Green Politics, a book of short verses
Don’t axe down the air, please
Amid the incautious destruction of nature in the modern era, where
rivers, ponds and lakes have turned out as dump yards, green activists and
voluntary organizations, time and again, emphasize the importance of protecting
nature for posterity. And Tamil writers too, on their part, play a key role in
the mission by bringing to light the indiscriminate acts of environmental
degradation in their short stories, novels and verses.
It takes a thousand years
For a tree to turn into stone
For firewood, it takes minutes
Thus reads a poem in Green Politics, a book of short verses on
environmental issues authored by noted Tamil writer Subrabharathimanian from
Tirupur. The book, which contains around 134 short verses, has been translated
into English by RM Shanmugam, an Indian English writer. The book was launched
recently in the monthly meeting of OSAI, a popular environmental organization
of the city.
“Plants and animals along with numerous bio species have chosen to live
together, sharing their respective spaces on earth. They develop a chain of
network which is essential for their living to keep the biosphere intact. The
discourse on this, the need to protect this balance and enhancing the ideas to
manage it are known as green talk or green dialogue “says Subrabharathimanian
in his preface to the book.
Subrabharathimanian, an author of a number of short stories and novels,
is a recipient of the Katha award from the president of India in 1994 and Tamil
Nadu government’s Best Tamil Book award in 1998 for his novel Saayathirai (The
Coloured curtain), which spoke the
plight of Tirupur’s environment that was caught in the clutches of dyeing
units.
Besides authoring a number of books as Sayathirai, Puththuman, Komanam
and Rekai, Subrabharathimanian has penned two books of poems – The Last
Symphony and Green Politics. Though the novelist hardly prefers to writing
poetry, his short verses in his latest book Green Politics are written with a
punch urging for the protection of nature.
A poem in the book emphasizes how the indiscriminate axing down of trees
would pave way for the extinction of all creatures on earth. Dictionaries
define the word ‘suffocation’ as death caused by not having enough oxygen. But
the poet in Subrabharathimanian discovers the dying of air due to suffocation!
The irony lies in the verse.
Into the fan air blows
Into the trees air blows
Along the shore air blows
In felling trees air suffocates
City-based poet, printer and
publisher Venil Krishnamurthy released the book, Muthamizh Virumbi, convener of
the literary organization Nerunchi Ilakkiya Iyakkam, received its first copy.
Avainayagan, president OSAI and K.Kalidasanm secretary spoke in the function.
B.Meenakshi Sundaram
