Specials
Sharing Memories of Ma.Ra.Po
BMeenakshi Sundaram · 27 Nov 2022
Tamil writers and researchers in the city could not have expected that the legendary Tamil scholar of Coimbatore Ma. Ra. Po aka Ma. Ra. Po Gurusamy would leave the world in 2012, with his centenary being a few years ahead. Nevertheless, with his absence today, the year 2022 marks his centenary.
As the scholar was active and engaged in researching, writing, and editing books even in his ripe old age, his sudden demise left a vacuum in the world of Tamil literature.
Sirpi Balasubramaniam, an eminent poet, and a two-time Sahitya Akademi award winner, once recollected :
“Ma. Ra. Po. dedicated his entire life to the development of Tamil with his unique research works on great Tamil epics like Silapathikaram and Kambaramayanam. His book Silapathikara Seithi, a monumental research work, provided new insights into the great epic”
Sirpi would add further:
“Of the numerous books, his “Thamizh Ilakiyathil Kurippuporul”is a landmark research work, in which he attempted to provide verbal explanations for “Ullurai” (Inward thought) in Sangam poetry. He was blessed with a subtlety of viewing epic literature critically even while he was a student”
The late bibliophile, Marxian scholar, and author Durai. Madangan once recalled that Ma. Ra. Po introduced his teachers and legendary scholars like The. Po Meenakshi Sundaranar and Mu Varadasanar and made them address the audience of the colleges in Coimbatore.
Eminent linguist and lexicographer Dr. Kamaleswaran, who was also a colleague of Ma. Ra. Po in PSG College of Arts and Science would recollect that the scholar had penned an exclusive book, which is a fine example of Ma. Ra. Po’s critical appraisal of Kambaramayanam.
Prof I. K Subramanian, Assistant editor of the ten-volume Thamizh Kalai Kalanchiyam Tamil (Encyclopaedia) would commend Ma. Ra. Po that he was an authority in literary criticism. His compilation of Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi’s poems, based on the times they were written, bears testimony to his flair for research.
Ma. Ra. Po was also instrumental in founding several literary organizations in Coimbatore that include Kamban Kazhagam, Elangovadigal Mandram, Nanneri Kazhagam, and Thirukural Mandram.
Reminiscence of a respectable friendship
In the present context, where there is no teacher-student relationship at colleges except for academic purposes, the book Mu. Va. Ninaivuhal penned by the late Tamil professor of Coimbatore, Ma.Ra. Po. Gurusamy is a reminiscence of an established friendship with his teacher Mu.Va. alias Mu. Varadhasanar - a writer who needs no introduction to the world of letters.
Ma.Ra.Po. Gurusamy, who is reverentially called a professor of professors for his rich contributions to Tamil language and literature, recollects in his book how the teacher-student relationship between him and Mu. Va lasted for years even after his student days at Madras Pachayappa’s college.
Ma.Ra.Po. Gurusamy, a retired professor of P.S.G College of Arts and Science and a great interpreter of Tamil literature, quotes his illustrious teacher’s innovative approaches to bringing students closer to education throughout the book.
In the chapter “ Kovayil Mu.Va” Ma.Ra.Po introduces his teacher as a prolific writer, who believes that addressing in meetings is a sheer waste of time. In front of his home in Madras, he even hung a noticeboard that read thus:
“Please do not invite me to give address in meetings”
However, Ma.Ra.Po had a desire of arranging his speech at P.S.G College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, where he was working then. Since it was only a short time after the death of Thiru.Vee.Ka ( Thiru. Vee. Kalyanasundaranar) eminent Tamil scholar, trade unionist, and editor of the Tamil journal Nava Shakthi, Ma.Ra.Po succeeded in bringing his teacher to address the college with a promise that he would arrange funds from students as a contribution to constructing a school in memory of Thiru.Vee.Ka in Madras. As planned, with each of the students at PSG Arts and Science college providing the donation, the principal handed over above Rs 1000 to Mu.Va., which became the first contribution to the construction of the school in Madras.
While bringing out such recollections from his friendship with his venerable teacher, Ma.Ra.Po must have shed tears while writing the 18th chapter of the book.
As he was cycling home after his evening college on October 10, 1974, a student meets him near Lakshmi mills junction on Puliyakulam Road and tells him the shocking news of Mu. Va’s death is being announced on the radio. The same night Ma.Ra.Po boarded a train to Madras.
Ma.Ra.Po could certainly have met his teacher a few days before his demise in Madras when he was to invite him to his daughter’s wedding. But, as no one was allowed to meet the ailing scholar, he just left the invitation at his home and left for Coimbatore. Later, confirming Ma.Ra.Po’s visit to Madras, a worried Mu. Va told his family members that they should have allowed Gurusamy (Ma.Ra.Po) to meet him, as he had much to share with him.
Puzzled over what his dear departed teacher could have had to share with him, Ma.Ra.Po walked as one among the mourners in his teacher’s funeral procession.
It was flowers and flowers on Poonthamalli Road