With utmost reverence, I write this. Even being able to read Mahakavi Subramania Bharathiyar’s poetry feels like a privilege, one that must be held with care, almost like cupping water in your palms and hoping not a drop escapes. For someone like me, who has spent years in awe of every word he gifted my dictionary, every firework-thought he slipped into my bloodstream, this isn’t a poetry appreciation. Who am i to speak about Bharathiyar? I’m barely even qualified to whisper his name.
So let me start with a disclaimer: this is just a simple attempt by a girl who grew up in awe of his words. Someone trying to walk — limping, stumbling, learning — through the depths he saw in life and the truth he embodied. That truth is something I want to explore, slowly and tenderly.
I should probably tell you that this series is going to be absolutely random. If you’ve followed my work for a while, you already know my writing is more intuitive than planned. So this too will unfold the same way: I want to sit with the words, sit inside his world, and just listen to what it speaks to me. No rush. No force. Just presence.
Also, there is not going to be any order to the poems I choose. I want them to arrive on their own terms. I want to give them that space. And today, on the auspicious day of Subramania Bharathiyar’s birthday, the poem that rose up, and the one you’ll often found quoted is:
Naan veezhven ena ninaithayo…
Here’s the poem, followed by my attempt at the translation:
தேடிச் சோறுநிதந் தின்று - பல
சின்னஞ் சிறுகதைகள் பேசி - மனம்
வாடித் துன்பமிக உழன்று - பிறர்
வாடப் பலசெயல்கள் செய்து - நரை
கூடிக் கிழப்பருவ மெய்தி - கொடுங்
கூற்றுக் கிரையெனப்பின் மாயும் - பல
வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போலே - நான்
வீழ்வே னென்றுநினைத் தாயோ?
நின்னைச் சிலவரங்கள் கேட்பேன் அவை
நேரே இன்றெனக்குத் தருவாய் - என்றன்
முன்னைத் தீயவினைப் பயன்கள் - இன்னும்
மூளா தழிந்திடுதல் வேண்டும்-இனி
என்னைப் புதிய வுயிராக்கி-எனக்
கேதுங் கவலையறச் செய்து - மதி
தன்னை மிகத்தெளிவு செய்து - என்றும்
சந்தோஷங் கொண்டிருக்கச் செய்வாய்...
Translation
Scavenging for food every day,
Chattering over trivial tales,
Letting the heart wilt in sorrow,
Hurting others through my actions,
Growing old as grey hair gathers,
And dying helpless in fate’s cruel grip —
Did you think I, too, would fall
Like those pitiful fools I disdain?
I ask you now for a few boons:
Grant them to me here and now.
Let the shadows of my former sins
Dissolve without trace or torment.
Renew me with a fresh, vital life,
Free from every burden.
Clear my mind completely,
And let me live in lasting joy.
Why did I pick this?
Because this piece has stayed with me forever. Especially on days heavy with loneliness — personally or professionally — on the days when you hit ground zero and everything in you screams, “I have to start all over again.” On days when the tunnel has no end, on nights when even the idea of dawn feels tired… these words hold a tiny lamp and whisper, “Keep going.”
Whenever life feels hurried and hollow, this poem forces me to pause. To ask myself if what I’m chasing is even worth the breath I lose. Do I have the courage to take the road less taken? To stand alone? To be different from the crowd… to walk into life on my own two trembling feet?
Every time I read this poem, it pours something warm and electric into my veins — a quiet vigour, a revived energy, a sharp clarity in a world that constantly tries to blur and drag us into chaos.
What makes this poem timeless is how well he understood humankind: always drifting, always chasing illusions, always exhausted by things that don’t matter. And yet, while he longs to rise above that crowd, he doesn’t pretend he’s flawless. He acknowledges his own past, his own shadows and that self-awareness makes him luminous.
The directness with which he speaks to the Almighty… the audacity, the honesty, the boldness to ask for boons not of gold or glory but of clarity — clarity that becomes joy — that is what makes him stand out for me. Only someone fearless, someone inwardly clean, can ask like this.
This poem reminds me time and again of what the true calling should be. It gives me conviction to choose the honest path, the quieter path, the path less travelled. To be okay with being different. To chase the eternal. To seek truth that brings joy, not the noise of material pursuit.
And maybe, on days when I feel stuck, I’ll return here again… and remind myself: நான் வீழ்வேனென்று நினைத்தாயோ?
P.S.: Translating this piece felt like my own tiny rebellion, a reminder that “refusing a life of smallness” isn’t just Bharathiyar’s cry but a choice we get to make every day. And honestly, what a fiery place to begin my translation journey.
Let me know in the comments which Bharathiyar poem is your favourite, or which one should I dive into next?