'The pleasure I obtain from writing, is, indeed, less than the bliss of drawing a picture or making a kite for a kid.' – M.L Thangappa
Coimbatore: For M.L Thangappa, a Tamil poet and well-known translator from Pondicherry, life, filled with love is the primary element, which inspires him to create and contribute more to the pieces of literature of Tamil and English. The writer, a two-time Sahitya Akademi Award recipient, once said he wrote only when he wanted to.
“The pleasure I obtain from writing is less than the bliss I experience in drawing a picture or making a kite to present to a kid. And I write only when I feel the need to do it” the poet recalled.
An author of over 30 books in Tamil and English, Thangappa passed away on May 31, 2018. A well-known writer in the world of literature, he is ever remembered for his beautiful English translation of Tamil Sangam verses in his books Red Lilies and Frightened Birds and Love Stands Alone, which Penguin Books, a publishing house of international fame, published.
Thangappa bagged the Sahitya Akademi Awards for his book Chola Kollai Bommai under the children’s literature category in 2011 and for Love Stands Alone in 2012.
Born at Kurumbalaperi in Tirunelveli district, Thangappa shared that he began to write poems in Tamil and English while he was a St. John’s College, Palayankottai student.
“The poetry of William Wordsworth, John Milton, William Shakespeare, P.B. Shelley, Tennyson and Edgar Allen Poe, inspired me greatly to write verses in English” he reminisced.
His English poems also appeared in the literary magazines The Caravan, Cycloflame, The Observer, The Modern Rationalist, Youth Age and New Times.
Like his poems, Thangappa’s translation literature is exact and beautiful with the same fragrance as the primary literature. While translating the popular verse Kaniyidai Eariya Sulayum Mutral Kalaiyidai Eariya Saarum… by Bharathidasan on his love for Tamil, Thangappa rendered it into English.
The flesh of succulent fruits
Juice of full-grown sugar cane
Nectar from flowers;
Syrup, cow’s milk
And tender coconuts
All these are sweet indeed;
But sweeter to me is Tamil,
My life-breath.
When asked about his choice for translating Bharathidasan, Thangappa said:
“Pavender Bharathidasan’s poems on nature are like the ones of William Wordsworth. Moreover, his ardent love for Tamil and socialism inspired me to translate his verses”
Thangappa, who earlier worked as an English teacher in many government-run schools in Pondicherry later continued his teaching profession as a Tamil professor in Tagore Arts College Pondicherry, Aringnar Anna Government Arts College Karaikal and Bharathidasan Government College for Women, Pondicherry.
When asked about the necessity of translating Tamil poems into English, Thangappa pointed out:
“While translating Tamil poems into English, I get a new experience of feeling the native emotions in a foreign language. Moreover, being a Tamil, I feel it should be my duty to take the glories of Tamil poetry to new horizons”
“The pleasure I obtain from writing is less than the bliss I experience in drawing a picture or making a kite to present to a kid. And I write only when I feel the need to do it” the poet recalled.
An author of over 30 books in Tamil and English, Thangappa passed away on May 31, 2018. A well-known writer in the world of literature, he is ever remembered for his beautiful English translation of Tamil Sangam verses in his books Red Lilies and Frightened Birds and Love Stands Alone, which Penguin Books, a publishing house of international fame, published.
Thangappa bagged the Sahitya Akademi Awards for his book Chola Kollai Bommai under the children’s literature category in 2011 and for Love Stands Alone in 2012.
Born at Kurumbalaperi in Tirunelveli district, Thangappa shared that he began to write poems in Tamil and English while he was a St. John’s College, Palayankottai student.
“The poetry of William Wordsworth, John Milton, William Shakespeare, P.B. Shelley, Tennyson and Edgar Allen Poe, inspired me greatly to write verses in English” he reminisced.
His English poems also appeared in the literary magazines The Caravan, Cycloflame, The Observer, The Modern Rationalist, Youth Age and New Times.
Like his poems, Thangappa’s translation literature is exact and beautiful with the same fragrance as the primary literature. While translating the popular verse Kaniyidai Eariya Sulayum Mutral Kalaiyidai Eariya Saarum… by Bharathidasan on his love for Tamil, Thangappa rendered it into English.
The flesh of succulent fruits
Juice of full-grown sugar cane
Nectar from flowers;
Syrup, cow’s milk
And tender coconuts
All these are sweet indeed;
But sweeter to me is Tamil,
My life-breath.
When asked about his choice for translating Bharathidasan, Thangappa said:
“Pavender Bharathidasan’s poems on nature are like the ones of William Wordsworth. Moreover, his ardent love for Tamil and socialism inspired me to translate his verses”
Thangappa, who earlier worked as an English teacher in many government-run schools in Pondicherry later continued his teaching profession as a Tamil professor in Tagore Arts College Pondicherry, Aringnar Anna Government Arts College Karaikal and Bharathidasan Government College for Women, Pondicherry.
When asked about the necessity of translating Tamil poems into English, Thangappa pointed out:
“While translating Tamil poems into English, I get a new experience of feeling the native emotions in a foreign language. Moreover, being a Tamil, I feel it should be my duty to take the glories of Tamil poetry to new horizons”