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Furthering Bharathiar's legacy
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Vijaya Bharati, the granddaughter of Subramaniya Bharati, shares her thoughts about the revolutionary poet and his ideas in a tête-à-tête with M. ALLIRAJAN.
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FOR SOMEONE who is the granddaughter of the legendary poet Subramaniya Bharati, passion for writing is but natural. Writer and lecturer Vijaya Bharati heard about her illustrious ancestor from her grandmother Chellammal, under whose wings she spent the early years of her life.
Thanks to those conversations, she has an in-depth perception about the grandfather she never saw. And, he had such an impact on her that she wrote his biography in English and chose `A critical study of Bharathiar's works' for her doctorate. The former, published by the Central Government was subsequently translated in other languages.
What does she remember about her childhood? "At home they (mother Thangamma and grandmother) never spoke about ordinary things like arisi, paruppu and samayal." And, Chellammal was so influenced by her husband that whenever a decision had to be taken, she would end up doing what he would have done had he been alive. "She would then tell me that `Thaatha ippadi seyya sonnar'. A lot of people used to visit our home to know more about Bharathiar. We children grew up in that environment," she reminisces.
Though Dr. Vijaya never got to know Bharathiar at close quarters, her proximity to two people who loved him a lot helped unveil the mystery surrounding her grandfather. "My grandmother and mother did not tell me anything specific about him, but narrated incidents. My grandmother told us about the difficulties he faced and his other experiences."
Talking about her recent novel `Amaran Kadhai', which was released on December 11, 2002 — Bharathiar's birthday — she says it was an attempt to bring out his persona. "None of the writings on my grandfather threw light on his real nature, his love for animals and other traits. You will not know the real Bharathiar on reading them. I tried to do that in the form of a novel, since it is a good literary form where one can juxtapose fact and imagination. The basic purpose is to introduce the real Bharathiar to the younger generation," she explains.
In the novel, she has spoken about some interesting facets of Bharathiar. "He used to experiment a lot and even thought about his death even while alive. His association with Shri Aurobindo and Vedanta — all find a place in Amaran Kadhai."
Living with her grandmother and mother helped her learn a lot. "They were extraordinary women and were extremely courageous. They managed things on their own," she observes. A post-graduate in Tamil literature, Dr. Vijaya is not very happy with the present state of writing in Tamil. "After Bharathiar, Bhararathidasan and Kalki there were few good poets or writers. There is a lot of deterioration in the quality of poetry and prose writing," she regrets. "I do not know whether we can classify some of the present works in Tamil under poetry or prose," she observes.
Dr. Vijaya has written more than 10 books, most of them in Tamil. Interestingly, despite her lineage, she has never tried penning poems. "I did not want to dabble in poetry for the sake of pretence... never wanted to do something in which I am not good at. But I chose prose as I was confident," she remarks.
She feels strongly about popularising his works among the present generation. "Even a small child recognises Bharathiar's portrait, but how many know about his works?" she wonders.
What does she feel about being the granddaughter of a legend? "I'm used to people referring to me that way since my younger days. Such reference has a lot of advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that since I know about Bharathiar I can share my experiences. However, it gets tiring when people demand to hear the same thing time and again."
Bharathiar was a visionary who dreamt of a hunger-free India. His words "Thanioruvanukku unavilaiyenil jagathinai azhithiduvom' reverberated across pre-independent India. Do his ideas hold good today when thousands of people still languish for food? "Definitely. Bharathiar's thoughts are more relevant now than ever before. We are slipping from his dream. He dreamt of democracy, but not the kind of democracy that we have today. He stood for an equitable, casteless society," she counters.
Dr. Vijaya has lived in Canada for more than three decades and taught Tamil literature at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. What does she feel about the importance given to English in schools vis-à-vis its effect on children's ideas about Tamil and the State's culture? "We cannot remain kinatru thavalais (have restrained vision) and ignore English in today's fast-changing world. But, at the same time, we should try to strike a balance," she states.
"We should first create an ideal environment at home. The parents have an important role to play in this... they must speak about the greatness of Tamil and its hoary traditions," she suggests.
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