Mahakavi C. Subramania Bharati: A Podcast by his Great-granddaughter

C. Subramania Bharati (1882-1921), also known to Tamil speakers as Mahakavi Bharathiyar, was an iconic Indian poet and visionary. "Mahakavi" means greatest of poets. Bharati's support for Indian freedom from British rule led to much of his writing being outlawed by the British, and the lasting effects of this government censorship have been felt until now. In our post-colonial era, at last, Bharati has a chance to reach the worldwide audience that he dreamed of, and deserves. Discover and explore Bharati's life and work with his great-granddaughter, Mira T. Sundara Rajan, a writer, musician, and Oxford-educated law professor. Bharati's prescient and passionate advocacy of freedom, equality, and human rights for all makes him profoundly relevant to the world today. All listeners are welcome.

Subramania Bharati's 103rd Anniversary: Mahakavi Bharati as Musician and Composer - with Ghatam Maestro Suresh Vaidyanathan 09/11/2024

Subramania Bharati's 103rd Anniversary: Mahakavi Bharati as Musician and Composer - with Ghatam Maestro Suresh Vaidyanathan *This episode has also been published to my new podcast, Woman of Culture.* September 11th, 2021, marked the death centenary of Indian national poet ("Mahakavi"), C. Subramania Bharati (1882-1921). Since then, the Indian government has designated this day as "Bharati Day." Bharati, the greatest Tamil writer of the 20th century, is a legendary figure. He was a multifaceted personality - leading to the interesting situation that, even today, the full extent of the poet's artistic and intellectual contributions is not known. Much remains to be discovered! This podcast episode deals with a lesser-known aspect of Bharati's creativity: the music that the poet composed for his own poems to be sung. While the words of Bharati's songs are well-known to the public, his melodies are not. When Indian classical musicians do sing his songs, they generally write their own melodies, or adapt them from versions popularized in the movies. I discuss Bharati's musical contributions with a star of South India's classical music scene, percussion maestro Suresh Vaidyanathan. Suresh plays a uniquely fascinating traditional instrument, the ghatam – a clay pot. Links: Maestro Suresh's music teaching site, Ghatam Kulam, is available . His interview and performance on ghatam with the Sandy Evans Trio was broadcast on Australian radio earlier this week, and is available . Music Credits: Drums of India, Bickram Ghosh on Tabla and V. Suresh On Ghatam. Subscribe to . /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/33003987

The Magic of Translation (Part I): The International Booker Prize for a Hindi Novel 07/31/2022

The Magic of Translation (Part I): The International Booker Prize for a Hindi Novel The International Booker Prize is a prestigious award given to the author of a novel originally written in a language other than English and translated into English. It is a companion to the Booker prize for English-language novels. In 2022, the prize was awarded, for the first time, to a novel originally in an Indian language. The language was Hindi, and the novel was Tomb of Sand, written by Gitanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell. This episode examines the status of literature in India's national languages over the past century, since Bharati's time,and considers the role that translation may play today in re-kindling international interest in Indian literature. This episode will be followed by a second episode on translation that will look specifically at translation from Tamil to English, consider Bharati's thoughts and words on this issue, and sample his own, exquisite translations of works from classic Tamil literature. Music Credits: on Tabla and V. Suresh On Ghatam. Subscribe to . *Please note: an earlier version of this file contained some technical errors which have now been fixed. Thank you for your patience! /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/23910342

The Siddha and the Superman 07/22/2022

The Siddha and the Superman Bharati was deeply troubled by the apparent disintegration of moral values that characterized his times, affecting both colonized and colonial societies. He found himself perpetually searching for alternative ideals - sources of integrity and optimism - within the Indian philosophical traditions that he studied so deeply, with their rich and long histories. The breadth and depth of his reading and research are reflected in the essay "The Siddha & the Superman," first published in 1915, which is discussed in this episode. Bharati had not only read Nietzsche, but he had also reflected deeply upon the social implications of the German writer's powerful and controversial work. Bharati explores the Nietzschean character of the "superman" as an archetype that reflects the "historic reminiscences and spiritual aspirations" of Europe - and he compares and contrasts the "superman" with an analogous archetype from Indian culture, that of the "siddha", which Bharati translates as "perfected man." By juxtaposing these two, fundamentally contrasting models of human development, Bharati argues for the adoption of ideals that will encourage humanity to aspire for a better future - above all, one free of violence. Music Credits: Richard Strauss, Opus 30, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with conductor Georg Solti. on Tabla and V. Suresh On Ghatam. Subscribe to . /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/23824601

Poet of Womankind 03/08/2022

Poet of Womankind Bharati is well-known as a champion of women's rights, but his impassioned advocacy for women's freedom transcends much of the usual discussion surrounding women's equality. Instead, Bharati saw women as the social superiors of men - engaged in the task of civilizing man through her masterful absorption and development of stories and symbols. "Where woman comes, comes Art," he writes, a stirring and provocative assertion that places him at odds with all those who have tried to minimize women's contributions to civilization or argued against women's capacity for artistic and intellectual life. His perspective on women shows him at his most creative and original. In honor of International Women's Day, this episode explores one of Bharati's most powerful essays on women, originally written in English, aptly entitled "The Place of Woman." /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/22375979

Bharati: India's National Bard 02/09/2022

Bharati: India's National Bard This episode continues the discussion of Bharati's biography from another angle - exploring how the poet is seen by Indians from other parts of the country, for whom access to Bharati's works in Tamil presents a fascinating challenge. Notwithstanding the language barrier, it is a triumph of Indian diversity that Bharati has come to be known as India's "National Bard." This delightful title was first proposed by Mohit Gupta when he organized the original presentation on which the episode is based on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The presentation was part of the government's ongoing celebration of "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" – 75 years of India's freedom. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/22086959

Bharati's Life 01/16/2022

Bharati's Life On December 11, 2021, C. Subramania Bharati's 139th birth anniversary, I spoke to Storytrails, an Indian company seeking to share stories of India's culture and history. "India exists in her stories," they write. We discuss the story of Bharati's life, a man who has become a Tamil and Indian legend, trying to separate fact from fiction while celebrating his legacy. The first in a series of episodes exploring Bharati's life this January. Happy Pongal, and happy Tamil Heritage Month to my fellow Canadians! /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/21787313

Unknown Warriors 12/01/2021

Unknown Warriors In his short life, Bharati had to live through the first great disaster of the twentieth century: World War I. In a powerfully moving essay, "India and the War," Bharati throws his support behind the British, approving India's contributions to the War at a time when Independence seemed imminent. This episode explores his reasons for doing so. It is dedicated to reminding the world of the sacrifices of Indians - and of those from other former European colonies - through Bharati's contemporary words. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/21336182

"Equal Among the Servants of the Lord" 11/11/2021

"Equal Among the Servants of the Lord" As India celebrates its festival of lights - Diwali or Deepavali - this episode examines Bharati's views on religion. As the poet explains in his essay called "Patriotism and Religious Differences," diversity of religious belief supports a healthy society. Dogmatism and homogeneity should be avoided, he argues, both for the good of society and for the sake of individual development. Bharati reveals himself as an individualist and a humanist, advocating for something far richer than tolerance: diversity. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/21129227

The Nobel Prize in Literature 10/24/2021

The Nobel Prize in Literature The award of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature to Abdulrazak Gurnah, a writer from East Africa writing in English about the aftermath of colonialism, invokes Bharati's own "Reflections" on the first Asian winner and India's only laureate in literature: Rabindranath Tagore. Bharati writes of Tagore's travel to Japan and exhorts the Indian press to do more to publicize the exploits of great Indians. As genius becomes known, greatness stands ready to emerge - a novel, refreshing idea for our own jaded times. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20917082

The Jewel in the Crown 10/16/2021

The Jewel in the Crown This episode challenges romanticized notions of British rule in India with the eyewitness account offered by Bharati in his extended essay, "The Political Evolution in the Madras Presidency." It is a stunning narrative of the reality of colonialism in South India - a story that demands a fresh hearing in our time of reckoning with injustice. Bharati dwells on the chilling hypocrisy of the British government, which claims free speech as a core British value while denying it to their own colonial subjects. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20836598

The National Movement 10/09/2021

The National Movement This episode introduces Bharati's writing on the Indian national movement. His perspective as a freedom fighter from India's South is uniquely valuable to us today. Historical narratives have focused on key political figures from the North, while the story of the freedom struggle in other parts of India has been neglected. However, the movement brought together thinkers and creators from across India, and also from Europe, inspiring a modern Indian Renaissance and hopes for a new, post-colonial world order. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20761085

Women Shall Write the Laws 10/01/2021

Women Shall Write the Laws This is the next in my series of conversations with filmmaker Michael Wood, where we discuss some of poet C. Subramania Bharati's most famous and important contributions as a champion of women's rights. Bharati believed that women should be leaders, writing, in a poem entitled "Pudumai Penn," that the "new kind of woman" he imagined would "write all the laws" for society. No advocate of women's rights has been more impassioned, in India or elsewhere, during Bharati's times or since - or more convincing. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20670098

The Case for Tamil (and Every Other Language) 09/27/2021

The Case for Tamil (and Every Other Language) In this next episode with world-renowned filmmaker Michael Wood ("The Story of India"), the theme is Bharati's beloved Tamil language, and the poet's fight to preserve it against the encroachment of English. Bharati's concerns are highly relevant in today's world, where linguistic diversity is globally threatened. Michael and Mira explore the idea of a future where Indian literature takes its place alongside major works from the Western canon, and quality translation forges new paths between cultures. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20608259

The Story of Bharati with Michael Wood 09/18/2021

The Story of Bharati with Michael Wood This is the first in a series of episodes where world-renowned filmmaker Michael Wood ("The Story of India") and Mira discuss C. Subramania Bharati. This episode covers the story behind the new book of Bharati's English writings ("The Coming Age"), reviews Bharati's life and times, and considers the place of his writing in a "decolonized curriculum". /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20517356

Prescient & Powerful: Introducing Bharati 09/11/2021

Prescient & Powerful: Introducing Bharati Bharati 100 explores the life and work of C. Subramania Bharati, an iconic Indian writer and visionary of the early twentieth century. It is being launched on September 11, 2021, the hundredth anniversary of the poet's death at age 38, based on a new Penguin Modern Classics book of Bharati's original writing in the English language, edited by podcast host Mira T. Sundara Rajan. Episode 1 introduces the podcast themes and features music by violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan and S. Vijaya Bharati. /episode/index/show/bharati100/id/20437388

Mahakavi C. Subramania Bharati: A Podcast by his Great-granddaughter

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