High on Haiku
| R. Ravi has a love for Tamil poetry |
SPONTANEOUS R. Ravi
Inspiration makes a man more creative. Take, for instance, R. Ravi, whose educational qualifications have no bearing on his passion. It is his sheer love for Tamil poetry that drives him to pen free verses and haikus in Tamil.
Tracing his interest in the native language and literature to school days, he says: “I was thrilled to study in Setupati Higher Secondary School where Subramania Bharathi worked. It inspired me to visit literary fora regularly.After I finished my schooling, I was on the lookout for a job. I worked for a pharmaceutical wholesale dealer for a meagre remuneration. But it helped me a lot at that time.”
Later he joined B.Com through correspondence. “But I did not write the examinations. My ambition was to become a cost accountant, which still remains a dream,” says Ravi, a clerk with the Department of Tourism.
Inspired by the haiku poems of Murugesan of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers’ Association, he got drawn to this genre.
Challenging
“Haiku is a challenging task for any poet. Generally, it is a three-line poem comprising three metrical phrases of five, seven and five. It describes two scenes and the last line is generally the punch line which springs a surprise,” he says.
He has written over 1,500 haikus on different topics from superstition to women’s liberation, from progressive thinking to unemployment.
He has also authored eight anthologies including “Kavithai Saral”, “Haiku Kavithaigal”, “Vizhigalil Haiku”, “Ullathil Haiku”, “Ennaval”, “Nenjathil Haiku”, “Idhayathil Haiku” and “Kavithai Alla Vithai”.
Bharathidasan and and Madurai Kamaraj Universities have included his poems in the curriculum.
For details, visit his website www.kavimalar.com.
T. SARAVANAN
கருத்துகள்
கருத்துரையிடுக