naadod-@... wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/agathiyar/?start=2003
>So these attempts at versification of Newton’s laws are just cerebral
exercises.. that is quite interesting.
I had the notion that poetry in itself is a cerebral excercise, and
nothing
but...
Do you have other ideas about poetry? You cannot disparage your
favoured
puthukkavitaikaL on poverty, or alienration as non-cerebral excercises.
>Alright..let these be so. But let us refrain from calling these as
poems. A
poem is definitely not a theory or formula set to yaappu. A century
back the
elite made Marabu kavithai the vehicle of similar cerebral exercises
and in
the process it got alienated from the masses and is dying as
Manivannan has
observed.
If at all we have any any window to the classical society (say cankam
era) we
have only the cankam lit. So, I do not know how you can call this
alienated.
Please do not take pride in believing that our classical tradition is
dying,
We are beoming one rotten society abandoning all our evolved
sophisticated
traditions and borrowing filth from elsewhere. Look at the way the
japanese
pride the sumo wrestling and haiku (you know how technologically
advanced they
are) or the scottish pride in their highland games and fling (whereever
they
are in the world, from alaska to australia). Even the american's pride
their
relatively young as "Jazz tradition". Or just peep through to your
neighbours
in kerala to know how much they promote ottanthuLLal, kathakali,
kalaripayattu as their cultural images. What happens to our
silmapaattam,
kOllaattam, bommalaattam, divya naama sangeethanam,, oppaari, villup
pattu....? do you feel that they are inferior to kung-fu, fling,
japanese
puppet theatre, italian opera. Can we take pride in calling them died?
>It does not sound convincing, at least to me to argue that to
appreciate
Sangam literature one has to learn and master versification (with
Einstein or
Newton or Codd lending a helping hand).
Nobody cajoles you to learn einstein to appreciate cankam. But, how
can you
preclude einstein as a theme for marabhu kavithai. For a practising
scientist
or an enthusiast in science, the beauty he sees in science is a
potential
theme for versitification.
>A genuine love of literature,
passion for things past and a well researched text (Urai) would be more
than
adequate to enjoy any old Tamil kaaviyam, kalambagam or prabantham ..
So you mean to say that new themes are not given to traditional poetry,
just
look back at our classical masters how varied and different their
themes are
and how the social and cultural changes (and political) constantly
changed
their themes. what is the yardstick to admit (or refuse) entry for a
subject
to poetry.
So what do you think bharathi would have had in his mind when he said,
"cenrituvIr ettu thiikkum, kalai chelvangkal yaavayum koNrnthinku
cErppIt" -
in beautiful marabhu verses.
>It is needless to lament the death of Marabu Kavithai as a vibrant
modern
Tamil poetry has since evolved and has taken its place,
So one can commit patricide when his new son is born !!! Great logic.
Go
take pride and dance on the imaginary corps of the cherished and
beloved
tradition.
>with the advent of
Bharathi. The tradition has been kept alive by Bharathi Dasan,
Pichamurthy,
Basuvaiyya (Sundara Ramasami), Jnanakoothan, Pazhamalai, Kanimozhi et
al.
Bharathy/ dasan are trained marabhu poets. They "also" experimented
with
boundless verses.
You know it has been constantly observed by even these greats (like one
of my
favourites basuvaiyah) that tamil puthukkavithai is already dying!!!
p.kavithaisits do not dare and experiment. the majority of modern
poetry as
composed by the "mass poets" is not a cerebral work, it often looks
like a
compositor's error.
>Let Newton be not disturbed from his eternal sleep to jack up Tamil
literature!
Thanks for being the self-appointed spokesperson for Newton's
graveyard. I
guess he will rather enjoy being sung in mellifluos tamil verses than
being
argued about his homosexuality and intellectual dishonesty that the
british
argue even now.
