Swati Athmanathan's ode to her great grandfather, Subramaniya Bharathiyar, the warrior poet who never surrendered his pen

CHENNAI: For most of us, we know of C Subramaniya Bharathiyar as a prominent nationalistic poet, freedom fighter, and also as a social reformer. But for Swati Athmanathan, she knew of the Mahakavi through the chronicles, which her grandfather would recite.

“‘Was he a very chaotic person indeed?’ I get asked this question very often by people. They even get overwhelmed when they realise I am his great granddaughter, from his sister’s lineage to be specific,” Swati narrates.

Did the Mahakavi always believe that the society was plagued with issues? Swati opines that maybe her great grandfather’s anger was misunderstood by many. People could see the fiery eyes, his bold appearance, and the courage dripping in his tone. “But the sole reason behind that was injustice and inequality among gender and caste. This reason was the biggest problem according to him.”

 Another important aspect which Swati’s grandfather, KV Krishnan has shared about the Mahakavi was that he would vent his fury through his writing. The moment he sees disservice surrounding him, the anger would come out through penning his poetry.

“As I cast my mind back to what my thatha shared, I vividly remember him telling me how people often would pity my great grandfather for his miserable conditions he went through in his life. But he ensured that he didn’t come across as a helpless man. His karuna rasa also vigorously turned into veera rasa. He chose to flip his pathetic life to a victorious life,” she adds.

Mahakavi was arrested by Britishers, boycotted by the Brahmin community, accused of supporting the muslims and people of other caste and religion. He had also been a victim of acute poverty growing up. “But he did not surrender his pen. Poetry was his weapon. Maybe that is why he was termed as a fiery poet,” Swati states.

September 11 marks the 103rd death anniversary of Subramaniya Bharathiyar, who, at a very tender age had shifted to Varanasi, after his mothers death. “When he reached adolescence, at the banks of river Ganga, he witnessed the untouchable practice towards the lower caste. Swati says, “Out of anger, he removed his sacred thread (poonal / janeu) which the Brahmins wear, and threw it in the river. He had revolted stating this to be his real roop of being a human, not a Brahmin.”

Celebrating her great grandfather, whom she fondly addresses as mama thatha on his death anniversary was a grandiose treat to behold. Swati, who is a Bharatanatyam exponent, recently presented Geervaana Vaani BHARATHI- An Ode to Subrahmanyam Bharathiyar in all its magnificence.

“This was my very own thematic production,” Swati begins to explain, with great zest after a successful show.

It is her research work on the untouched poetries of Mahakavi in the field of dance, specifically portraying what his vision and thoughts would be, while writing his poems. She says, “The poetic interpretations are the contribution of my grandfather and own nephew of Mahakavi, Late Professor KV Krishnan from Varanasi, Kashi.

The solo presentation Mahākavyin Mārgam, opened with a thought of Sarva Dharma Samabhāva Aathichoodi, written by the great poet witnessing all the religion as equal, followed by his love towards the womanhood and hailing the mother with the name Ujjaini Nitya Kalyani.

“‘Pengal Roudram Pazhaganum’. This was something which my great grandfather would often tell my great grandmother, Lakshmi Ammal, who was his own sister. Anger and agony, which is an open ticket given to the patriarchal society, should be equally given as a freedom for women as well. He himself has two daughters, and fighting for freedom all around the world, he often used to have the intimate fight with his wife Chellama for literally not understanding his vision,” says Swati.

The entire space was melodiously tuned to perfection by Dr Rajkumar Bharathi, who was the music composer, along with Sarvesh Karthick in his mridangam, TV Sukanya playing the violin, and Sujith S Naik with his flute, all adding up to the beauteous celebration.

“Speaking honestly, when it comes to him, the Mahakavi, I always get nervous. Also when it comes to Chennai and its rich Tamil language, this brings another weight on the shoulder to carry ourselves as a capable lingual performer. I am overwhelmed with the success of the event, which comes across as a blessing upon us from my mama thatha,” Swati says with a grin from ear to ear.