We are happy to inform our readers that starting with this issue, we shall publish profiles of great legends from the South, who have made valuable contributions in their chosen fields, to add to the glory of our country. We start with Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharati.
Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharati was born in 1882 at Ettayapuram, a small town in Thoothukudi district. Lovingly called Subbiah during his younger days, he was given the title ‘Bharati’ at the age of eleven by the ruler of Ettayapuram. The king and the poets at the court were astounded by the young lad’s prodigious poetic talent.
Bharati was a close confidante of the king and passionately involved in the freedom movement. He worked as a Tamil teacher at the Madurai Sethupathy School and his genius always had strong leanings towards writing and journalism. He lived his life with the motto, “Writing is my mission.” Bharati’s life has a special significance to the people of Chennai, for the revolutionary poet’s Chennai stay was unique in many respects. Even today, the house in Triplicane where he lived, is a memorial to this great poet, who has achieved immortal fame.Whenever the idol of the Sri Parthasarathy Perumal of the Parthasarathy temple was taken around the temple, Bharati would not merely join the group of devotees,
but would sing songs in his loud and clear voice and move with the crowd, sometimes offering to carry the deity along with others. Bharati, the Mahakavi, lived in an era when India was still under the British regime. His devotion to Tamil led him to say,
(Among all the languages I know, there is none sweeter than Tamil) We must appreciate his love for his own mother tongue though he was fluent in many languages including Hindi, Sanskrit, English and a host of others.
(Dance and sing merrily saying we have got freedom) Even before India got her Independence, Bharati sang as though we had won our freedom. Such was his foresight that with our patriots striving hard for our Independence, he was sure that we would get it sooner or later.
What a brilliant dream he had! Bharati’s works speak highly of his patriotic fervour. He advocated national integration, when India had not yet achieved nationhood. He was against casteism. In a song entitled ‘Vande Mataram’ he wrote:
(We shall not discriminate based on caste or religion, all human beings born in this country are equal! Whether preaching the vedas or engaged in other professions) Just as he did not discriminate against people based on caste, he did not discriminate based on religions as well. What’s more, he challenged and motivated women to fight for their rights. Bharati was a visionary, who thought that India should be a modern industrial nation, where all citizens (irrespective of gender, religion or caste) would be equal. He always spoke highly of our nation and was proud of being born an Indian. He used to sing:
(A great nation in this world · our India) He believed that love of one’s language, heritage and nation should be really strong and that we should be proud of them. All of us can draw inspiration from his words. Bharati’s initiation into journalism was during 1904 through the then nationalist daily ‘Swadesamitran’.
He used to translate and publish Swami Vivekananda’s speeches, Aurobindo’s expositions and the proceedings of Congress meetings in the daily. In 1905, Bharati became the editor of a woman’s magazine, ‘Chakravarthini.’ Bharati wrote fervently and passionately about women’s empowerment in this magazine. “Can man be free if woman be a slave?”, the question frequently asked today had been asked by Bharati as early as the first decade of the 20th century. But Bharati could not give vent to his views on nationalism in this magazine.
Soon he joined as the editor of ‘India’, which as early as in 1906, sold 4000 copies. The magazine published cartoons in every issue. And the credit for the well-crafted cartoons went solely to Bharati, whose ideas were given shape by the cartoonist. To continue his nationalistic activities, Bharati shifted to French-ruled Pondicherry, where he suffered many setbacks. He returned to Chennai in 1920, after nearly 14 years and joined ‘Swadesamitran’. Until his death on September 11, 1921, Bharati continued to render total, committed service to the paper. In June 1921, he was attacked by an elephant. Though he seemed to have recovered from it, and attended to his work at the office in July and August, his health started to deteriorate. But his spirit remained undefeated. Bharati’s literary works crossed the frontiers of conventional poetry. He had a profound message to convey in everything he wrote. His name and his works will live forever.
The Memorial of Subrahmanya Bharati at Chennai. Photo Courtesy: The Hindu.