பாரதி மகா கவியா அல்லது தேசிய கவியா - நரசய்யா

சென்னை ரோஜா முத்தையா நூலகத்தில் நிகழ்ந்த நிகழ்ச்சியின் பதிவு இது.

பதிவு இங்கே!

Click here to view the MS Powerpoint presentation:
Part 1
Part 2

Summary of the talk:

In 1935 there was a wordy duel between two literary groups – one that of Manikkodi and the other that of Kalki Krishnamurthi of Anandavikatan. It all started with V Ramaswami Iyengar then editor of Veerakesari in Colombo and former editor of Manikodi, declaring that Subramania Bharati as a Great Poet, whereas the Kalki group felt that Bharati was a good national poet and not a Great poet.

The talk focuses on the letters and essays written by both the groups declaring their views. However, it must be noted that the debate, while generating a lot of heat and light, did not create any ill-feelings among the individuals. In fact, they all remained friends and respected each other!

The speaker, K R A Narasiah, biographer of Chitti Sundararajan – one of the important participants of the debate – has the original letters written by some of the stalwarts of that day and is now presenting the lot available with him to show the level of the debate and the important Dramatis Personae in their learned correspondence.

Profile:

Mr. K. R. A. Narasiah was born in Berhampur, Orissa, into a Telugu family. After completing his early education in Tamilnadu, he became a marine engineer and sailed in the naval vessels for ten years and, later, for three years in the merchant navy. During his naval time he was deputed to the Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, North Ireland, for standing by the construction of I N S Vikrant, Navy’s first aircraft carrier and took over as its Fight Deck Chief. He joined the port of Visakhapatnam in 1965 and retired in 1991 as its Chief Mechanical Engineer. While in Port Service his services were requisitioned by the Navy during the Bangladesh liberation war. Later he was invited by the World Bank as a consultant for the emergency rehabilitation in Cambodia. He was also a consultant to the Asian Development Bank.

Mr. Narasiah took to writing early in his life and has published more than 100 short stories in Tamil that have come out in four volumes. Four of his works have been given Tamil Nadu State Literary Awards. He writes in English as well. He is a regular reviewer of books for The Hindu.