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
என்னை கவலைகள் தின்ன தகாதென்று (நின்னை)
குடிமை புகுந்தனே, கொன்றவை பொக்கென்று (நின்னை)
தன்செய லெண்ணித் தவிப்பது தீர்திங்கு
நின்செயல் செய்து, நிறைவு பெரும்வனம் (நின்னை)
அன்பு நெறியில் அரண்கள் வளர்ந்திட (நின்னை)
நல்லது தீயது நாமறி வோம்,
