Testimonial

சுகி.சிவம் ரவி, அற்புதமான கவிஞர். இசையமைப்பாளர், எழுத்தாளர், சொற்பொழிவாளர், மூன்னணி வழக்கறிஞர், மனித நேயம் மிக்க இனியவர். வானவில் பண்பாட்டு மையம் என்னும் அமைப்பை நிறுவி, ஒவ்வோர் ஆண்டும், பாரதியின் இல்லத்தில் மூன்று நாட்கள் பாரதி விழாவை மிகக் சிறப்பாக நடத்தி வருபவர், பாரதி கலைக்கழகம், இவருக்கு, 'கவிமாமணி என்னும் விருது வழங்கிச் சிறப்பித்துள்ளது. ரவியை நான் பாரட்டுவது என்னை நானே பாராட்டிக் கொள்வது போல. அதனால் ஒரு குறை சொல்லி முடித்துவிடலாம் என்று நினைக்கிறேன். ஒரு வழக்கறிஞருக்குரிய எச்சரிக்கை உணர்வுடன் எந்தக் கருத்துக்கும் எந்தச் செய்திக்கும் மேற்கோள் அல்லது பிரமாணம் தந்தே அவர் எழுதி இருக்கிறார். உள்ளொளி இருந்து உள் நோக்கம் இல்லாதவர்கள் மேற்கோள் பிரமாணங்கள் ஏதுமின்றியே சொல்ல வந்ததைக் சொல்லிவிடலாம் என்பது என் கட்சி. ரவி எனக்கு எதிர்க்கட்சி என்றாலும் என் கட்சிக்காரராகிய ரவி என்கிற பிறவிக் கவிஞருக்காக இறைவனுடைய நீதி மன்றத்தில் எப்போதும் வாதாட நான் தயாராகவே இருக்கிறேன். அவர் உள்நோக்கம் இல்லாதவர். உள்ளொளி மிக்கவர். இந்தப் புத்தகம் அதற்கொரு சாட்சி. சொற்களுக்குள் ஏறிக்கொள் மூலம் நெஞ்சுக்குள் அல்லவா ஏறிக்கொண்டார்.

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Letter from Dr. Prema Nandakumar, Literary Critic and Poet.

Prema Nandakumar
M.A., Ph.D.

Mudhal Tirumaligai
152/91, South Chitrai Street,
Srirangam – 620 006

07.06.2010

Email: premanand@dataone.in
Phone [0431] 2432959/2434265

Dear Sri Ravi:

Thank your for the bunch [or shall I say bonanza?] of books that you were kind enough to send me. Since most of it was associated with Subramania Bharati, I just could not resist taking them up immediately. It has been a fantastic reading session.

I had mentioned as the concluding sentence in one of my books on Bharati that his genius can be gauged from the fact that even after a century since his birth, Tamil literature continues to be the Bharati Age. There have been poets galore and a lot of noise has been made [and is being made!] but still Bharati remains the irreplaceable inspirational beacon for the Tamils. I am glad that your words echo this sentiment with a greater reach and apt quotes from other poets. You are yourself immerged in Bharatiana completely!

¿ÁìÌò ¦¾¡Æ¢ø ¸Å¢¨¾ not only finds pleasure in reading Bharati but also shows how to read the poems with a touch of the intellect entwined with emotions. At the same time I am glad that you do not murder to dissect. This is particularly effective when you deal with the new poets in the Tamil literary world. My father who inaugurated the discipline of Indian writing in English was criticized for being too ‘generous’. His reply: “Who is THE critic? Only time which is God. Kalosimi says the Lord. Meantime we can only bring the writers to the general view. Time will prove their worth”.

I was happy to read your analytical approach to ÒÐì¸Å¢¨¾ and how handling images is always a dangerous walk on the razor’s edge [p.86]. The constant struggle between the handcuffs of prosody and skylark-like imagination can make one powerless. It is good that you have spoken well of film songs. Most of my life was spent in Andhra Pradesh and the songs of Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram and Kannadasan were a boon to keep in touch with the Tamil prosodic rhythms. However, I wouldn’t say that of film songs today: I even heard a song in which the boy tells the girl that she is ¸ðÊì¸ÕõÒ and that he is the ÍüÈ¢ÅÕõ ±ÚõÒ!

Shobana Ravi’s essay linking poetry with the experience of the Divine is striking. Even to think of the Flute Player of Brindavan is to savour the Delight of Existence!

Á¢ýÉü ͨŠmakes one pause and think repeatedly. As for the morality of all things born, it is a sad, frightening thought that even the advent of CDs and the rest cannot assure permanence for earthly beings and their achievements. What you say about the sound-vibrations being permanent, well, we have had Keats say about the same thing: Thou wert not born for death, immortal bird! It applies to a bard as well. And sometime in the future, a poet may come up and take forward the mission of Bharati in its crystalline originality. That is the pointer given to us in Masti Venkatesa Iyengar’s (yet another immortal) story, “Masumati”, which was translated as “Venuganam” by Rajaji. That story deals with the life of a painter.

I thought ¦º¡ü¸ÙìÌû ²È¢ì¦¸¡û a very unpoetic title to come from you! Literary essay in the languages I know always delight me. The bird’s eye view of Bharati Kalai Kazhaka Kaviyarangam is very informative. I liked in particular the lines:

ÌըŠ±ñ½¢ì§¸¡Äõ §À¡ð¼¡ø
¾¢Õ§Å Å£ðÊø ¾¢ÕÅ¢Çì §¸üÚÅ¡û

But one question continues to haunt me: among today’s poets why is there no one who is prepared to write a long poem? I used to say the same thing to Sri Sirpi Balasubramaniam and Sri Kulothungan. Now they have come up with long poems but these works remain as groups of set-pieces. Nothing sets the heart aflame by integralising story-content, imagination, vision and poetic art.

In this book, I was surprised at your rather rhetorical lashing out at some group (I think I can guess whom you mean) for having elevated Sanskrit and degraded Tamil, and that they spread the canard that God will listen only to the “Devabhasha”. As a Sri Vaishnava and as a Ubhaya Vedantin, I can assure you that Tamil is very important for our religious and spiritual life. For centuries the kalakshepams in Tamil explaining religious texts in Sanskrit (Sribhashyam etc), Manipravala (the commentaries of Kurukai Piran Pillan, Periavachan Pillai and others) and Tamil (the pasurams of Alvars, the Desika Prabandham in Tamil etc) have gone on without fail in our households Tamil was a ‘must’ to be learnt and Tiruppavai was recited happily. This way we learnt pure Tamil effortlessly. If I had not listened to kalakshepam I would not know that there is an ancient Tamil word even for ‘pickpocket’ in Tamil! Pickpockes were known as Áʾ¼Å¢. The À¡Ã¾ Á¡¾¡ ¾¢ÕôÀûÇ¢ ±Ø as you know, was inspired by Tondar-adippodi Alwar’s matin song. Besides, Bhutattalvar (3rd century) has gone on record that Tamil is that which gives true knowledge: »¡Éò¾Á¢ú. Till today, the Thiruvaradhanam in our households do not get completed unless a selection of Tamil pasurams are recited. Tamil is ®Ã¡ø but Sanskrit is ÓÃðÎ ºõŠ¸¢Õ¾õ!

¯ý§É¡Î ¿¡ý has an attractive format, taking in the ‘every-reader’ to string together the lyrics. I could sense some of the famous film tunes in a few of the poems; ¾¢ÕÁó¾¢Ãõ being a favourite read, ÌÕÁó¾¢Ãõ brought me wonderment, how close your tuning has been with the original style. Not always do you get volumes of poems which are also interesting dialogues within the reader’s heart. I tarried a while with þøÄò¾¢ø þÕó¾¡ ±Øи¢§Èý:

´Õ ¦ºñÀ¸ ¦Á¡ðÊý ¿ÎŢɢ§Ä
º¢ýÉï º¢È¢Â Åñ¦¼É§Å
Àñ¦½ØôÀ¢ì ¦¸¡ñÊÕìÌõ
À¡¾¢ì ¸ÉÅ¢ø ±Øи¢§Èý

þÂøÀ¢Âø ÅÃÄ¡Ú is a subject that has fascinated me, probably due to my involvement with the anti-nuclear movement down the decades. Also, because my son went into pure research in Particle Physics and is now with Rutherford-Appleton Laboratories in England. It was interesting to get him explain what is happening in the Collider at CERN (he is involved in it and goes to Geneva often). Is it þÂüÀ¢Âø or þÂøÀ¢Âø? As welcome to my library as your other books are Law, Logic and Liberty and Justice Versus Natural Justice. At a time when the term ‘lawyer’ has been going through a dark tunnel, it is good to have made acquaintance with your works and these two books specifically on points of law as well as Justice Swamikannu’s understanding ways when the court is in session.

The letter has grown rather long but then, for me,

¸Å¢¨¾ ±ØÐõ ÅÆì¸Á¢ø¨Ä
¸Ê¾õ ±Ø¾ ÓÊÔõ

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely
Prema Nandakumar

Sri K. Ravi
Advocate
No. 1 A, Stone Link Avenue
Off. Canal Bank Road,
R.A.Puram,
Chennai 600 028.

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