02-ViTTu ViDudalaiyAgi...

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by arasi » 06 Jul 2011, 10:29

TWO

ViTTu ViDudalaiyAgi...
(To Feel Freedom...)

One Friday evening, Swaminatha Dikshitar's daughter Meena and I went to Bharathiyar's house in Easwaran Dharmaraj Koil Street. Chellamma was not her usual self. It was the end of the month. Meena left at six. Bharati was out. Chellamma and I were alone in the house.

A silence prevailed. After a few minutes, I started the conversation.

Me: Chellamma, what's bothering you? Are you not well?

Chellamma: Nothing ails me, Yadugiri. It's just as if a worm is eating through my heart. I need to share this with someone but you are a mere child. I don't want to burden you with all this.

Me: I don't mind at all. I will ask Bharathiyar--"is it mere lip service that you pay for the freedom of women? Can't you show it in your actions at home?"

Chellamma: My dear child! It's the month end and we still owe money to the milkman from last month. He demanded it yesterday and I could not appease him. Bharathiar was supposed to send his article to Swadesamithran today. I got his coffee and betel leaves after he bathed and kept the ink bottle, pen and paper ready on the desk for his writing. I picked the rice and then went to change into my maDi sari. I knew he wasn't in a mood to write. When I went back to fetch the rice, I found that he had scattered a portion of it to the sparrows. He was singing to them. I was in tears. He says, "Come Chellamma! Look how happy these sparrows are! Why can't you and I be just as happy? You nag me and I get impatient with you. Don't they teach us unity? What fools we are!"

I couldn't bear this. "why do you provoke me like this?", I burst out. I wanted to finish my cooking before the children returned from ANNi Amma's (Ponnu Murugesan Pillai's wife) house. You have scattered away part of the rice to the sparrows. How long is it going to be before we see some money? You haven't even started your writing yet. The milkman puts me to shame. The maid hasn't turned up the past two days. Shouldn't you be thinking about these? Instead, you ask me to be as happy as the sparrows! God is unkind. He punishes me by giving me children to take care of..." 

Then I went away to make the meal. When I came out of the kitchen, he was singing 'viTTu viDudalaiyAgi' to baby Shakunthala and she was jumping with joy. He was in a blissful state. The sparrows were pecking away. When they were all so happy, i did not want to spoil it and so I kept quiet. The dancing and singing came to an end around noon. Baby Shakunthala said, "Appa, come, let's eat. I'm hungry." Bharathiyar sat down for the meal in silence.
Then he said, "Chellamma, are you still angry with me? Look, I'm sending the sparrows song to the newspaper. You will have the money on the Ist of the month. Don't fear!"

Yadugiri, he's a good man, an innocent soul. When he gets the money, he will give it to me. But they won't pay him if he does not send his articles to them and it frets me."

I did not respond to it straight away. Then I said this to make her feel better: "What if it's a poem, so long as he has sent it away today?"

Chellamma said, "No wonder that you're his favored child! You come to his defense very easily!"
"You make me feel much better, anyway!", added the good woman.
Bharathi came home and asked, "Yadugiri, have you read my new song?"

"No, but Chellamma told me abut it. May I have a look?"
Bharathi fetched me the paper.

Chellamma: Every little word that comes out of your mouth is picked up by Yadugiri. She's a little child, but when I told her what happend this morning, she asks, "What difference does it make, a poem or an article, so long as it has been sent away today?"

Bharathi: She's absolutely right. You may not relish it now Chellamma, but wait and see. Yadugiri, I don't know if I will live to see it--you surely will. You are going to see that they will sing praises of me and revere me for these little verses. This land of tamizh hasn't opened its eyes yet. If it has, it is still in its infancy."
Saying this, Bharathi gave me the piece of paper. The last line of this song which I knew by heart, I remember to be 'vAnoLiyennum maduvin Suvai' which in the printed version reads as ' vAnoLiyin maduvin SuvaiyuNDu'. Did Bharathi change it? I don't know...
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continued  at

03-bharata-desam-enru-peyar-solluvar.html