A Prodigious poet

Chinnaswamy Subramania Iyer was born on 11^th December 1882 to Lakshmi and Chinnaswamy Iyer in Ettayapuram. At home, he was lovingly called ‘Subbaya’. His first major source of inspiration was his maternal grandfather, who introduced him to the beauty of Tamil poetry at a very young age. There was no looking back, Subbaya began writing at the age of seven, and soon was regarded as a prodigious poet in his vicinity. However, his father was against his dabbling with poetry, as he wanted to see his son excel in Mathematics and pursue engineering. This never deterred Subbaya as he went about his poetic journey with aplomb. Bharati staunchly opposed the exalted nature of the English language from a very young age. He rather spent a lot of time reading and writing works of Tamil. He frequently visited the royal court of Ettayapuram, and carefully paid attention to all the poetic renditions made in the court. Recognising the talent in this precocious teenager, the Maharaja of Ettayapuram conferred upon him the title of ‘Bharati’ (Goddess of Learning). This is how Subramania Bharati is recognised to this date.

In 1894, he was married to a seven-year girl called Chellama. However, their relationship blossomed over time, and both fostered deep respect for each other until the very end.

Poetry and Journalism

The year after his marriage, Bharati was orphaned. His father had passed away after one of the cotton factories he was planning to set up in Ettayapuram failed to materialise. This naturally came as a shock to Bharati. In 1898, he went to Benares, where he continued his association with books and poetry. In fact, during this time, he also developed a profound interest in reading Romantic poets like Percy Shelley. Here, he devoured literature of English, Hindi and Sanskrit.

In 1902, Bharati was called back to the Ettayapuram court by the Maharaja. He had a brief stint in the royal court, before he left his home town looking for some more wholesome opportunities. His skill in writing hadn’t been tapped upon effectively as yet, and in the prime of his youth, Bharati wished to use them to the best of his potential.

Swadesa-mitran and political journalism

He started working with the journal ‘Swadesa-mitran’ as the sub-editor, and wrote articles to stoke national pride among people. This was also the time when the Congress was increasingly getting divided between the ‘moderate’ and ‘extremist’ factions. Bharati was unequivocally on the side of the latter. He wrote fiery poems expounding upon nationhood and the quest for independence. He was deeply moved by Lokmanya Tilak and his rhetoric. He translated into Tamil a lot of Tilak’s lectures as he found them replete with messages for the nation. 

'India'

Bharati’s most significant work as a journalist came through his journal, called ‘India’. Articles in this journal clearly highlight his nationalist outlook, as he wrote extensively about every small event taking place across the country. This was a period of hectic political activity, given the partition of Bengal and the spontaneous protests that erupted across the country. Though these protests largely evaded the Far South, Bharati was acutely conscious of their significance, as is evident from the cover pages of ‘India’ in 1906-1907. Here, he gives a cartographic rendition of the ‘Bharat Mata’ painting that had been rendered by Abanindranath Tagore and this evoked the way in which a maternalistic notion was attached to the concept of nationhood.

Meeting Sister Nivedita

December 1906 brought about one of the most significant encounters in Bharati’s life, that decisively impacted all of Bharati’s contributions in the future. This was his meeting Sister Nivedita in Calcutta. While Bharati had been effusive in his praise for Nivedita across many of his articles, this meeting elevated her in his mind to the status of a ‘guru’. It is said that Nivedita instilled in Bharati the spirit to work for the emancipation of women, by telling him ‘If the half the world is enslaved, how can the other half hope to win freedom’. Across all his works, Bharati recalled this encounter with Nivedita emphatically.

In 1908, Bharati published a book titled, Swadesha Gitangal, which was a compilation of his songs. The next year, he published another book ‘Janma-bhoomi’ which he explicitly dedicated to Sister Nivedita.  [ref]

Exiled In Pondicherry (1908-1918)

In the same year, the legal editor of Swadesamitran, M Srinivasan was imprisoned, and this prompted Bharati to shift his base to Pondicherry (French territory). The ten years spent by him in self-imposed exile in Pondicherry turned out to be his most productive in terms of poetic output, as he continued publishing articles fearlessly in his journal. He wrote parallelly on two aspects: the importance of political freedom and the injustices meted out by the British people on the colonised Indians. Bharati also published a journal called Vijayan and besides that contributed articles in a variety of magazines including Chitravali, Common Weal, New India and Arya.

In 1910, the British introduced a law on journals that compelled Bharati to cease publication of India and all other journals. He endured a phase in life where money was hard to come by. In 1915, he re-joined Swadesa-mitran, given his economic hardships. 

Kadayam and Bharati's reformist ideas

In 1918, he left Pondicherry, frustrated by his life in exile, and courted arrest in Cuddalore. Upon being released, he settled in his wife Chellamma’s home village Kadayam.

By the fag end of his life, Bharati had realised that political independence was of utmost importance, and that is why he stressed on propagation of national ideals throughout the country. Bharati’s ideas are captured in this excerpt from a letter written to Lloyd George in 1921, “Ours is a country which was well-versed in Vedanta as early as five thousand years ago. It consists of thirty crores of people; even today it leads the civilisations of the world through Jagdish Chandra Bose, and so on. When are you going to grant freedom to India which is incomparable in its glory in the history of the entire world?”[ref]

In March 1919, Bharati reportedly met M.K. Gandhi for the first and only time. Even Gandhi was impressed with his brilliance. While Bharati and Swadesa-mitran wrote in support of the non-cooperation movement, they were also critical of some of Gandhi’s methods of acquiring freedom.

Bharati’s short stay at Kadayam is attributed to the deep-seated casteism ingrained in people living in that region. Bharati’s poetry too reflects this agony over Brahmanical superiority, and patriarchy. Sister Nivedita had influenced him hugely in this direction. Going against prevailing customs, he ensured that his wife Chellamma walked by his side, rather than behind him. In the ‘Palla song’ for instance, he brings together his ideas of national liberation, equality and unity by highlighting how ‘tillers of the soil’ must be glorified. He is also said to have taught the Gayatri Mantra to an untouchable named Kanakalingam.  [ref]

Devotion and demise

In 1920, Bharati relocated to Thulasingaperuma Koil Street in Triplicane. The street faced the Parthasarthy Swami temple, and Bharati offered his prayers almost on a daily basis. While he continued writing columns on international affairs and domestic politics, this was also the period where he propagated the idea of ‘bhakti’. Decades of travelling across the country had led to his thoughts crystallising, and the Parthasarthy temple too gave him an opportunity to experience the elevation of realising divinity. Unfortunately, the precincts of this temple were responsible for bringing about the demise of Bharati. He habitually offered some fruit to the temple elephant, and on that fateful day too, went ahead with the ritual. However, the elephant- that wasn’t in the best of health- pushed Bharati to the ground, injuring him grievously. Bharati was rushed to the hospital, and he did recover. However, a stomach ailment further deteriorated his condition. Mahakavi Bharati passed away on 11 September 1921 aged just 39.