SATHARA MALATHY's POEM

A POEM BY 

SATHARA MALATHY

(Rendered in English by Latha Ramakrishnan)

 

Wars?

 There will be no need for the name of

 ‘Father-Land’

to those who are the tattered remains

of Warfare.

Henceforth there need be no reason

for them to loathe

and explode

and to batter,

as if it is some form of deep prayer.

For evaluating and respecting

the strengths and values of Life

with not just the scales of War

the need for classrooms

would rise.

That too would be buried in sands,

thanks to our terrible Curriculum.

In wounds, blindness

mental aberrations

and other handicaps

can there be any day

when the relevance and significance

of success and failure

would be apprehended?

Or wrongs be set right?

Pain alone would remain

deepening, accumulating

in the lakes of Humanity

as dregs,

everywhere.

Oh, leave it.

For women

no need to spend on Valentine’s Day,

Anniversaries and Feasts.

Henceforth

we save our homes

from Fathers’ Day! and our country from

National Celebrations?

Claiming to sow the seeds of Love and Justice

but having buried them indeed.

From now on,

it is in Warfare

lies our Welfare.

17) யுத்தங்கள்?

எந்தையர் நாடென்ற பேர்

தேவையிருக்காது

தந்தைகளே இல்லாத

பிள்ளைகளுக்கு

யுத்தத்தின் மிச்சங்களுக்கு.

இனி காரணங்கள் தேவைப்படாது

அவர்களுக்கு வெறுக்கவும் வெடிக்கவும்

அடிக்கவும் அதுவே அதிவிரதம் போல

பலத்தையும் மதிப்பீடுகளையும்

யுத்தங்களாலன்றியும்

மதிக்க வகுப்புகள் நடத்த

வேண்டிவரும்.

அதுவும் புழுக் கல்வியால்

மண் மூடும் மனதளவில்.

காயங்களிலும் குருட்டிலும்

பேதலித்த புத்தியிலும்

ஊனங்களிலும் என்றாவது

வெற்றி தோல்விக்கான

அர்த்தமோ மகத்துவமோ

புலப்படுமா?

அல்லது தப்புகள்தாம்

திருத்தப்பட்டுவிடுமோ?

வலிதான் தேங்கிநிற்கும்

மானுட ஏரிகளில் கறுப்புக்

கசண்டாக பரப்பு நெடுக.

விடுங்கள், பெண்களுக்கு

காதலர் தினம் ஆண்டுநிரைவுகள்

விருந்துகளின் செலவு மிச்சம். இனி

தந்தையர் தினத்தை வீட்டுக்கும்

தேசிய க்ண்டாட்டங்களை நாட்டுக்கும்

மிச்சப்படுத்திவிடுகிறோம்!

காதலையும் நீதியையும் விதைத்ததாகப் புதைத்து

இனி யுத்தங்களில்தாம் நம் வாழ்ச்சி!.

(*’மரமல்லிகைகள்’ தொகுப்பிலிருந்து)

On 'sathara' malathy (19.6.1950 - 27.3.2007)

Born on the 19th of june 1950 she was a post-graduate from Presidency College, Chennai. Hailing from a place called Brammadesam near Ambasamudhram in Thirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu, she had her School and College Education in Chennai.

She worked for BSNL as Chief Accounts Officer and in the last several years of her career before she got a transfer to Bangalore and subsequently opted for Voluntary Retirement, she was posted in a place called Sathara in Maharashtra.

The name of the place was prefixed to her name to distinguish her from a fellow-poet with the same name.

Thus, Sathara is not just a prefix, it plays an integral part of her identity as a poet and hence it proved to be in bad taste when a literary magazine so coolly prefixed Bangalore as the prefix instead of Sathara in its brief note condoling her death. Such move can well be regarded as an attempt to erase the identity of the departed poet ‘Sathara’ Malathy. But, her poems would surely preserve her memory in the hearts of discerning readers like me.

A passionate reader and a very sensitive human being she was, one can find in her Poetry the marvelous blend of the two quotable quotes – ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions’ and ‘Poetry is emotions recollected in tranquility’.

Her poems reveal her passionate heart and its unanswered queries and unfulfilled dreams and they belong to one and all of us. She had experimented with various styles and tones in writing Poetry, using classical Tamil, folk-language etc. She took part in literary seminars and discussions with genuine interest and her Papers would always be balanced and analytical, avoiding overtones.

Three collections of poems – VARIKUTHIRAI GAL (the zebras), THANAL KODI POOKAL(fire-plant flowers), ARAMALLIGAIGAL ( a kind of tropical flowers) – one short-story collection – ANAMADHEYA KARAIGAL (anonymous shores) – one Anthology of essays on the renowned Tamil Classic Andaal Thirupaavai, analyzing the underlying theme of the verses with a rare sensibility and sensitivity, UYARPAAVAI - of Sathara Malathy have so far been published.

It was from the 90s that 'sathara' malathy's tryst with the little magazines or literary magazines of Tamil began in right earnest. Sathara Malathy's poems, and her numerous analytical articles on poetry and other branches of literature prove her credentials as a writer with substance.

She had a passion for knowing people and interacting with them and she used to have regular telephonic contacts with many fellow-writers.

She had great liking for the complexity and depth of poet Brammarajan's verses and she held in high esteem fellow-writers Pa.Venkatesan (a poet , novelist and short-story writer in Tamil), Amarantha (a reputed writer and translator in Tamil) , A.Muthulingam ( again, a reputed writer in Tamil) and several others.

Her deep love for Tamil and her firm grasp of its numerous shades and nuances are evident in her writings. She had firm feministic leanings but she never steered them toward acquiring anti-man syndrome.

She had great love and respect for her mother (who herself was a poignant reader and writer whose two short-story collections have been published in the last several years) and she had penned a poignant poem on her mother which is included in the 'Maramalligaigal' collection.

Her husband, mother and only daughter were living in Bangalore. And, I am sure, there would be many more of her writings left unpublished. I have met her just twice or thrice but she used to talk to me regularly over the phone, reading out her fresh poems.

On the few occasions we had met, I remember her speaking on a variety of issues. I like the intense passion in her poems which would produce a melting within.

She had an in-depth knowledge of great Classics both in Tamil and Sanskrit. That’s why she used to feel sad when haughty and prejudiced comments were aimed at great works.

Once, when I told her that I would arrange for a small gathering in Chennai which would be a discussion on her poetry, she was reluctant to accept it saying that it would hurt us if our poems so close to our hearts would be half-heartedly dealt with, and, worse, from a pedestal. As I am aware of the truth of what she had said, I left it at that.

A friendly soul, so full of Whys, Hows and Whats of Life, Sathara Malathy is sure to live on, defying Death, with the help of her intense Poesy.

A handful of her Poems are rendered in English by me and compiled into a thin volume titled ‘remembrance’ as a token of my love and respect for her. The respective original poems in Tamil are also given, to give the readers a feel of the poet and person she was.

So long, ‘sathara’ malathy….

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