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Their fame lives on...

Nostalgia grips as you enter the memorials of poets Bharati and Bharathidasan in Pondicherry. And now there are CDs to take you on a guided trip of the heritage spots, says Deepa H. Ramakrishnan

DOWN MEMORY LANE The open terrace and room in which Bharati had spent his evenings in Pondicherry.

It was also a September, 97 years ago, when Mahakavi Subramania Bharati set foot on the Pondicherry soil. Carrying a letter of introduction from Mandayam Srinivasachariar to a resident of Perumal Koil Street, Chitti Kuppuswamy Iyengar, Bharathi came here leaving behind his wife in Kadayam.

Though he was free to do what he pleased here, the British spies, who tried to make him leave the sanctuary of Pondicherry by hook or crook, often bothered him. Yet, it was during his 10-year stay here from 1908 that he wrote some of his finest patriotic and romantic compositions.

"He was only 26 then... and though he first stayed at Kuppuswamy Iyengar's house, he moved to a house on Easwaran Dharmaraja Koil Street with the help of Kuvalai Krishnamachariar and Sundareshwara Iyer. He changed five houses on the same street and the fifth house is the place where his museum stands today," says N. Sengamalathayar, Research Assistant, Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiar Memorial Museum-cum-Research Centre. (The centre is located at 20, Easwaran Dharmaraja Koil Street).

CD release

Recently, on the occasion of Bharati's birthday on September 11, the Government of Pondicherry through the Art and Culture Department released two CDs containing guided tours of the Bharathiar and Bharathidasan's museums. The CDs will shortly be made available for sale and their contents can be accessed on the Internet too.

Poet Mannarmannan, whose father Bharathidasan was Bharati's disciple and friend, explained, "Bharati had to frequently shift houses because of the movement of the spies and also for the sake of his family. He stayed in the last house for two years. Before that he stayed in the house opposite the museum. The day after he moved to this house, on November 26, 1916, a cyclone struck Pondicherry and that house was damaged. That made him sing — "netru irundhom andha veetinile indha neram irundhaal enn paduvom, kaatrena vandhadhu kootram (yaman) ingu nammai kaathadhu deivamandro?" meaning "Had we been in that house now, what would have been our condition? What came as the wind was actually death? It was God who saved us!" "On the same street people like V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Arumuga Chettiar, a philanthropist, and Ponnu Murugesa Pillai stayed. Our family too stayed in two of the houses that Bharati had occupied earlier but we were not contemporaries," said 73-year-old Mannarmannan, when asked if he had seen Bharati.

The two poets — Bharati and his dasan (Kanakasubburathnam changed his name to Bharathidasan) — met at a silamba koodam opposite Calve College on Mission Street.

In 1972, Bharati's house was made a memorial. It was dedicated by the then Lt. Governor Cheddi Lal in the presence of M O H Farooq, who was the Chief Minister at that time. The house has three rooms on the ground floor, one on the first, a mutram and a small garden with a well and a guava tree. But only half the house, which was given by Annamalai Chettiar, is in the possession of the Government. "This portion is well preserved and it houses a library with over 17,000 books, which can be used by research scholars," says Amudha, the librarian. After Bharati left, no one lived in his house for over 50 years. Though the house changed several hands, they wanted it to be a memorial for him.

The Bharathidasan memorial was dedicated a year before thanks to the efforts of Mannarmannan, his son. "It was a long felt desire to make it a museum and the Government too stepped in to convert into one. How we moved into our seventh house in Pondicherry, located at 115, Perumal Koil Street is a big story. Venkatramana Rao, the owner, had to auction the house. But in those days only affluent people could live in that street and when we evinced interest to buy it they opposed it. I was 16 then and Kuyil Siva was bent on buying it for my father's sake," recalled Mannarmannan.

They went to court and got the house for Rs. 4,005. Still they couldn't take possession of the house, as seven families, which lived there refused to vacate. As soon as they took possession in 1945, they had to demolish the small walls that divided the house into small portions, get water and electricity connections. Even after Bharathidasan's death in 1964 in Chennai, his family continued to live in that house till 1971.

"They were poets and not materialistic in their approach to life. My father owned this house thanks to Kuyil Siva's efforts. Bharathidasan would describe himself as a koel that didn't know to build a nest — "Koodu ondru katta theriyaadha kuyil". After the house was converted into a museum, I gave a lot of things used by my father, including his walking stick, glasses, furniture and even clothes, to be kept on display. I also collected his works and gave them to the museum so that others can use them after my life time," he says.

"The museum has five rooms, a kitchen, two verandahs in the front and back and a lot of books," says Calaichelvi, the museum in-charge.

Both the museums are open to public from 9.40 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and then again from 2.00 p.m. to 5.20 p.m. on all days except Mondays. They contain photographs, manuscripts and letters, all well preserved and maintained. Each time one enters these houses one is transported to a different era. Sometimes, we feel the poets continue to live on — just like their immortal verses.

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