A Turban That Spoke Louder Than Words

There is no caste system; It is a sin to divide people caste basis; The ones who are really of a superior class are the ones excelling in being just, wise, educated and loving - Subramania Bharathi

When poetry met a common man's fight for freedom; Image Source: StoryWeaver

A writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist, social reformer, and polyglot, he was fondly known as "Mahakavi Bharathi". Considered as one of the most significant Tamil literary figures, his songs rekindled the fighting spirit of people, motivating them to rebel against the rule of the Britishers. He used to say, "Even if Indians are divided, they are children of one Mother, where is the need for foreigners to interfere?" He was driven by the motive of uplifting the weaker sections of the society, including the women, Dalits, and Muslims. Constantly fighting for the emancipation of women, against child marriage, reforming Brahminism and religion, and giving equal rights and respect to the Dalits and Muslims, he made sure to extend his social services to almost all sections of the society. But how did the story of Subramania Bharathi start from a village in Tamil Nadu?

It was the year 1882 when the Iyer family rejoiced at the birth of their son, Subramania. From quite a young age, Subra was inclined towards music and poetry. Though his mother, Lakshmi Ammal, wanted him to nurture his passion, she died when he was five years old. However, his father, Chinnaswami Subramania Iyer, wanted his son to learn English, excel in scientific subjects like arithmetic, and become an engineer. Little did the father know that his son had interests far away from the lands of logic and science. Little Subra had a keen interest in literature- a world that fascinated him to a large extent and allowed him to experiment with his creativity.

With constant hard work, he was able to increase his proficiency in subjects like Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, English, French, and Arabic. At the tender age of eleven, he was honoured with the title "Bharathi", meaning the one blessed by Saraswati, by Raja of Ettayapuram, who was more than impressed upon seeing his poetic abilities.

Chinnaswami could not live long to see his son succeed in a field far away from logic and science. He died when Bharathi was just sixteen, and just a year before his death, Subra married a girl named Chellamma, who was just seven years old.

During his imprisonment, he met many great leaders like Aurobindo, Lajpat Rai, and V.V.S. Aiyar, with whom he started writing and editing journals. When he was trying to enter India near Cuddalore, he was again arrested and imprisoned until the intervention of Annie Besant and C.P. Ramaswamy. By then, Subramania was quite ill and was poverty-stricken. When he was out of prison by 1920 upon General Amnesty's orders, he was quite frail and was struggling to live.

Every day he used to feed an elephant named Lavanya, but one fine day, when he fed a coconut to Lavanya, she got angry and attacked Bharathi. Though initially, he was able to sustain the injuries, with time, his health worsened, and he died on 12 September 1921. Bharathi had quite a vast connection with people due to his involvement in a variety of fields, but it is said that only fourteen people attended his funeral.

When Subramania started living in Varanasi, he was able to get a glimpse of Hindu spirituality and nationalism, which broadened his outlook and the way he saw people from other religions. It also inspired him to learn other languages like Sanskrit and Hindi. Influenced by the Sikh culture and one of his Sikh friends, he began wearing a turban and grew a beard like any other man from the Sikh community. Trying to find a permanent source of income, he gave an entrance exam to join the government services and cracked it. Still, then again, he remembered his passion for literature and returned to Ettayapuram to work as a court poet for the next two years. Later on, he started working as a teacher in Sethupathy High School in Madurai for five months.

These five months made Bharathi realise that knowing about the world outside and its happenings were essential, and as a result, he also started taking an interest in the field of journalism. To explore the realm of journalism, he also joined as an Assistant Editor of a Tamil Daily called Swadesamitran. In the year 1905, when he was returning to his home from a Congress meeting, he met Sister Nivedita. This meeting instilled a sense of serving the weak people in Bharathi. Nivedita made him realise the privileges of women that were not equal to the men of the society in any way, and thus, he decided to work for the emancipation of women, to give them the rights they deserved. In other words, Subra viewed women as a reincarnation of Shakti, who is a willing helpmate of man, and together they could build a society that provides equal rights and privileges to all.

Bharathi was thoroughly inspired by people like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and also considered Sister Nivedita as his Guru and wrote verses and poems in her praise. Involved in the freedom struggle, he attended and actively participated in the INC session held in Calcutta, whose motive was to demand Swaraj and boycott of goods manufactured in Great Britain.

One of the most popular mediums to express his protests against British Rule was a newspaper. In 1906, Subra started editing India and Bala Bharatham, and at the same time, he also published his hymns and nationalistic writings in these. The topics ranged from the relationship between God and Man to interpretations and analysis of Russian and French Revolutions.

Bharathi attended the Surat Congress along with leaders like V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Mandayam Srinivachariar, Tilak, and Kanchi Varathachariyar and also supported them in their decision of armed resistance against the Firangis. But this caused a rift between the members of the INC, a part of which supported the concept of ahimsa, while the other part supported the concept of violence against the Britishers.

It was the year 1908 when the British police officers arrested V.O. Chidambaram Pillai along with the proprietor of the journal India. However, Bharathi escaped to Pondicherry and started editing and publishing the India magazine along with other magazines and newspapers like Vijaya, Bala Bharatham, and Suryodayam. When the Britishers came to know about the activities of Subra, they tried to stop him by halting the remittances and letters, and soon, India and Vijaya were banned in the country.

He spent his last days in a house in Chennai, and after his death, the government renovated it and renamed it Bharathi Illam (Home of Bharathi).

Subramani with his wife, Chellamma; Image Source: Hindustan Times

Cover page of the 1909 magazine Vijaya, published first from Madras and then from Pondicherry. The cover shows "Mother India" (Bharat Mata) with her diverse progeny and the rallying cry "Vande Mataram"; Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Home of Bharathi; Image Source: The New Indian Express