Remembering Subramania Bharathi: The Poet Who United India and Spoke for Women’s Freedom
On the death anniversary of Subramania Bharathi, Justice Markandey Katju remembers the Tamil poet, nationalist and social reformer whose poetry championed Indian unity, opposed caste discrimination and powerfully advocated women’s education, equality and emancipation decades ahead of his time.
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| Remembering Subramania Bharathi: The Poet Who United India and Spoke for Women’s Freedom |
Death anniversary of Subramania Bharathi
By Justice Markandey Katju
Yesterday, 11th September, was the death anniversary of one of India's greatest poets and nationalist, Subramania Bharathi ( 1882-1921 ).
There is no doubt a road in Delhi named after him, but how many in Delhi, or even in India ( apart from Tamil Nadu) know anything about his life or poetry? Probably none. And how many in India observed his death anniversary yesterday? Again, probably none ( except in Tamil Nadu).
And yet I regard him one of the greatest poets India has produced. It is shameful that most Indians know nothing about his life and work.
There are two remarkable features in Subramania Bharathi's poetry.
The first was his appeal to Indian nationalism and opposition to the forces which divide us, like casteism
Many of Bharathi's works advocating Indian freedom were regarded as so seditious by our British rulers that an arrest warrant was issued against him, and he had to flee British India in 1908 and live in French-ruled Pondicherry for 10 years.
His famous verses about India as a land with many faces, many languages, but one thought, captures the essence of Indian pluralism.
''India has thirty crore faces
Yet she has only one body and soul.
She speaks eighteen languages
Yet she has only one thought''
This is the same idea expressed in the song below :
Second was his strong advocacy through powerful verses, written around 1908-1910, in support of women's emancipation.
In fact, he wrote this at a time when probably no one in India, or even in foreign countries, even thought of women's emancipation. Almost all people then thought that a woman's place was in her home, that education would spoil women, and that her whole purpose in life was to marry, have children, and take care of the home by doing household chores like cooking, washing, taking care of the children, etc. Thus he was far ahead of his times.
Here are some examples of his verses on the topic :
“Gummiyadi Gummiyadi Nadumughudum
Kulungida thaikotti Gummiyadi
Nammai pidiththa pisasugal poyina
Nanmai kandomendru Gummiyadi
Ettaiyum pengal thoduvadhu teemaiyendru
Enniyirundhavan mainduvittar,
Veettunkulley pennai pootivaipomenra
Vindhai manidhar thalai kavinghhar”
i.e.
Dandiya dance to celebrate women’s emancipation) :
“Dance, oh friend dance, playing dandiya, let it be with such
force that as you dance it shakes up and wakes up this entire Nation.
Let us dance to celebrate our emancipation from the ghosts
which were holding on to us for centuries. Let us celebrate our achievement.
Those who thought that if education was given to women it
would harm the society, are all dead today!
Those strange fellows who wanted women to be kept locked
inside their homes have now tasted their downfall!
So, oh friends! Let us celebrate the emancipation of women
and dance playing dandiya”.
“Pudhumaip Penn” (The New Woman)
“Aanum Pennum Nigar Enakkollvathaal
Arivil O’ngi Ivvaiyagam Thazhaikkumaam”
i.e.
This world will achieve excellence in knowledge
and wisdom by holding men and women equal
“Vilagi Veettilo’r Pondhil Valarvadhal
Veerap-Pengal Viraivil Ozshippaaram”
i.e.
Valiant women will soon eradicate the custom
of growing in seclusion in homes
“Pengal Viduthalaik Kummi” (Women Liberation Song)
“Yettaiyum Pengal Thoduvathu Theemai
Endrenni Irundhavar Maaindhu Vittaar,
Veettukkulle Pennai Pootti Vaippom Endra
Vindhai Manithar Thalai Kavizhndhaar”
i.e.
Those who thought that it was a sin for women to
touch books are dead; the incredible men who
wanted to lock the women inside their homes now
hang their heads in shame
“Kangal Irandinil ordrai kuththi
Kaatchi Kedutthidalamo
Pengal arivai valarthal, vaiyyam
Pedamai attridum kaaneer
(from a poem titled “Murasu”)
i.e.
Out of the two eyes, if you pierce and destroy
one, are you not spoiling your own vision? In fact,
if you educate the women, the backwardness
which grips this world will vanish automatically.
“Pattankkal Aazhvadum Sattankkal Seivathum
Paarinil Penkal Nadatha Vanthom
i.e.
Women have come up now to get degrees, to legislate and rule in the world.
(Justice Katju is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
FAQs
1. When is Subramania Bharathi's death anniversary?
Subramania Bharathi, one of India's greatest poets and nationalist thinkers, died on 11 September 1921. His death anniversary is observed every year on 11 September.
2. Who was Subramania Bharathi?
Subramania Bharathi (1882–1921), popularly known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar, was a Tamil poet, journalist, nationalist and social reformer. His writings combined the struggle for India's freedom with ideas of social equality, opposition to caste discrimination and women's emancipation.
3. Why is Subramania Bharathi considered an important nationalist poet?
Bharathi used poetry and journalism to inspire the Indian freedom movement. His writings promoted Indian nationalism while also emphasising unity amid India's linguistic, regional and cultural diversity. His political writings were considered sufficiently radical by the British colonial authorities that he faced the threat of arrest and moved to French-controlled Pondicherry in 1908.
4. What was Subramania Bharathi's view on Indian unity?
Bharathi celebrated India's diversity while arguing for its essential unity. His poetry expressed the idea that India may have many faces, languages and cultures, but possesses a shared national consciousness. This vision remains significant in discussions about Indian pluralism, constitutional democracy and national integration.
5. What did Subramania Bharathi say about caste discrimination?
Subramania Bharathi strongly opposed caste-based divisions and other social practices that weakened Indian society. His nationalism was therefore connected with a broader vision of social reform, equality and human dignity.
6. Why is Subramania Bharathi regarded as a pioneer of women's emancipation?
Bharathi wrote powerful poems advocating women's education, intellectual freedom, equality and participation in public life. At a time when women were widely expected to remain confined to domestic roles, he argued that society could not progress if women were denied knowledge and freedom.
7. What is the meaning of Bharathi's idea that educating women will remove ignorance from the world?
In his poetry, Bharathi compared the exclusion of women from education to damaging one of two eyes. The metaphor suggests that a society that suppresses women's intellectual development cripples its own ability to progress. For Bharathi, women's education was essential to the advancement of the entire society.
8. What is “Pudhumaip Penn” by Subramania Bharathi?
“Pudhumaip Penn” (The New Woman) is among Bharathi's best-known poetic expressions of women's equality and emancipation. It presents the idea of a confident, educated and independent woman participating as an equal in society.
9. What is “Pengal Viduthalai Kummi”?
“Pengal Viduthalai Kummi”, or the Women's Liberation Song, celebrates women's freedom and challenges the social practices that denied women education and confined them within the home. It is regarded as an important early expression of feminist thought in Indian literature.
10. Why is Subramania Bharathi still relevant today?
Bharathi remains relevant because many of the issues he addressed—social inequality, caste discrimination, women's rights, education, national unity and pluralism—continue to shape Indian public life. His work demonstrates how poetry can function not merely as literature but as an instrument of social and political transformation.
11. Why should more Indians remember Subramania Bharathi beyond Tamil Nadu?
Although Bharathi occupies a central place in Tamil literary and cultural history, his ideas belong to the wider history of modern India. His nationalism, commitment to social equality and advocacy of women's emancipation make him a major figure whose life and poetry deserve wider recognition across the country.
12. What is the central message of Justice Katju's tribute to Subramania Bharathi?
The central argument is that India has failed to give Subramania Bharathi the nationwide recognition his contribution deserves. His poetry combined patriotism with social reform and defended both India's unity and women's liberation, making him one of the most forward-looking poets and public intellectuals of his era.
