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From: "Chandrasekaran, Periannan"
To: "'agathiyar@egroups.com'"
Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 17:31:09 -0400
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Subject: [agathiyar] Re: Poetry, Science and Marabhu
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-
Manivannan had forwarded Ramanitharan's message
----Original Message-----
> From: K.Ramanitharan
> To: webmasters@...
> Date: Monday, September 13, 1999 8:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [webmasters] Ianesco again
>
>
> vaNakkam
> Forgive me for writing in TSC based fonts...
> I promise -next time- I'll try to write in Tamil Nadu
> Govenment's Fonts (TNGF).
>
................
>
> These are only MY views; and, I agree I have the chance to be
> on the wrong site,
> like others, who made their points over here.
Dear Ramanitahran,
vaNakkam.

I did not intend this to degenerate into marabu vs. puththukkavithai.
This is separate from the issues such as whether yAppu in science and
whether scientific ceyyuL is poem or not.

I am responding ot your posting in parts.
I hope this reaches you promptly just as the original posting by me did
and hope equally well that your response reache sthis forum just as did your
response.:-))

In this part I am dicsussing your assertion that "yAppu has been elitist".



>
> At 09:57 AM 09/13/1999 -0700, you wrote:
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Chandrasekaran, Periannan
>
>
>........
> Even in the earlier time, yaappu was only for the educated elites,
> who preserved the language within their clans... whatever their
> reasons were.
>

I do not know what you mean by "preserved the language".
yAppu by itself is, as is the case with all elements of classical Tamil (
such as
iyal (different types of books such as kuravanjci, paLLu)
,akam/puRam (based on actual practice), icaith thamiz (which includes
musicology for folk dance forms such as vaLLai, ammAnai, Ucal etc ),
derived
from the popular.

Tamil people naturally employ(ed) (I should say "used to spea" :-)))
ethukai and mOnai in day-to-day speech. Country vidukathais and proverbs are
with ethukai, mOnai and the adis would be in equal measure (aLavoththal).
The great linguistic genius thEvA nEyap pAvANar says that Tamil is uniquely
rich in
root words occurring in ethukai pairs. Tamil accent (speech pattern)
stresses the first part of a word
and George Hart states in his exquisite translation of AraNyA kANdam of
kampan that this
makes ethukai natural for them.
Tamils are also naturally music-oriented. It is a well known comemnt that
Tamils always sang and
never simply spoke...anybody old enough would recall elders "reading"
newspaper prose in
a tune of their own.
Also various acais and thaLais correspond to a pattern of drum beats (or
rhythm syllables).
nEr acai = thAm, thIm
nirai = thaka, thimi etc.
thaLais determine the over all sound effect and rhytmic flow.
veN thaLai is said to be the most pleasant and is used in various settings.
kummi and (kAvadic) chindhu employ veN thaLais.
All these are completely rooted in folk arts.

George Hart also says that Tamil poetry began with the ordinary clans such
as pANars
which got adapted by others.
So It is very untrue to say that yAppu was elitist. Tamil never had anything
elitist, period.
Tamils held kuyavas in the highest posiiton as evidenced from Indus Valley
artifacts,
vedic, purAnic and cangkam texts.
Tamils never let any particular group arrogate to themselves any particluar
classical form.
pulavaras were from all walks of life; knowledge in all arts was expressed
in yAppu
because Tamils simply because it was natural for them and it also had built
in mnemonics.
It also conveniently allowed ciphering (encypting) the knowledge.

> விவாககால நியதி
>
> செம்பொனா லோன்சே யோரை
> சிந்தபத் திலாப மேவக்
> கம்பநீர்ப் புவனி மீது
> கருதிய விவாகஞ் செய்யிற்
> பைம்பொனாட் டரசர் கோமான்
> பராக்ரம வாகு பூபன்
> றம்பைநாட் டாரைப் போலத்
> தலைமையும் வாழ்வு மாமே.
>
> -
> caracOthimAlai
> (sOthidan_l), pOcarAca paNdithar, 1310
>
> வாய்ரோகம்
>
> இரட்சை
>
> தியதை யுண்ணாக் கதிலுற முன்னர்ச்
> செப்பிய முறைவழு வாமற்
> றேனன மொழியாய் வைத்தபி னகற்றித்
> தீயினில் வெந்தநீ ரதனால்
> பாவுற வலசிக் கொப்பளித் திடுவாய்
> பயின்முறை யைந்துநாட் செய்தே
> பகர்ந்திடு வத்தி ராஞ்சனப் புகையைப்
> பத்துநாட் காலைநன் மாலை
> இருபது தியும் புகைத்திடப் புண்போ
> மியல்புளி யுப்பிவை நீக்கி
> யேற்றநற் பசுப்பா னெய்யுடன் முருங்கை
> யிலையதன் பிஞ்சுமே யாகும்
> தொவுற வதற்பின் குளிர்ந்த நீர் மூழ்கச்
> செப்பினான் றென்மலை யிருந்து
> தீந்தமி ழாராய்ந் திலக்கணம் வகுத்த
> செய்தவத் துயர்முனி தானே.
>
> -pararAcacEkaram
> (vaiththiya n-Ul) n-allOr pararAcacEkaran, 1478 - 1519
>
> Even these fall into relatively simple verses, I think they
> are still hard
> for a layman to understand.


These are professional knowledge and a layman was supposed to have no
business
to start understanding them without some training in the trade!
These are called nURpAs or cUththirams (formulas) just as with physics
today!
You are supposed to understand what the capital Sigma stands for in a
formula.
Just as with an article in nuclear physics or programming languages theory
where you would
find terms such as superstrings, term-rewriting etc thrown in without any
explanation whatsoever. Even when stating advanced facts, it would simply
cite publications.


Regards
Chandra