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The Haiku Scene in Tamil
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| Posted by A.Thiagarajan Wed, Mar 12th 2008, 23:00 :: English | |||
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The Haiku Scene in Tamil
- A.Thiagarajan * Paper presented at the 9th World Haiku Festival held at Bangalore (India) in February 2008. The origins of the Tamil people, like those of the other Dravidians, are unknown, although genetic and archaeological evidence suggests a possible migration into India around 6000 BCE33 . Tamil is the 17th largest spoken in the world, with over 77 million speakers1- including 60 mio from India 34. Tamil is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and a classical language of the nation. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages. It has 2200 year history #2#3#4, though its origins are not that transparent#2#7. Literary works in India were preserved through oral transmission or via written palm leaves which made dating doubtful; one has to rely on external records and internal linguistic evidence. The oldest extant works are estimated to have been done by the 2nd century BC and the 10th century AD #8#9#10. Of the epigraphical inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India in India, over 55% (i.e. about 55,000) are in Tamil language#11. This attestation of Tamil includes the rock inscriptions of the 2nd century BC; the earliest epigraphic records found dated to around 300 BC. As for literature, Tamil has a tradition of over two thousand years. [#15] and the Tolkappiyam, oldest known treatise in Tamil, has been dated variously between second century BC and tenth century AD [#12] [#5] [#13] [#14] [#9] [#10]. The earliest period of the categories into which the Tamil scholars categorize the Tamil literature and language, #16, is the Sangam period which dates between 100 BC and 300 AD and the literature contains about 50,000 lines of poetry contained in 2381 poems attributed to 473 poets including many women poets[#17][#18]. Tamil was independent of Sanskrit [#5] [#6]. Much later, Tamil was influenced by Sanskrit in terms of vocabulary, grammar and literary styles [#19] [#5] [#20] [#13] [#21] [#22] [#23] [#5]. Some words were also borrowed from Persian, Portuguese, Dutch and Arabic [#24]. The late mediaeval period saw a resistance to the Sanskrit influence culminating in the purist movement of the 20th century- ta?it Tami iyakkam- meaning pure Tamil movement#25, 26, and 27. Today, much of the modern vocabulary derives from classical Tamil, #28; in formal documents, it is now largely free of Sanskrit words #29. Some say that the number of Sanskrit words in Tamil is down from about 50% to 20% [#30] Now, as to the impact of the words of Tamil origin in other languages. Some common examples in English are cash (kaasu, a small coin), cheroot (curu??u meaning "rolled up"), mango (from mangai), mulligatawny (from mi?aku ta??ir meaning pepper water), pariah (from paraiyar), ginger (from ingi), curry (from kari), rice (from arici) and catamaran (from ka??u maram, ????? ????, meaning "bundled logs"),[#32] pandal (shed, shelter, booth), coir (rope). #32 . According to a 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, of which 353 were dailies[#31]. Tamil Haiku In an essay at www.modernhaiku.org, Charles Turnbull writes: “Exploring verse forms in world literature during the early years of the twentieth century, Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore translated some Haiku into Bengali in the 1920s (Dasgupta). There is an active haiku scene in India today, writing in Hindi and Tamil and other vernacular languages as well as in English” Here are a few initial facts about the Haiku scene in Tamil before we move on to look at some Haiku. In 1916, the great Subramanya Bharathi brought Haiku to the attention of the Tamil public through an article he wrote in Swadesamitran in its 16th October 1916 issue. K S Venkatramani in his book Paper Boats (first published in 1921) in its second edition in 1925 wrote as quoted below- perhaps the first ever Haiku written in Tamil, though Venkatramani himself does not claim so. the corners cut paper boat I float again
Going back to history, C Mani and Chandralekha translated some Haiku and published them in Naday and Kanaiyazhi- this is sixty years after the essay of Bharathi. According to Tamilnaadan, it is the college professors who introduced Haiku in Tamil: he refers to a 1973 conference held at Chennai where Haiku was discussed- (an interview published by Mu Murugesh in the magazine Iniya haiku (Sweet Haiku)). Poets such as Abdul Rahman, Sujatha, Tamilnadan and Leelavathi are credited to have further introduced Haiku to the Tamil readers. In 1974 by his publication “Paalveedhi”, Abdul Rahman brought out his Sindhar written in the 1970s. In 1984, Amudhabharathi brought his Haiku collection called Pullippookkal claiming it to be the first Haiku book in Tamil. I have some Haiku from him elsewhere in this article. One can not ignore the contribution of essays of Sujatah, Nellai Su Muthu, Abdul Rahman, Tamilanban, besides the early collections of Mithra and Arivumathi. The Tamil wikipedia haiku presents the following Haiku- Kannaadiyai thudaikka thudaikka En mugaththin azhukku Gets clearer Vaiththeeswaran Roughly translated, Wiping the mirror It gets clearer The dirt on my face I have simply made the third line of the poet, as second in my translation. This one from Kavibala. Vidhavai mugam paarkkiraal Kannaadiyil Ottuppottu The widow looks at her face In the mirror The bindi stuck For those who do not know, widows do not wear the red dot of vermilion which you see in the south Indian women’s faces. Bindi is the common name of that red dot, though today it is so many colours and shapes. This convention no longer stays though everyone knows about it and the orthodox still follows it. The following one from Na. Muthukumar… Bimbangalatra thanimayil Ondril ondru mugam paarththana Saloon kannaadigal In imageless (reflection less) loneliness Seeing faces in each other The mirrors in the saloon (barbers). From Sujatha… Meen thullugirathu Jalaththil… Salasalakkum megangal Fish jumping (swimming?) In water… Disturbing clouds ( the Tamil word salasalakkum is creating ripples/causing disturbance in an otherwise serene situation ). Another of Sujatha Kaaril adipattu nasiththa pin Naayin vaal mattum Asaigirathu After getting injured at the car The dog’s tail alone Moves Asaigirathu is a gentle mild feeble physical movement- like those of the leaves in a gentle breeze. This one caught the attention of many Kuttayil siruneer kazhikum siruvan Vanaththai asaikkiran This boy Pissing in a puddle Shakes the sky There are a few sites in Tamil which talk about the history of Haiku and associated forms, the structure and proceed to explain as to how one can write. One of the popular books referred to in the Tamil Haiku world seems to be The Haiku Handbook by William J.Higginson. Writing without rules is like playing tennis without a net – Tamil writers mention this statement of Frost; they also believe that that like Bhaso that one must learn rules and forget them; it is better to follow your favorite poet –but if you find on reading what you have written, that they all look the same, you should lift your bat higher. Basically they all talk of the following 13 or some of them-
(www.kalanjiyam.com/books/index.php?titlenum=102) Tamil writers say that since it is sometimes difficult to follow some of these conventions, non-Japanese writers are not particular about following the 5-7-5 rule on account of the language peculiarities. Here are some from AmudhaBharathi- A huge naked figure Shameless The sky Class room A child in rapt attention A cloud through the window The poems have not been Completely done Some remain in creepers A long talk Stopped- Train Prabhakara Babu published a book “Sara Vilakkugal 560” containing 560 Haiku and he says that to date no one has broken that record. Thisaigal an ezine sponsored a Tamil Haiku blog; some haiku from there.. Mugam paarkkum nilavai Muththamittu udaikkum Karaiyora thavalaigal The frogs at the banks break ( disintegrate) the moon seeing its face _ Napoleon viragu samaikkum aduppu pugaiyil vendha amma Here firewood is cooking food- in the smoke his mom is cooked ( boiled is the word used by the poet). _ Napoleon Unakkum Kedkirathaa Sannal thirai kizhindhu vittathu Mukkalil munagom alamaari _ Manoharan Do you also hear The window curtain is torn The almirah murmurs The Tamil word munagum also connotes the small undecipherable sound produced by a person in pain. Here is one by Rama Pachcahi Naatrugalin Paniththuli kannadigalil Viyarvai bimbangal In the droplets on the leaves of the ….., the sweat reflections. The poet refers to the reflections of the workers in the fields Puduvai Yugabharathi writes Mazhaiyil nanaiyum Ottai kudaigal Marangal Getting drenched in rain The umbrellas with holes very many These trees Vijay from Kumbakonam writes Baalya snegithanai Vazhiyil sandhiththen Athu avanillai a friend of my youth meeting on the way it is not he (him). From Kulaththil Midhakkum Deepangal by Aarisan (an 80 page book of Haiku)- Vaanaththil Minnal Yosippadharukul Mazhaiyaai haiku Lightning in the sky Before thinking Haiku rain NilaaMuththam- by Mu Murugesh Poottiya veedu Saavi dhvaraththil Oru kulavikkoodu Locked house In the keyhole A wasp's nest Another… is it the poet’s feeling for life? Kadikkum kosu Adikka manasillay Vellai aadai Mosquito sting No mind to squash it White dress Thavali gudhiththathu Thaamarai ilayil Urulum nakshatrangal Frog jumped The stars roll On the lotus leaf Social concern, poet’s explanation, similies, etc which were considered as non-haiku were often the ingredients of Tamil Haiku- on the justification that even the great Japanese masters did the same. leather factory- the moon struggles to breathe effluent water -Arivumathy The pond Where cranes flew- Now the guard’s whistle sound ( Tiruchy Kaviththuvan) through the dark villages go heartlessly to the cities the power cables
(Navamma Murugan) Some may ask the poet to cutout the word “heartlessly” – that too rather questionably. In the milk vendor’s Cycle bell The calf’s voice (K C Sivakumar) A dead tree’s sprouting branches Show the way ( Thi Raa Namasivayam- Punnagai Issue 49) Udaikkum varai Vuyirodiruthahthu Kuzhanthaiyin man bommai (Mu Murugesh) Until broken It had life The kid’s doll Iruttil amarndhu Mounaththai thinnum Anaindha mezuguvaththi sitting in darkness munching silence extinguished candle (Mu Murugesh) Pournami Veedugal izhandha nandugal Full moon Houseless The crabs (Mithra) Pinaththin meethu malai Thenukku varum Veetu erumbugal garland on the corpse for the honey the house-ants come Mithra ( It is customary to adorn the dead body with a garland of flowers; house-ants is a Tamil usage to refer to the ants which you find in houses- as opposed to the jungle variety) iravu neram thalattum minvisiri ettipparkkum nila night- electric fan’s lullaby peeping moonlight Mithra Dhideer mazhai Kulm nedugha Aachcharya kurigal Sudden rain All along the pond Exclamation marks Mithra closing the book in a jerk rattled the ant stuck inside -SIBI darkness moving music the bullock cart -Rajasekar (I have removed the bellsound originally attached by the poet to the word bullock cart) There are some features which are common amongst most of the poets writing in Tamil today -
Even now, most of the popular large selling magazines magazines use Haiku as they would filler. There are many poets who wrote three line poetry who transformed into Haiku writers after exposure to the Japanese masters and literature on Haiku. There could be debates and more as to whether these features are acceptable in Haiku - examples may perhaps be found from the Japanese masters for their use and non-use. The sacred rule of 5-7-5 being given a go by could be sited as another example. The trend of the haiku outside Japan breaking slowly out of hitherto accepted conventions is evidenced further by the absence of a season word by many One of the writers while countering the criticism that there is no worthwhile Haiku in Tamil challenges the critics to read at least two books before passing any judgment – the two books cited are Mithra’s “ The conversation heard in the Umbrella “ and Arivumathi’s Last Raindrop”. As said by Mu Murugesan, as one who has been writing and compiling Haiku for over two decades- there are over one hundred poets writing Haiku; if we are to put together those which have been written with poetic and subtle insight, they would be over one thousand. The two mind sets i.e. of Tamil/Indian and the Eastern are grounded in the fundamental belief system- both believe in “wholeness” “allness” and not in “nothingness”. The Tamils believed in “Muzhumai” (integral totality). Verumai (i.e. nothingness or emptiness) is not being. The logic of the mind is considered to be an imperfect tool to realize the essence of things and life. Swami Vivekananda asked – What is in the intellect or reason? It goes a few steps and there it stops”. The basic approach to life is “intuition”. It is no wonder that we took to Haiku so naturally and spontaneously. The only difference is in the symbols- which acquire meaning by those who use them; though, however, they are such powerful media of communication even to ourselves many times, to see oneself at our deepest and best. Water and its myriad avatars – thunder, lightning, clouds, ponds, rivers, sea, thirst, and drop- these are the basic terms of reference for seeing, experiencing and living, for the haiku poets traditionally because of the origins. But for Indians, it is fire – agni. Our literature, life, culture, mythologies… in short we, have fire which is our reference. After reading the Japanese masters and embarking upon writing Haiku, it looks normal that the influence of such strong a reference as water finds its place in our writers too ; in time, while we sit and pause and settle in the deepest, more of fire may perhaps be seen in our haiku.` Indianising and harmonizing with Tamil culture and ethos can Tamil haiku stand the test of time on its own. Typical examples would be the difference in the seasonal-cycles, flora and the fauna, myths, festivals and customs. #1. World Language. Tamil Language. #2. M. B. Emeneau (Jan-Mar 1956). "India as a Linguistic Area" (in English). #3. Burrow, Thomas (2001). The Sanskrit Language. Motilal Banarsidass Publications, 337. ISBN 8120817672. #4. CIIL. Introduction to Tamil. Central Institute of Indian languages. Retrieved on 2007-05-15. #5. Caldwell, Robert. 1974. A comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian family of languages. New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corp. #6. Journal of the American Oriental Society 87:4. (Oct - Dec 1967), pp. 430-434. #7. Caldwell, Robert #8. George Hart, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 94:2 (Apr - Jun 1974), pp. 157-167. #9. Kamil Veith Zvelebil, Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, pp12 #10. See K.A. Nilakanta Sastry, A History of South India, OUP (1955) pp 105 #11. (November 22, 2005). The Hindu. #12. Herman Tieken(2001) Kavya in South India: Old Tamil Cankam Poetry. Groningen: Forsten 2001 #13.Takahashi, Takanobu. 1995. Tamil love poetry and poetics. Brill's Indological library, v. 9. Leiden: E.J. Brill. #14. The Date of the Tolkappiyam: A Retrospect." Annals of Oriental Research (Madras), Silver Jubilee Volume: 292-317 #15. Kamil V. Zvelebil (1992). Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature. BRILL Academic, 12. #16. A. Velupillai. An Introduction to the History of Tamil People. Retrieved on 2007-05-14. #17. Rajam, V. S. 1992. A reference grammar of classical Tamil poetry: 150 B.C.-pre-fifth/sixth century A.D.. Memoirs of the American philosophical society, v. 199. Philadelphia, #18. Dr. M. Varadarajan, A History of Tamil Literature, (Translated from Tamil by E.Sa. Viswanathan), Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 1988 p.40 #20.Trautmann, Thomas R. 2006. Languages and nations: the Dravidian proof in colonial Madras. Berkeley: University of California Press. #21. "The author endeavours to demonstrate that the entire Sangam poetic corpus follows the "Kavya" form of Sanskrit poetry"-Tieken, Herman Joseph Hugo. 2001. Kavya in South India: old Tamil Ca?kam poetry. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. #22. Vaiyapuri Pillai in Takahashi, Takanobu. 1995, p18 #23.Sheldon Pollock, "The Sanskrit Cosmopolis 300-1300: Transculturation, vernacularisation and the question of ideology" in Jan E.M. Houben (ed.), The ideology and status of Sanskrit: Contributions to the history of the Sanskrit language (E.J. Brill, Leiden: 1996) at pp. 209-217. #24 Silapadhigaaram, Manimekalai, P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar’s "History of the Tamils: from the earliest times to 600 AD", Madras, 1929 #25 Sumathi Ramaswamy, "Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation" The Journal of Asian Studies, 57:1. (Feb. 1998), pp. 66-92. #26 Sumathi Ramaswamy, En/Gendering Language: The Poetics of Tamil Identity" Comparative Studies in Society and History 35:4. (Oct. 1993), pp. 683-725. #28 For example Cre-A’s Modern Tamil Dictionary contains 15,875 words, of which only a small percentage of words, some with Grantha letters are borrowed words. #29.Ramaswamy, Sumathy (1997). "Laboring for language", Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970. Berkeley: University of California Press. #30. Movement for Linguistic Purism: The case of Tamil. Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.. Retrieved on 2007-05-01. #32. Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford English Dictionary #31.India 2001: A Reference Annual 2001. Publications Division, New Delhi: Government of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. #32 Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved on 2007-04-14. . # 33> ( Gadgil et.al, Peopling of India, The Indian/Sri Lankan Human Heritage) #34 http://www.censusindia.gov.in/ Census_Data_2001/ Census_Data_Online /Language /Statement1.htm
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