Liberating what was not looked at for a long time.

Bringing the norms that have now been foreign to us.

( Picture from https://karkanirka.org/2010/06/10/kurunthokai-40/)

Tamil Poetry was one of the established poems of all times. Sangam literature is the ancient literature which depicts the history of southern India and its known as Tamil Ilakiyam. Like how William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde are celebrated for their well-known legacy in English literature, Mahakavi Bharathi and K. Kambar are honored for Tamil poetries. Indian poetry and Indian literature, in general, has a long history dating back to Vedic times. They were translated into various languages and simplified for a better understanding due to the complexity of the Sanskrit words.

In the early years, poems were written to praise the King and his empire, this way poets earn good money and there were also given a place in the palace as an advisor. 

Poems were also used as weapon for freedom of speech in the early times. This reminds me of one of the best stories of all times, where the Magnificent Mahavamsa was once in the hands of The Great Poet in the land of Sinhala(Today known as Sri Lanka), as he educated people with his poetry, where he depicted Mahabharata and Ramayana to symbolize the atrocities done by their King.

Poetry in India reflects cultural norms, diverse spiritual traditions, court poetry and soon later it had emerged as folktales. It was also a language of love once upon a time. These were the times where papers and ink bottles were expensive and had a great value. However today the only appreciation that we can give to this precious piece of work is the reason “time has changed”. Literature was once celebrated by the firt tier people in the hierarchy, as they were the ones who got to read them, but today even though we have too many sources to trace them back, we still can’t afford them. Literature which has a close connection to cultural values had been forgotten and in some time soon in the future, it will become totally foreign to our society.
I have attached a piece of Kurunji Thinai, part of Kuronthoghai which is one of the Eight Anthologies of Sangam Poems. This poem talks about how the poet symbolizes love as a form of nature and affirms the term that “Love is Blind”. Poet brings in a filmy play of a hero and heroine and says that they will be united in love forever just like how something is happening with nature. What does he take from nature now to reflect their love for each other? He says;

"yaayum ngyaayum yaaraagiyaro?
endhaiyum nundhaiyum emmuraik kelir?
yaanum neeyum evvazhi aridhum?
sembulap peyal neer pola
anbudai nenjam thaam kalandhanave"
(Kuronthoghai - Verse 40)

( Meaning : yaayum - my mother, ngyaayum - your mother, yaar - who, aagiyaro - what relation are they to each other, endhaiyum - my father, nundhaiyum - your father, emmurai - which way, kelir - relative, yaanum - me, neeyum - you, evvazhi - how, aridhum - know, sembulap - mixed with red soil, peyal - rain, neer - water, pola - like, anbudai - loving, nenjam - heart/mind, thaam kalandhanave - became one)

With the meaning given for each word of the poem, the poet states that though they are not of kin, maternally or paternally, their hearts fell in love naturally. And he relates it to the mother nature saying that;

“sembulap peyal neer pola, anbudai nenjam thaam kalandhanave",

Where he says that their loving hearts became one like the rainwater mixed with red soil. How beautiful this can be and how much pure can a loving gesture be. Notwithstanding, that in modern times this term might sound sexual and as well appear gross and dirty.

However, the metaphor of red earth and pouring rain is beautifully earthy, conveying a kind of raw but deeply genuine elementally of love. Furthermore, it also showcases as to how the Tamil culture emphasises marrying within kin and community. Poems are a powerful illumination with a meaning contextually and depth of something that is genuine. Poems are magical as it's the only medium that can express anger in a very polite manner, as it has the power of words.

The question is why time has prevented us from admiring this literary work ? Are we all taking enough initiatives to preserve what is being on the verge of extinction? Is there a campaign to promote awareness to the importance of  learning literature as our cultural value compared to many other unnecessary campaigns? WAIT, Do we actually care about our own traditions and cultural heritage?

Today, history had been going through many filtering g processes and changes of crucial informations for the advantages of political parties , many students  have not known the value of literature because it’s not been part of the syllabus in schools,cultural values are becoming foreign to us as we are highly influenced by the western culture. It reminds me of a very well-known quote by Ray Bradbury, where he states that "you don't have to burn books to destroy a culture, just need people to stop reading them".  Let's stand together to appreciate and celebrate what we OWN and what is OUR'S and not be proud of something which does not even reflect our identities.

A proud Indian.

( THINUSHAANEE KUNAVATHY)

References ;

1. http://sangamliteratureinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/06/red-soil-with-rain.html.

2. River of Ink ( Paul M.M. Cooper)