This week as Republic Day approaches, a review of Naam Iruvar here. As a result of reviewing the film, I ended up with a slight (OK major) Bharathi obsession for awhile. A poem I liked which is poignant in view of Bharathi’s life.
Did you think I too will
Spend my days in search of food,
Tell petty tales,
Worry myself with thoughts,
Hurt others by my acts,
Turn senile with grey hair
And end up as fodder to the
relentless march of time
As yet another faceless man?
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As yet another faceless man?
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| ACK's Devayani is mighty coy |
I found a copy of Amar Chitra Katha’s Kacha and Devayani the other day. When I was young Devayani seemed enormously interesting and hard done by. First there was Kacha with his “But I am your brother!” I mean what was that! Commitment phobe much! Then the Yayati-Devayani-Sharmishtha triangle where poor Devayani was always worsted. Albeit it was a mess of her own making. Devayani is arrogant, selfish and manipulative but also upfront, she is an alpha female used to getting what she wants who finds that men are an obdurate species who will always elude her grasp. Really Devayani is quite modern, I mean she could star in her own afternoon soap called “Devayani Behaving Badly” where Kacha could be her half-brother providing for incestuous, illicit amore. Devayani could engage in verbal stoushes with Sharmishtha (who is quite the biatch at times what with pushing poor Devayani into a well) culminating in a ginormous catfight in which Yayati is the hapless stud bull prize. And if that’s too much for Indian housewives, Devayani can always make a comic strip appearance as the perfect antidote to Savita Bhabhi. Savita Bhabhi is the perfect male fantasy, nothing but a scantily clad woman who offers mindless fucks. Devayani on the other hand - whose desires are raw, immediate and honest - would leave most men terrified. Kacha and Yayati are no exception.
In a departure from my fervid imagination, Pradip Bhattacharya as usual offers an interesting take on Kacha, Devayani and Yayati. My frivolous mind is rather taken up with that “Dark Maidens with Copper Bright Nails” bit in his text. Excellent name for a female rock band!
There was one bit I never understood in the Kacha-Devayani tale. Why did Shukracharya, quite the besotted Dad, not teach Devayani the Sanjeevani? Not only would Bad Girl Devayani be provided with an intellectual side but a whole lot of grief could have been avoided! I feel a Kate Beaton cartoon coming on.
Anu, here is a tidbit, on bharathiyaar's life, that you may not have come across...
ReplyDeleteWhen Bharathiyaar was on his death bed, he stopped taking any medication (preparing himself to meet his maker ??) He asked someone around to sing his poem "nallador veenai seide...." It was not his death poem , in the classical sense,as he did not compose it at that time. But he chose to listen to it, on his death bed and he breathed his last listening to it.
Bharathiyaar was a manifestation of Saraswati but it was "Parashakti' he adored and worshiped.
Here's a link to the poem with translations in 40 languages. http://enbharathi.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post_29.html
In fact , it appears that it was a case of 'a noble veena thrown into garbage"
When he died , bharathiyaar was in penury, weighed less than 100 pounds and there were not more than 20 men in his funeral procession.
While Parashakti's manifestations may be short-lived, Saraswati's manifestations live long after and grow from strength to strength. Long live Bharathi !
Thanks for the anecdote and the link, Murali. Will check it out. I guess it can be said that as long as the Tamil language is around, Bharathi will remain amongst its best known poets.
ReplyDeleteJust read the poem. It is sad (perhaps in the context of Bharathi's life) but also stirring in that odd way when you read a Bharathi poem (mine in translation of course but you can sense the rhythms of the original).
ReplyDeleteDevyani and Sharmistha as a reality show! Brilliant! I would totally watch Devyani Behaving Badly - where instead of trading insults and swear words the characters will trade curses! Some wiki entries make Devyani out to be quite the manipulative biatch - not Sharmistha - as she apparently made up stories and ratted Sharmistha off to her father which is how Sharmistha (who was also a princess or of some blue blood lineage) became her maid.
ReplyDeleteFascinating stuff! Also its quite sad that Devyani waited a thousand years for Kacha only to be told she was contemplating incest - methinks if that's how he felt he should have told her earlier no? Not that it would have helped if she was going to rush to grab Yayati's right hand from a well. Terrible luck this Devyani seems to have had with men no - from symbolic brother to philanderer!
:-)
R
The Devayani and Sharmishtha show really is the main thing isn't it, the men are all side attractions!
ReplyDeleteDevyani is really quite modern and way more interesting and flawed than done to death Sitas, Draupadis etc. I am sure she could be in Desperate Housewives too holding hands with hunky landscape gardeners etc:-)