My Thoughts on the Book "SriLankan Tamil Poetry- An Anthology"

I traveled to Vijayawada in November 2018 to attend the poetic prism organized by the Cultural centre of Vijayawada and Amaravathi (CCVA), The organizers had arranged for our pick up from the railway station and drop to the hotel.When I entered the car, I got introduced to distinguished Srilankan poet and translator, Mr S.Padmanathan (Sopa). We discussed about the constitutional crisis that was then prevailing in his country caused by conflict between the President and Prime minister. On reaching the hotel, we promised to catch up the next day at the poetic meet.

The next day when we met, Sopa kindly presented to me two books written by him, one in Tamil  and another in English, (poems of Tamil poets translated by him )  titled, "SriLankan Tamil Poetry- An Anthology".In this post, I wish to share my thoughts and impressions about the anthology that has 48 poems by 26 poets. Although, various subjects are discussed in the poems, given the trauma of civil war and violence that the island nation witnessed for a long time, the accent is more on the impact of these experiences on the lives of people. In the preface Sopa observes as follows: "If this collection contains too many poems on war, I would say it is not my fault.We have lived through it and the poets who experienced the trauma of war have had their say and those who were outside the war zone need to respect them for what they have endured."

I immensely liked the introduction to the book written by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha M.P. which contains the spirit of the poems included in the anthology. He has extensively quoted from the poems and it  becomes easy for the reader to relate to it when he reads it in full, later in the book. The concern and sensitivity of Prof Wijesinha comes through very clearly in his narration. One feels that if the island nation had more MPs like him, the country would have been saved the years of conflict, pain and trauma. 

We all know that war is cruel. At the end of the day, no one really wins, more so in a civil war. Scars remain in the minds of even  the soldiers of the so called 'victors'. Impact of war is a lot more than  mere statistics of people dead or injured in an operation reported in the media  . Poetry goes deep and brings forth the feelings and experiences of the people in flesh and blood.- What it means to deal with situations when  heads of families/ sons in prime of youth  disappear, when you are forced to leave behind and flee from a  place that had been home for you and your ancestors. All these and more can be experienced in a reading of the anthology that has been translated in a free flowing style by Sopa.

As prof WijeSinha had already drawn attention to many good poems, I looked out for others as well that made an impression on me. There is this poem titled "Murder" by N.A.Nuhman alluding to the incident of the burning down of the  Jaffna public library in ethnic violence-

Last night
I had a dream
Lord Buddha was shot dead
by the police-
guardians of law
   
Under the cover of darkness
came the ministers
'His name- not in our lists!
why did you kill him?
they ask in anger
No, sirs, no!
without bumping him off
it was impossible
to harm even a fly.
Therefore....' they stammered
There was no mistake.

'Okay, okay!
Hide the corpse.' 

In the subtle poem, "Rainy Season" by Karoline KaitamPillai, she discusses about rain being enjoyable 'as you sip tea and watch through the window panes" and rain being detestable "when it leaks through thatched roofs".

Sometime
we may all love rain
when ventilated rooms and window panes
and views of water- dripping plants
are available to all

We may love rain
but forget to sip tea
when memories of our comrades
haunt us!

T. Jayaseelan's "Grandfather" recounts the nostalgic association of the poet with his "appu' and ends with these lines:-

Selfless love
so rare in this life
ruled by sophistication
will I be able
to offer my grandson
a relationship
as precious
as yours, appu?
I wonder

In the poem "Catching dogs", the poet is vexed by his dog running around freely and the possibility of his  becoming  a victim of the dog catchers

My dog doesn't understand
if it is found
a stray dog
he would be clubbed
to death
My dog doesn't understand
He runs off dodging me

"The Release" was one poem that touched me deeply. I had not observed the name of the poet as I read through the poem. soon after I finished  reading, I eagerly checked the name of the poet to find that it was written by Sopa (S.Pathmanathan) himself. The poem tells the story of the person who fled from his home at the time of violence, leaving his dog to take care of the house. I am quoting below the first stanza and two more at random  from the poem 

I returned
after a six month exile
to find to my surprise
my house standing, the roof intact
with the exception of some stolen items
our belongings safe 

From the sanctuary I paid fleeting visits
seeing me you leaped up in joy
licked me, snatched from my hands
the goodies I had brought

You are not there
but your memories haunt me
when I think that you perished
defending the house that I abandoned
I feel the pangs of guilt 

Sopa's poem "Thoughts on a Full Moon Day( Composed on the eve of the departure of the IPKF)" calls attention to the fact that the Tamils who had thought that the Indian Peace Keeping force would be a saviour found to their dismay that it did more harm than good:-

But one day the Gods turned into demons
they pestered us who had asked for a homeland
and our homes were destroyed
the transformed Gods had to be appeased
with fowls and goats
with ornaments and houses
with wine and women 

The harassment faced by ordinary citizens is powerfully brought out in the poem "They will come again" by Castro.

I am fed up
This is the third time
they have come
it is the third time
they have searched
my baggage
torn my bags
scattered my clothes
glared at me
suspiciously

One of them
must have thought of Jesus Christ
He slapped me on the left cheek
and before I could turn my right cheek
slapped it too

When they left
they spirited away
some of my possessions
They returned a fourth time

They will come again!


Moving away to another topic I would like to share the poem "Freedom" written by Mulai Musrifa.

My daughter is drawing a picture
My son wants it to shine like the sun
My wife prefers a cooling moon
My mother wants a lot of stars on it
My father prefers gathering clouds
I want a never ending sky
But the brush said the choice is mine

Sangari's "Today I am a big girl" talks about  of how all of a sudden a girl loses freedom to clap, laugh, shout out aloud or climb trees on becoming a 'big girl'.

must be modest
patient
coyness
a female ornament
talking
smiling
glancing
dressing
and walking
everything as per code
a rock
a block of ice
a woman 

There are many more wonderful poems in the anthology like Avuvvai's "My son comes home", Solaikili's "That velvet bird, Ramalingam's "Lust is without caste", Sharmila seyyid's "Keys of the broken home", Karunakaran's "Her question". However, I am not discussing them in detail, in the interests of brevity of this post. For me, reading Sopa's book was a revelation. It  gave a lot more information and insights into the minds and hearts of the Tamil people of SriLanka who had to go through decades of hardship. We can only hope that all problems get resolved in the island nation so that the Tamils can write more poems on love, happiness, aspirations and  all good things in life.

NB: Readers can reach the writer and translator Sopa at the Email ID - spatma149@gmail.com