1882-1921 - When a pen's flourish led fight against British
K R A Narasiah
On Bharati's Death Anniversary A Look Into His Journalistic Career
As a poet, Subramania Bharati, ignited the minds of people with his verse and as a journalist, he proved that pen was mightier than the sword. He gave a political edge to journals in South India and introduced cartoons as a sarcastic visual form of protest. Unflinching in the face of imminent arrest, Bharati did not back down on his ideals and provided a caustic commentary on the British administration.
He started out as a court poet on invitation from the Raja of Ettayapuram in 1903, but was disgusted with the extravagant life and took up work as a Tamil teacher. His journalistic career began as a translator of English inputs into Tamil in G Subramania Iyer's Swadesamitran, the first Tamil journal of Madras in 1881. Bharati was selected for fluency in both English and Tamil. Swadesamitran was the second vernacular newspaper published in India, the first being Kesari in Hindi founded by Lala Lajpat Rai. Working for Swadesamitran, Bharati learned the elements of journalism -collecting news, translation and proof reading. When partition of Bengal was announced, Bharati got involved in politics and it made a difference to his writing, which became hard-hitting. His next journalistic step forward was as the editor of the new magazine in August 1905 by a Tanjore businessman Vaidyanatha Iyer. It was in this journal for women, Chakravarthini, that Bharati wrote his first article on women's rights.
But it was after meeting Tilak that Bharati's outlook changed drastically and he took active interest in politics and joined the Tilak school in South India. He began to see newspapers as the crucial tool against the British. It was during this time, in April 1906, that Bharati took charge of the editorial of India, the Tamil version of S N Tirumalachariar English monthly Brahmavadin. Bharati's ideas for cartoons stoked the minds and hearts of the people.
The journalist in him understood that change could only be brought about if the English-speaking youth were roped into the discourse. With this idea, Bharati started an association for the young called Bala Bharatha Sangam and brought out an English journal Bala Bharata.
His journalistic experiments in India opened a door for the future of the newspaper and made it popular among the masses. India was the first South Indian language paper that used the entire front page for political cartoons attacking the British.
He wrote under several names like Sakthidasan, Shellydasan, Desabakthan and Vedanthi and the controversial content of four of his articles cartoons in India were found to be seditious and a warrant was issued to arrest the editor. Following this, V Krishnaswami Iyer, the only Indian member of the executive council, suggested that Bharati go to Puducherry . Bharati resumed publication of India from there on October 10, 1908. The popularity of India and its sister publications made the British livid and the journal was banned. The last issue of the journal was on March 12, 1910.
By the end of 1910, Bharati seemed to have little or no prospect of getting any of his writings published. Bharati wrote extensively in English. In his article about the Ashe murder case, he wrote in an essay of great importance, “Again an outrage to the Hindu religion; for the murdered man had his wife by his side. They were young and appeared a loving couple. . . A scene like that would very profoundly appeal to the heart of the devout Hindu“ He disapproved of violence.
On his way to Madras, Bharati was detained in Cuddalore.The Cuddalore district jail record says “C Subramania Bharati, age 36, brahmin, criminal, a political agitator de tained in custody under the Ingress into India Ordinance 1914, detained on November 24, 1918.“
He was conditionally released on December 14, 1918. In 1920, Bharati wrote to his friend about his desire to begin another journal, which never took off. He later joined Swadesamitran. On September 11, 1921 when he passed away , at the funeral very few people were present. A close relative performed the last rites while Surendranath Arya sang a Telugu song and Sarkarai Chettiar gave a speech. A great journalist in Tamil, who had manufactured dissent against the British made no headlines with his death.
(Writer is a Tamil author, historian and heritage enthusiast) Email your feedback to southpole.toi@timesgroup.com
Public-speaking: Tradition goes back a millennium in TN
G Olivannan
Interest In Art Of Language Evolved With Early Forms Of Koothu, Poetry And Perfected By Dravidian Leaders
Pesi pesiye aatchiya pidichitaanga (nothing but their oratorical skills helped them capture power) is an oft-repeated cliche about the Dravidian movement. Ostensibly true, but if one traces the history of public speaking in Tamil Nadu, it goes back more than a millennium.
Tamils' interest in song, dance and theatre has existed since time immemorial. Indeed, the uniqueness of the language is that it has three parts, iyal (text), isai (music) and natakam (play).The literary works created over the last 2,000 years is testimony to the fact that people of this land enjoy feeding their senses, more so their ears. The Thirukural says, “when there is no content available for listening as food to our ears, then is the time to feed our stomach with food“ (kural 412). Hence, listening has been integral to Tamil culture.
Natakam (play) in earlier days was referred to as koothu. Through koothu, religious, historical and social issues were brought to the masses.The metamorphosis of koothu is seen in forms such as puppetry and theatre. Public speaking to a common man is an extended version of this koothu. A powerful speech feeds emotions such as anger, sorrow, happiness, humour. And an adept speaker becomes sought after. It is not merely about the message, but the manner in which it is conveyed.
But in the absence of an amplifying system how did speakers in early days address a crowd of thousands? Poet Kali Poongundran, a Dravid ian leader, once told me that in the olden days, for every gathering of 50, there would be a bench with a person standing on it. As the speaker spoke, the person standing on the first bench would listen and turn to his part of the crowd and communicate the message. The person on the second bench a little further away would also listen to him and then he would speak to his side of the crowd. Like a relay race, each person carried it forward till it reached the last row of the gathering.
Twentieth century brought a generation of new speakers. The growth and spread of political and social movements such as Congress, Justice Party , DMK, Communist Party and dalit movements were primarily due to the oratorical skills of their leaders. People like Rettaimalai Srinivasan and Pandit Ayothidasar sowed the seeds for dalit awareness. T M Nair's historical speech at Chepauk was considered one that changed social dynamics and thereby paved the way for a non-brahmin movement. With stalwarts such as Satyamurthy and Thiru Vi Kalyanasundaram, Congress had no dearth of persuasive speakers either. Similarly , the emergence of the Self-Respect Movement brought Periyar, Anna and Pattukkottai Azhagiri to the forefront. Periyar used simple language without embellishment. But his speeches sparkled with humour and anger. On the other hand, Anna's were studded with anecdotes, metaphor and quotes from literature.
Some say because of TVs, smart phones and the internet, people are losing interest in the spoken word. This is not true. Evening meetings organised at bookfairs, be it in Chennai or small towns like Perambalur, Ariyalur still draw huge crowds. People of all ages sit through speeches in rapt attention. Popular media like YouTube get millions of hits for recordings of speeches. Also, unlike in the past speakers are in great demand today at corporate, educational and social forums.
(The writer is the author of a book named “Public Speaking in Tamil“)
