"MSV CLUB" - The Discussion Forum of MSVTimes.com

[madhuraman]

Dear Mr Ram,
I came across an unusual piece of writing from you seeking to know about Kaviarasu's real profile. Well, KA donned the robe of atheist more by political styles in the early fifties when people were creating personal IDs like changing names into Tamilized versions[ for eg: Pushparaj became Malar mannan, Gaja rajan = Vezha Vendhan,] or ascribe personal admiration to some predecessor, as in the case of Mr.Subburathinam who became Bharathi dasan, Muthiah became Kannadsan, there was another person Kambadasan. Changing the name into some catchy form was a way of inviting attention. As a case in point we can refer to Mr.Rangarajan who became Valee based on his admiration for the famous cartoonist of 1950s - Shri.Maali. There were quite a few Maalis around in Flute Mahalingam, actor Mahalingam and the cartoonist, I have refrred to. The information goes that Mr.Rangarajan, so much impressed by the profile of cartoonist Maali wanted to model his name on similar lines and settled for Valee since the Ramayana character has the reputation of rightaway acquiring 50 % of the prowess of the opponent to fortify the already formidable strength of his.
Coming back to Kannadsan, irrespective of his temporary presentation as an atheist [ it was catchy to question the wisdom of tradition then ; now it has lost its sheen and credibility because at least many advocates of atheism have not sustained credibility of their claims] he was a devotee of Lord Kannan and very quickly retraced his personal and public life to greater transparency and made it a point not to hide any of his habits and preferences in all his writings. So to say, he did not project himself as a paragon of virtues. Rather he has made public all his weakness for women and wine. But, he chose to caution the youngsters quoting himself as 'one not to be emulated' in personal life. Yet , his clarity of thought and familiarity to all Indian Epics lent him the right support to poetically portray all life situation with absolute ease from authentic [Arivai koduththadho DhroNarin Gouravavam ? look at his timely interject,
Sreee Raman nenjil nindra Seethai malar Kannan thaedikonda Radhai, Manamurugi soodi thandha Kodhai onru serndhu vandhadhintha Paavai- in Kalaikoil song ='naan unnai cherndha selvam' also Kodhai AandAL thamizhai aandaL in 'Malligai mullai', just as evidence of his command over the territory] epic / historic situations. If we wish to understand Kavi arasu for his honesty, my suggestion would be to go througfh his works 'Vanavaasam ' and 'Mana vaasam ' signifying any volte face in his approach to life at large, while his ultra simple work titled 'Arththa muLLa Indhu madham' stands testimony to his deep imbibition of concepts, destroying the myth of his atheistic attitudes. Others may please add your perception on this Grand Master of our times.
Warm regards Prof.K.Raman Madurai.
_________________
Prof. K. Raman
Mumbai

[parthavi]

Dear Ram,
I may not be able to answer your questions, which you have framed like a judge framing the issues in a trial! But I cannot resist sharing what little I have heard of this great man. My understanding is Kannadasan was an atheiest and he took up reading Kamba Ramayanam, so that he could ridicule this epic, like Periyar and Anna had done earlier. I think that he could have been influenced by Anna's 'Kamba Rasam,' which focused on the 'sringara rasam' in Kamba Ramayanam, approaching it in a negative way. But reading Kamba Ramayanam transformed him into a devotee. I don't know exactly when he changed his name to Kannadasan. The question why he has chosen Kannadasan rather than Ramadasan or Kambadasan is also intriguing but a simple answer can be that these names have already been taken!

He had not been a notable speaker in political platforms though he did address public meetings. I once listened to him during the emergency where, he along with Sivaji, Jayakanthan, Deepam Parthasarathy etc. was speaking in a meeting of the Congress party - then called Cong (I), defending the emergency that was just imposed. He was naive and unimpressive. He warned the audience that Indira Gandhi was watching them all through some hi-tech TV network. (The TV had not even made an entry in Chennai at that time.) I was a critic of the Emergency and I just attended the meeting out of curiosity.

He has occasionally injected some politics in his poems. The lines 'Sivakami maganidam sedhi solladi. Ennai serum naal paarkka cholladi' convey his longing to join Kamaraj (as is well known, Sivakami is the name of Kamaraj's mother.) In quite a few films of Sivaji, he has penned some lines batting for Kamaraj, though Kannadasan was with the rival congress of Indira Gandhi. , 'Sivakami petredutha selvan allavo. Naalai indha nattai aalum mannan allavo" sung by MSV, from Sivakamiyin Selvan is an example. In Dr. Siva, the song, 'nallavar kualukku madhippirullum indha naattinile,' has these lines: 'avar madiyinil ethaiyum maraiththadhillai, indha maanilam avar vasam aagalaam' suggesting that Kamaraj would become the CM of TN. Though I was not a great admirer of Kamaraj, I felt that this meant lowering the sights too low for a leader who had attained an all India stature. There are a few more such lines.

Interestingly, though Kannadasan was a supporter of Indira Gandhi, he had penned a line critical of Mrs.Gandhi to accommodate Sivaji who was in the opposite camp. In 'Manidharul Manikkam' we have the song, 'I will sing for you' in which are these lines: PeNNEe un kaiyil rajaangam irundhaal ellorum aadaNumaa? This came at a time when Mrs. Gandhi was being accused of dictatorial tendencies by Kamaraj and other opposition leaders.
But the most subtle of Kannadasans innuendos came in the song, 'Manidhan ninaippadhNdu' from Avanthaan manidhan' 'Azhudhu laabham enna avan Aatchi nadakkindradhu' though thematically referring to the God, also referred to MK's regime, which was being criticized as oppressive by Kannadasan and other leaders.

Though Kannadasan has referred to Rama, Sita, Krishna and Radha in his lyrics innumerable times for a positive comparison, he has also made critical references to Rama and Krishna in a few songs.

In the song, 'Ennenbadho,' beautifully rendered by VJ from the film 'Lorry Driver RaajakkaNNu', the lines 'Raaman avan alla pazhichchollai cherkka. KaNnan avan alla pala dhaaram paarkka' come as indictments on these two great Gods! There is also another critical reference to Krishna in a song from 'Aval Appadiththaan' I don't recall the lyrics.

Professor Raman has mentioned Kannadasan's candidness in admitting to his weaknesses. His song , 'Oru Koppaiyile en kudiyiruppu, oru kolamagal en thuNaiyiruppu' was taken to mean his obsession for drinks and women. But in his later years, he gave an intelligent reinterpretation for these lines. In earlier days, people would have ink made by mixing some colors in a small cup, dip a small piece of peacock feather into it and then write . So 'Koppai' was the ink pot and 'Kolamyil' was the peacock feather used as the 'Ezhudhu kol' A very plausible interpretation indeed!

In 'Gopala Srihari Madhava' from 'Adhai vida Ragasiyam', he exhorts Krishna, 'Geethaiyil sonnadhum, Bodhaiyil sonnadhum ondrena nee kattalaam'

I have digressed, without answering Ram's pointed queries, like a student, not knowing the answer to a question, would circumlocute, but as I said earlier, the idea was to share a few of my thoughts and impressions.
_________________
P Rengaswami (9381409380)
MSV, Un isai kettaal puvi asainthaadum, idhu iraivan arul aagum.
http://msv-music.blogspot.in/

[madhuraman]

Dear Mr.Ram .
You have raised very specific points on Kaviarasu KD.
When he rechristened himself is not authentically known; to be frank even in very early movies his name has been known as Kannadasan. This tells us onething. He was an admirer of Lord Krishna from his early days. Most probably his 'shift' to some atheistic leanings must have taken place in later 1950s when he was working in Salem Modern theatres in the close company of some Dravidian movement leaders who later took to politics. On this point all I can say is the oratory skills of CN A and some of his close colleagues, must have influenced KD into believing that superstitions mark the way of life in our society. But soon enough, he must have realized the innate 'designs' of such utterances as a means of capturing attention. Leaving aside those, he had a closer affinity to Mr.EVK Sampath [brother's son of EVR] and the two remained close and chose to have a national outlook by floating the TAMIL DESIYA KATCHI on or around 1962 or so. This later brought him closer to Mr. K.Kamaraj in whom he saw 'people's leader. He availed of every occasion to highlight his admiration for Kamaraj and almost became synonymous with Congress. As regards his political campaigns, I have not heard of his 'antiGod ' stances. He was more known to speak about Socialistic philosophies than about atheistic notions. Therefore, one has to dig deep into political archieves to trace the short spell of atheism in KD's life. I think one can learn more of KD from the works 'Vana vaasam and Mana vaasam' addressing personal and political facets of himself. Most of these instaces , I recall from my memory and if my briefing does not give the right clues, please pardon me for the incomplete picture. But certainly KD had a larger share of his life-mission as a believer than as a non believer as far as I am able to recall.
Warm regards Prof.K.Raman
_________________
Prof. K. Raman
Mumbai

[madhuraman]

Dear Mr.Ram,
Thank you for evincing keen interest on the by-gone events in TN history of the late 1950s that got intertwined of Cinema and politics. 'Vanavaasam' and 'Manavaasam' are two separate works of KD. Most probably they should be available with Vaanathi Padhippagam of T.Nagar , Chennai. Infact it was Mr. 'Vaanathi' Thirunavukkarasu, who has documented and immortalized several works of Kaviarasu.
Warm regards Prof.K.Raman Madurai.
_________________
Prof. K. Raman
Mumbai

[Baskar CS]

it is in deenadayalu street t.nagar behind pondy bazaar and they are open from 10 .00am to 6 pm where they have good collections of Kannadasan.

back to the subject whether he was an atheist believer or non believer he had a flow in writing throghout and when the destiny is such that he had to undergo all that in his life who else is there is there to stop anything .without mixing any thing if we see his works we can understand that he not only wrote which he knew but also wondered like HOW without attributing anything to it .

he was a genius and rare in thousand years

[Sai Saravanan]

Dear all,
I vaguely remember some discussion somewhere that it was Thirupppaavai that led to the transformation of Kaviarasu. But, strangely he was known as Kannadaasan in the TF industry and very rarely as Muttaih. Probably, the depth of devotional love in Thiruppaavai changed his outlook.

Sai Saravanan