An "Open Poem" to Bharathi...

My dear Bharathi,
You probably would have exclaimed in aghast,
Had you been alive today,
In the lingo that we use these days...
The nerve of this woman!

I too wondered -
what gave me the nerve
to even try and read your thoughts -
and translate them into a language,
that would never do justice...
to the beauty of Thamizh that you lived and breathed.

But Bharathi -
as unreservedly as I call you by that name
without the appropriateness that you are often accorded with,
that's how as candidly I felt your thoughts in me.
It was as if during that moment when I pondered over your poem,
we both spoke one and the same language...
Only yours sounded Thamizh, and mine English.

So you see Bharathi -
I was merely recording your thoughts
Into a language you did not care to "speak" in then.
Not that it is any greater than the one you loved - it is not.
But I needed to read and feel you, Bharathi,
And I saw no other way of doing so,
Except to re-read and re-feel you in the only way that I know...
Do forgive me if I have flawed in doing so.

And I beg you to bless me -
Like how a mother would her child despite her (the child's) flaws.
For I believe I stand before you today...
As the child who had probably crossed set boundaries.

But a loving and doting mother, are you not...
And surely, accept me you will,
...won't you Bharathi?


Ninnai Charanadainthen in English (as I felt it to be...)

I surrender unto you, dear Kannamma
I surrender unto you

I, who yearn for riches, prestige and fame - that
I be spared from the jaws of misery,
(I surrender unto you, dear Kannamma)

Fear and cowardice that reside within my heart - that
They are killed and rooted out of me,
(I surrender unto you, dear Kannamma)

That my worries and self-preoccupation be ended, and instead - that
I become contained through selfless acts
(I surrender unto you, dear Kannamma)

There is no more sorrow in me, no weariness, no drawbacks - that
Virtues be made to flourish in the name of love,
(I surrender unto you, dear Kannamma)

I know not the good from the bad - in you I trust, so
Make the goodness in me prevail, and the evil driven away!
(I surrender unto you, dear Kannamma)

நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் - கண்ணம்மா!
நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன்

பொண்ணை உயர்வைப் புகழை விரும்பிடும்
என்னை கவலைகள் தின்ன தகாதென்று (நின்னை)

மிடிமையும் அச்சமும் மேவியென் நெஞ்சில்
குடிமை புகுந்தனே, கொன்றவை பொக்கென்று (நின்னை)

தன்செய லெண்ணித் தவிப்பது தீர்திங்கு
நின்செயல் செய்து, நிறைவு பெரும்வனம் (நின்னை)

துன்பம் மிநிஇல்லை, சோர்வில்லை, தோற்பில்லை
அன்பு நெறியில் அரண்கள் வளர்ந்திட (நின்னை)

நல்லது தீயது நாமறி வோம்,
நல்லது நாட்டுக! தீமையை ஓட்டுக! (நின்னை)