P10424 Lesson - 4

Bharathidhasan's Veerathaai

     Revolutionary poet Bharathidasan in his book, Veerathaai exalts the greatness of women. It speaks about Vijayarani, who defeats her enemy's cunning plans and wins by her sheer courage without the support of money or army. The king of Manipuri instead of protecting his country, is addicted to alcohol. He is about to lose his crown. Vijayarani, the Queen, through wisdom and conviction defeats the scheme of the army general who plans to take over the power by deceptive means. He entrusts the care of the prince to an old man, who is instructed to bring him up like a moron. But the old man, who is actually the queen in disguise, trains him in martial arts. This book thus shows how a woman can thwart the wicked plots of a man and can be successful even in politics. Vijayarani is characterised as a heroic woman who excelled in education, heroism and justice and saves her country from the villains. She gets the country back to the rightful heir. Thus the entire work is in praise of womanhood.

    The six central units deal with the author and the themes of this work, and narrates the story in a nutshell. The characters of Vijayarani and Kangeyan, bring out the reformist feeling of Bharathidasan in terms of education, womanhood and socialism. The lesson also deals with the finer aspects of the poem and its poetic beauty.

    Bharathidasan is a good social reformer. He highlights the role of education in levelling the ups and downs in the society. Veerathaai is an educated woman well-versed in all royal arts. The male-dominant Tamil society has to learn and accept the rights of women. He declares people's government for the Tamil people.

    Bharathidasan's love for Tamil is seen in each line of his poems. His commitment to the Tamil language, Tamil Nadu and the Tamil people is three dimensional.

    Alliterations, rhymes. Metaphors, and similes besides images, rhythmic beauty have earned him the name Chencholkavi.

    This lesson highlights the social reforms and changes required for a traditionally great, but temporarily fallen, country of the Tamils. Womenhood. Socialism, self-governance, importance of education and martial arts and the ill-effects of alcoholism, are some of the key concepts dealt with in.