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"Wind" is a poem written by Subramania Bharati in Tamil. It has been translated into English by AK Ramanujan.
*Subramania Bharati
Subramania Bharati (\(1882\)-\(1921\)), also known as Mahakavi (meaning great poet), lived in the pre-independence era. He was a famous poet, writer, journalist, independence activist, and a social reformer. He was recognised for his patriotic poems and mastery of the Tamil language.
The remarkable feature was it was written with simple words, though powerful meanings included. Therefore, it reached all the corners of society. The British government imposed a ban on his writing and sent Bharati to Pondicherry. His most famous works have evolved during this exile period. His notable works include Kannan Pattu (1917), Kuyil Pattu (1912), Panchali Sabatham (1912).
Bharati also translated Bhagavad Gita and works of Rabindranath Tagore into Tamil. Bharati had written many poems and prose pieces and lived with great patriotism during his lifetime.
Bharati wrote the poem "Wind" in a satirical tone, including anger and humour. The poem is about wind. The poet is talking to the wind and the wind god. He advises people on overcoming strong, destructive winds (or the problems that we face in life) by strengthening ourselves.
The remarkable feature was it was written with simple words, though powerful meanings included. Therefore, it reached all the corners of society. The British government imposed a ban on his writing and sent Bharati to Pondicherry. His most famous works have evolved during this exile period. His notable works include Kannan Pattu (1917), Kuyil Pattu (1912), Panchali Sabatham (1912).
Bharati also translated Bhagavad Gita and works of Rabindranath Tagore into Tamil. Bharati had written many poems and prose pieces and lived with great patriotism during his lifetime.
Bharati wrote the poem "Wind" in a satirical tone, including anger and humour. The poem is about wind. The poet is talking to the wind and the wind god. He advises people on overcoming strong, destructive winds (or the problems that we face in life) by strengthening ourselves.
**AK Ramanujan
The poem has been translated by AK Ramanujan (\(1929\)-\(1993\)), a Kannada and English poet. Besides being a poet, he was a professor, philologist, translator, folklorist and playwright. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award posthumously in \(1999\) for "The Collected Poems". He is well-known for his translation works in classical and modern poetry.
Meaning of difficult words:
| S.No | Words | Meaning |
1 | Journalist | a writer for newspapers and magazines |
2 | Activist/reformer | a person who works to achieve social or political change |
3 | Patriotism | strong feelings of love and respect towards your country |
4 | Philologist | a study of history and development of languages of a particular language |
5 | Translator | someone who changes spoken or written words into another language |
6 | Folklore | the unwritten stories, legends, customs, beliefs etc. of a people |
7 | Playwright | someone who writes plays or dramatists |
8 | Posthumously | after death |
9 | Satire | criticising a person using humour to show someone's faults or weaknesses |
10 | Classical | traditional and original |
Reference:
*Image courtesy - (illustration: C R Sasikumar) https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/a-song-called-bharati-5173168/
**Image courtesy - https://thereaderwiki.com/en/A.K._Ramanujan
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