Perhaps men and women loved more intensely, some hundreds of years ago? This is the first thought that crosses the mind when one reads Tamil love poems of the Sangam Era. The yearning, the poignant lonely heart, the fantasies of a lover longing for her significant other… the poems speak of a world ruled by love.
Writer and translator Suchitra Ramachandran takes these poems from their resting places for the present generation. She translates them into English and puts them up on social media platforms, along with illustrations for each. They are even popular among non-Tamil speakers.
Chennai-based publishing house Mulligatawny Books recently brought out Kurunthokai — Love. Loss. Landscapes featuring her work. Excerpts from an e-mail interview with Suchitra who is based Basel, Switzerland.
Tell us about yourself.
I was born in Chennai, but spent many of my school years in Madurai – two cities where my family has strong roots. I was always interested in history, and it is impossible to escape that in Madurai, that cradle of Tamil identity. But, a lot of that history weaves back into the mists of myth and language. For instance, Sangam literature is perhaps the only window we have into the nature of Tamil life as it was 2,000 years ago. When I was in my early 20s and getting more curious about understanding my roots, I realised that our history and culture is woven with language and literature. Coming face-to-face with the behemoth beauty of classical Tamil has been one of the richest experiences of my life.
The translation and illustration of a poem from Kurunthokai by Suchitra Ramachandran Photo: Special Arrangement
When did your tryst with Sangam literature begin?
About five or six years ago, when I was a graduate student in Pittsburgh. Though I could read and write Tamil fluently at this point, I still relied on translations as my first window into Sangam Tamil. I read parts of Alain Danielou’s translation of the Silappathikaram and, of course, A.K. Ramanujan’s translations of poems from the Paththuppaattu and Ettuththokai . It was only after graduate school that I seriously engaged with the original texts.
Tell us about the love poems of 3rd Century BC.
These are called Akam poems; they deal with the affairs of the heart. Pre-marital love, life after marriage, infidelity, the pangs of long-distance relationships, the role of friends as mediators in such affairs — the subjects of these poems are universal. The poets seem to have been very aware of this fact, which is why they neither name their protagonists, not do they set the poem in historical time. The hero, heroine, their friends and other characters leap out of the pages and walk over to us and seat themselves by our side. They are timeless.
The poets who wrote these poems wrote them in different lengths and metres; later, commentators grouped the poems into anthologies. In my work, I have mainly translated poems from the Kurunthokai , consisting of five to seven lines.
These are often called ‘picture poems’. They paint dainty, intricate miniatures of landscapes — in Nature and of the heart. The level of detailing is astonishing, given the typical economy of words and the conventions the poem has to conform to.
The pictures painted by these poems are set in the context of an ‘outer’ landscape, which is a symbol of an ‘inner’ state. This grammar is unique to Sangam poems. Time, season, flora, fauna, people and their occupations mark specific landscapes or ‘tinai’.
What drives you to illustrate and translate the poems?
When I started reading the poems, the classical Tamil was unfamiliar. You need familiarity to understand the metaphorical aesthetics. With a Sangam poem, I have to wait patiently, visualising it. It eventually unfurls its petals. This process brought me very close to the poet’s vision. I felt compelled to translate it. While translating, my goal is to absorb the emotional core of the poem, often contained in a nifty metaphor, and transmit it faithfully.
The illustrations were only a step away, given the deeply visual nature of the poems. These translations and illustrations are my study notes, and I started sharing them only in the spirit of sharing my own notes and learning from others.
How do you pick the poems you work on?
Initially, it was random. Sometimes, followers on Twitter (@kurunthokai) and Instagram, where I share my work, make requests for specific poems, and I read it and translate them.
How do you plan to take this forward?
A Chennai-based publisher brought out a limited-edition copy of an art book called Kurunthokai: Love. Loss. Landscapes consisting of 30 poems and illustrated translations in February to test the market. (The book is currently not in print.)
I hope to publish these translations and illustrations in the mainstream at some point — perhaps in a volume aimed at young adult readers. I’m still continuing to translate and illustrate Sangam Tamil poems, but I have also been translating contemporary Tamil short stories and poems into English as well.
