Musings on the Life & Times of Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi                Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan                                       41

Musings on the Life & Times of Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi

Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

41

Chellaspeak is just a speck away from Bharathispeak for authenticity. Bharathi lived and died unrecognised. But after his demise, as he sang, his works have lived on and become Time. His own dear Tamil Nadu did not give him his due. Let us not forget that. We need to acknowledge now as one was swamped with many a message on Dec 11,2021. Upon his hundredth death anniversary on Dec 11,1921. It was good and gratifying. But what caught the eye  was this common thread echoed in the words of that brilliant poet Kannadasan. He was a confirmed ‘drunken lout, an agnostic and atheist who fell for foul. But rescued in the nick of time by Sanathana Dharma the Hinduness in the religion he was born to realise his life’s purpose. He wrote Arthamulla Hindunatham -Meaningful Hindu Religion ( a poor translation) and disowned his mates by despising them in vile terms he alone could versify not verbalise’ and he said this on Bharathi.

“Oh! ! Misfortunate(yes that is the word) Tamil Nadu, celebrate Bharathi. In doing so, you are celebrating Bharat; you are celebrating Patriotism; you are celebrating faith in God;you are celebrating the Tamil language.

For, one  who does not celebrate Bharathi has no right to call himself a Tamilian”- Poet Kannadasan.

If Kannadasan thought so, there must be truth in it. We are far lesser mortals. As a poet Kannadasan was there. Seen it all. Done it all. Knew it all. He knew verse, syllable and syntax, what Bharathi went through and must have felt. It is all very well to eulogise Bharathi on his anniversaries. We must feel humble and contrite for what we meted him when he was among us. How we forgot to recognise him. Failed to protect him. Get his works published. And let his Chellamma, Thanjammal and Shakuntala be burdened with it. And to talk of his Pondicherry sojourn in exile as his most productive times, is to forget the tough and difficult conditions he had to endure. Chellamma spoke it. But it may be biased. The element of objectivity necessary for a Mahakavi may be missing. Or so one believes.

Who better to embrace than Tamil writer Sambandam- “ I moved into Pondicherry a year after 1918 when Bharathi moved out of Pondicherry. I too resided on the same. Eswaran Dharmatala Kovil Street as him, and for over twenty years.I inevitably got introduced to family, friends and acquaintances of  the one and only Bharathi. And not a day of moment if our conversations passed without a word and more being exchanged the national poet. Avidly and greedily, I lapped up as much as I could and was gifted with a surfeit  of them. More was not More. It was less and less. As everything about Bharathi was awe inspiring and jaw dropping. It would sacrilege and blasphemy to ignore. That is how I came to know of all things normal, abnormal , bizarre, crazy but true on Bharathi. And as I chose to write and record it for posterity, I made it a point on hundredth birth anniversary of Bharathi in 1982, to revisit Pondicherry to renew my old contacts and made new ones from those living and legatees of several others. Read  as if it is first hand account and I shall stick to the true and real”. So wrote Sambandam. I shall stick to his version too.

Bharathi went to Pondicherry not by choice. He had to, perforce. But, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Bharathi was a unique character. Such geniuses always come differently. Otherwise they cannot be out of the ordinary. And when Bharathi moved to Pondicherry he seemed ‘strange’. His behaviours and manners were anything  but normal. So much so, even those he identified as poetic genius felt less inclined to meet him in person leave alone engage him in a dialogue. They were ‘fearful of meeting him as his tongue lashing when in the zone became known as legendary too quickly’.

Bharathi felt isolated. As if constrained  ‘to be chained and living in an open air jail’. Slowly, day and day, those who met him, spread the word.He was not a devil incarnate. He was divine poet. A Parasakthi Upasakan- devotee. And Pondicherry realised its fortune and gift. Particularly, those at the lower strand of society, the poor and underprivileged, were proud and  privileged to be in his company. He was not their intellectual equal. But at the human level, they saw themselves in him.

The 1906 Calcutta Congress Session was transformational. Bharathi’s meeting with Sister Nivedita, Swami Vivekananda’s disciple, was impactful, immediate and immense. His writings in’India’ were fiery and explosive. There was huge traction. It caught the attention of police and civil administration. One day, when Bharathi was coming down the stairs, a policeman accosted him midway, as he climbing up. Bharathi asked, “ What brings a policeman to a newspaper office. Knowledge or news”. “ Neither, I have the duty to serve a sumo to arrest a person. “ Who, but, may I ask”. “ The Editor of ‘India’ newspaper”. Bharathi, “ Oh! I am not the Editor” and rushed out in a hurry. It was this he escaped arrest as the summons meant to him was addressed to the Editor.

For all intents and purposes, Chinnaswamy Subramania Bharathi was THE EDITOR of INDIA. Who else? But on record, in print, the name of Publisher M Srinivasachariar was displayed as Editor too. In fact, anticipating such response from the Britishers, strategically Bharathi, though the Editor, was only portrayed as a writer. This trick paid dividends as Bharathi was free to flee. In fact, upon arrest of Srinivasachariar, the police realised their follow. Moves were afoot to catch the right canary. Viz. Bharathi. And Bharathi was quite keen to be incarcerated as he felt that ‘it was an insult to be passed over when the real Swadeshis belonged insider’.

His friend had to fight with him. “ Your writings are powerful. They are the target. It is inspiring. It would be foolhardy in the name of bravado to get arrested. You will be offering yourself on a platter. It would make no sense” they counselled. Bharathi,” Adey Payalgala, ( You fellows) do you want me to play a coward I am not. I do not want to be. For a poet  who writes the kind of nationalist’ verse, it would be  hypocritical  to run from the heat of the kitchen. What would posterity judge me as? That is a punishment I can avoid and must”.

Friends, “ It is all very well. Your getting arrested will get Bharat closer to freedom. And Swadeshis and supporters will lose their voice. More importantly it would kill the kindled spirit. Your sacrifice should be to stay outside and fight with your words and verse. Others’ who are so well endowed can go inside and fight. It is no cowardice to avoid getting arrested. It is bravery  of a different and higher order, Bharathi. We commend and command you to agree and oblige”.

( Author is practising advocate in the Madras High Court)