The May 2015 lecture of Tamil Valaratha
CaanRor (தமிழ் வளர்த்த சான்றோர்) was about Rajaji. Kalki editor Venkatesh shared the stage with Dr
VaVeSu. Rajaji’s contribution to the freedom movement, to administrative
reform, to social reform, his sufferings and spirit of sacrifice are all worth
discussing, but I will avoid them in this lecture, which will only focus on his
contributions to Tamil, said VaVeSu, in his introductory remarks.
Rajaji wrote 54 books in Tamil!
He refused to heed Kalki's call to write an
autobiography : he asked if great writers like Kamban, Kalidasa wrote about
themselves. My work should speak for me, he quipped. Biographies on Rajaji have
been written by others, including famously, by Rajmohan Gandhi, his own
grandson, whose other grandfather was MK Gandhi.
One of his colleagues asked whether Rajaji did
not have free time when he was Governor General ? No, Rajaji retorted, his time
was mostly spent resolving conflicts between the PM Nehru and the Deputy PM
Patel
He asked Thiru ViKa to write a foreword for
Tamil book "Socrates."
Never asked anyone else to write a foreword
for any of his other books.
Rajaji never made any references to himself in
any of his books, said VaVeSu, with one significant exception. In the middle of
his Tamil series Ramayana, titled “Chakkaravarthi Thirumagan (சக்கரவர்த்தி திருமகன்)”, which later came
out as a book, he noted that Rakshasas were considered vile people who often
behaved in the basest manner, but nowhere had Kamban referred to Tamils as being
of the Rakshasa race. But nowadays (in the 1950s) there are people who claim
themselves to be descendants of these same Rakshasas. This was mocking the
claim of a section of the Dravidian
movement at that time.
Saying Tamil is deficient in sounds is like a
customer of a second hand shirt complaining about its lack of fit.
Using words like motor in Tamil is ok, but words like time and speed, for which
there are Tamil words, is like a patient used to disease, and believing that is
the normal condition of the body.
We both fish in the same pond says VaVeSu, but
I used a thoondil (fishhook) and Kalki Venkatesh used a net.
Rajaji explained the differences between
Kamban – “lyric with glitter” and Valmiki – “blank verse” (like Tamil
agavalpaa!)
Gopu’s Notes
I left the program after an hour
because I wanted to watch the IPL finals between Mumbai Indians and Chennai
SuperKings, which the latter lost in a lopsided contest. These talks are
recorded on video, so may be available on the net.
This is perhaps the most frivolous of my blog posts, especially considering how much I admire Rajaji, and how much more I could write on him from my own readings. Rajaji fascinates me as the only national leader other than Bala Gangadhar Tilak to write about science, that too in Tamil. He was the strongest voice, perhaps lonely voice, against the rampant socialism of Nehru and an island of free market advocacy in a murky ocean of communist propaganda. But I am merely sharing some quotes which I jotted down during the lecture.
I think the Tamil title of Rajaji's Ramayana Chakkaravarthi Thirumagan (சக்கரவர்த்தி திருமகன்) was deliberately self-referencing. He belong to the Nallan Chakkaravarthi clan and could well claim the title or epithet for himself.
Metaphors Rajaji was a master of the metaphor, especially in coining new ones. The two examples above barely scratch the surface. That deserves a separate study.
Related Posts
3. Athiyaman's blog on Rajaji and Capitalism
