion and God paved the way for the emergence of the great leader E.V.Ramasamy (E.V.R.) whom the Tamils affectionately called Periyar (The great man).
Periyar in his earlier days of political career involved himself in the national movement and had an active participation in the Indian National congress. The climate and context of the then Madras Presidency made Periyar metamorphose into a great reformer, iconoclast and revolutionary thinker. He became the legend in his life time and an indomitable force against all social evils. He fought against the Brahmin supremacy and succeeded in bringing out a communal G.O.which enabled the oppressed castes to get their due share in the government posts. He founded the self-respect movement (1925) to achieve social reformation and at the same time took part in the Justice party to capture the political power from the Brahmins. The Justice party was re-organized in 1944 under the guidance of Periyar as the ‘Dravidar Kazhagam’ (Dravidian association). It was a radical social reform movement and attracted the youth of Tamilnadu very much.
Periyar (The Great Man) was a legend in his lifetime and an emancipator of a great significance. He can be compared to Mahatma Phule or Raja ram Mohan Roy but he deserves a very important place in the annals of Indian history. He was a Raja ram Mohan Roy in social reforms, an Ambedkar in the uplift of Dalits (The Oppressed), an Ingersoll in atheism, a Bertrand Russell in rational approach and a Mao in mass appeal and organizing skills
Bharathidasan was an ardent follower of Periyar’s policies.
Among the modern Tamil poets of the post-independence period (i.e. after 1947) most of them come under the
1) “Ponni” a literary magazine which was run by Murugu Subramaniyam, published thought-provoking essays, avant-garde fiction and enervating poems. The motive of the magazine was to introduce young and talented writers and poets with social awareness.
Each issue carried a poem under the title”Bharatidasan legacy” (Bharatidasan paramparai).
The editor’s aim was to introduce young poets who belong to “
As many as forty-seven pots were introduced in this manner and they proved their might
by their dedicated poetic career.
2) C.N.Annadurai (C.N.A.) who was hailed as the Commander of Periyar E.V.R.’s Black shirt -movement, who later founded the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (D.M.K.) was running a journal “Dravida Naadu” which served as a vehicle of communication between him and his followers.C.N.A.’s powerful writings in this magazine attracted educated youth very much.
C.N.A. encouraged, budding writers and poets by publishing their worthy articles in this magazine. It is not a eulogy to say that a renaissance in Tamil literature ushered by his
efforts.
He introduced budding poets who stood for the ideals of the self-respect movement (i.e. policies of Periyar E.V.R., which attempt a social reform) and for the cause of the Tamil language. In the making up of an egalitarian thereby a secular and welfare state
the poets who followed the Dravidian movement gained an important place. Undoubtedly these poets belonged to the Bharatidasan poetic school.
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