Page 42 - NIS English 01-15 December,2022

Personality Subramania Bharathi

THE GREAT DEVOTEE

OF INDIANNESS

"Ellarum amarnillai aaedumnaan Muraiai India ulagirakku allikkum". It means India will lead the
way for the rest of the world to break free from all forms of bondage. Rashtrakavi Subramania
Bharthi wrote these words many years ago to express his vision of the country. With these words
of Rashtrakavi Subrahmania Bharathi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the vision of a
new India to the country on August 15, 2018, from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Subrahmania
Bharathi was not only a writer or poet, but also a freedom fighter and social reformer who prioritised
education. His ideas and writings were decades ahead of their time. Out of respect and love, freedom
fighters and Tamil-speaking people throughout the country called him Mahakavi Bharathiyar.
his visionary great poet was born on December In 1903, Bharthi's first poem was published. Bharathi
11, 1882, in Ettayapuram village in Thoothukudi is regarded as a national poet due to his patriotic
Tdistrict of Tamil Nadu to mother Lakshmi songs. His poems were widely translated and
Ammal and father Chinnaswamy Iyer. Subaiyya was popular in all Indian languages. He is regarded as
his childhood name. Subaiyya inherited a love of one of Tamil Nadu's and India's greatest poets. He
language from his father, who was a Tamil scholar inspired people to join the freedom struggle and
and a friend of Ettapuram Maharaja. His mother died participated in it enthusiastically. He belonged to the
when he was only five years old. Perhaps this is why people wherever he lived, and he led them through
Bharathi saw his mother in all women and worked every political and regional crisis. Bharathi felt the
tirelessly to improve women's conditions throughout joy of India's independence many years ago through
his life. his poems. Bharathi was highly influenced by English
At the young age of 7, Subaiyya began to write poetic style, and he translated English poems into
poems in Tamil. In a debate full of Tamil scholars Tamil under the surname Shallidasan. He also wrote
at the Ettayapuram court, he won an unprecedented commentaries, editorials, short stories, and novels in
victory on the subject of "education." Following this Tamil. He had a distinct identity in Tamil's modern
performance, the boy "Ettaypuram Subaiyya" became literary genres. He spent a significant part of his life
known as "Bharathi," a name given to Goddess in journalism. In 1907, he took over the editing of the
Saraswati. Tamil weekly "India" and the English magazine "Bal
Bharathi was married to Chellamma in June 1897, Bharat" after "Swadesmitran." He continued to speak
at the age of 14 years. His father died unexpectedly out against the British government. His songs stirred
the following year. As a result, the responsibility the consciousness of the Tamil public. "India" was
of the house fell on Bharathi's shoulders. He sent the first Tamil Nadu magazine to publish political
Chellamma to his maternal home and went to cartoons.
Varanasi himself. From 1898 to 1902, he lived From 1908 to 1918, he lived in Puducherry and
in Varanasi with his aunt Kuppammal and uncle continued to publish "India." During this time, he
Krishna Sivan. There, he keenly learned three new met leaders of the Indian independence movement:
languages: Sanskrit, Hindi, and English. He began Aurobindo, Lajpat Rai, and V.V.S. Sri Aurobindo taught
his studies at the Hindu college. When he arrived in him the Vedas. Bharthi also published a magazine
Chennai in 1904, he took a job as an assistant editor called "Vijaya." The British Raj became enraged as
at the daily newspaper "Swadesmitran." In December a result of his influence, and in 1910, "India" and
1906, on her way back from the Calcutta Congress, "Vijaya" were forced to close due to a ban in India.
Bharati met Nivedita, a Swami Vivekananda disciple. On September 11, 1921, he left this world, but he
Following this one meeting, he became a strong changed the lives of millions of people. Last year, on
supporter of women's empowerment. With Mahakavi the 100th anniversary of his death, Prime Minister
Bharathi, a new era in Tamil literature began. Bharathi Narendra Modi announced the establishment of a
defied convention and established new paradigms. Chair in his honour at Banaras Hindu University.

40 New India Samachar December 1-15, 2022