Kannadasan
VIGN...@ecs.umass.edu
tion to the Tamil literature. Sankarapandi questioned whether
Kannadasan could be considered a(n) 'ilakkiyavaathi'. Other
than lyrics what else Kannadasan did for the Tamil literature,
asked Pandi. He criticized Kannadasan's addiction to liquor
too ('kudikaaran pEchchu vidinchaalE pOchchu......').
Later Kathiravan pointed out that Kannadasan wrote a series of
'arththamuLLa inthumatham'. But Kathiravan went to criticize
Kannadasan's 'kuththukkaraNam' from 'periyaar iyakkam'.
It is unfortunate that still we discuss things subjectively.
It is perfectly okay to criticize Kannadasan as a person, but
not his writing for his habbits. Forget about Kannadasan and
read his work. I used to enjoy his writing ('arththamuLLa
inthumatham', kaNNa thaasanin kadaisip pakkam'). Kannadasan's
'yEsu kaaviyam' (I haven't read this) is another contribution
to 'kiRisthava thamizh ilakkiyam'. If I remember right, Kanna-
dasan has written an Islamic Tamil Literature, but published
under a muslim (friend's) name to avoid controversy.
Let's prepare ourselves to appreciate things objectively, shall
we? Forwarding subjective arguments is fine, but that should
not interfere in appreciating the creation.
Vicky:
UMass,
Aug 21, 1993
(I have fans for even my way of signing the name with date?
hmm...)
S. Sankarapandi
Shall I say, you are reading some points in my posting subjectively :-)
I have appended my posting below. I have clearly stated that I normally dont
bring somebody's personal habits (or life) to criticize what he writes or
speaks. But I have brought Kannadasan's drinking habits because I learnt
from many magazines and people that he used to be drunk most of the time and he
could write many lyrics quickly and fittingly (I mean, to the tune) when he was
drunk.
What Ms.Manohari quoted as `ilakkiyam' in her posting was one of those
cinema songs. I would not have mentioned his drinking habit if she had
called it as `ilakkiyam' in some other context. She, not only called it as
`ilakkiyam' but also tried to reinforce her male chauvunistic defenitions for
women and asks us to learn from such Kannadasan's ilakkiyam. My comments were
critical of Ms.Manohari's opinions on two fronts. 1) whether Kannadasan's
lyrics were `ilakkiyam' or he was an `ilakkiyavaathi' (2) Does he really mean
what he wrote in his cinema lyrics so that one can buy his male-chavunistic
views. I wanted to say `No' for this because most of his songs were just
`kudikaaran pEchchu'.
I hope, you got my point. Earlier, a few months back, when there were so many
people (including Kathiravan) praised Kannadasan as a great `ilakkiyavaathi', I
and few others (SunM ?) refuted such myths and mentioned about the `unpopular'
poets who have contributed to Tamil literature. I never mentioned about his
drinking habits then because we were only discussing whether his lyrics make
Tamil literature.
Aside, after the `women in popular Tamil movies', I planned to write about
stereotyping of women in Kannadasan's songs (Raghupathy requested for such a
series) but never had time to do it.
BTW, I have read three parts of Kannadasan's `arthamuLLa inthu matham' when I
was also a Kannadasan's fan and wanted him to get Nobel prize for his poems
(no kidding.. even MK was a great writer for me those days). Now I dont
consider them as Tamil literature because they are just his way of interpreting
Hindu religious stuff in a very nice and simpler way (whether I accept his
views is not an issue here and hence I let it pass). I have also had `yEsu
kaaviyam' with me and have read few parts of it. That was like a biography of
Christ (sure, it was in simple and neat poetic verses) and cannot be
categorized under Tamil literature.
I do appreciate Kannadasan's very simple way of
writing in Tamil with a nice `cantham'. But, `form' alone may not make
literature and we need `contents' too (remember, we had a long discussion about
Kavidhai regarding form and content). I too listen to old Tamil songs just for
time passing or for the sake of language or music. Should I call them as
literature ? Nah..
It is getting too long, lemme stop here.
S. Sankarapandi
PS: I am not speaking for Kathiravan in this posting.
My previous posting
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From: ssan...@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (S. Sankarapandi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Subject: Re: redefining PeNNmai ....
Date: 18 Aug 1993 04:18:46 GMT
Organization: The Ohio State University
In article <1993Aug17.0...@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> int...@lindblat.cc.
monash.edu.au (manohari.v) writes:
>
>
>In one song kaNNathAsan has written
> "vanjiyarin kaaliluLLa minchi enbathu
> athu kuninthu varum vanchiyarai vilaha solvathu"
> ***************************
>
>If you say it's not the womens' charactoristics then sorry mate,
>study illakkiyam.
>
Now, Kannathasan, whom you may believe as a `ilakkiyavaathi'. I dont know,
whether he has really written any `ilakkiyam', apart from cinema lyrics ! TN
is a place where only pseudos are recognized !
Leave alone his literary talent. I wonder whether any intelligent person will
believe Kannadasan's words on anything, not to say about his wisdomic thoughts
on women !
May I remind you the Tamil proverb, "kudikaaran pechchu, vidinchaalum pOchchu".
I can only sympathize for people like you quoting a drunkard who never had any
morals regarding sex but preaching characteristics for women. I am sorry to
offend Kannadasan_fans. Normally, I would not bring somebody's personal life
but here is somebody quoting cinema lyrics (which do not have any value, merely
written as jugglary of sentences to suit the tunes) to preach code for women.
Next, you may bring some stereotypes of political crooks of DMK/ADMK (well, you
can find lot of them in the DMK's shelf of literature) for defining women's
characteristics.
Previously, I asked for the definition for Men from you. You never have come
up with one. But I understand the hypocrisy (or Male-chaunism, well even a
woman may keep MC opinions) that praises men like Kannadasan but equate
`modernity' with `evil'.
You are entitled to have your opinions, so do I. But please dont give them as
definitions for good women or as behavioral code for all women.
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