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She was the recipient of the coveted Vairamuthu Award for being the best poetess. Recently she has come out with an anthology of her poems 'Suyam pesum kili' (A parrot that speak of its own). Excerpts from a long and enjoyable conversation with her… How did you take to poetry? None who has read Bharati could resist the temptation to pen at least a few lines. That fire has been within me from my childhood and I have been taking care to see that it keeps glowing there. My parents - particularly my father - played a considerable role in identifying my pastime and turning it into my pursuit. You are a successful poet, essayist, novelist and a short story writer. You have even tried your hand at translations and proved yourself as a good translator. What makes it possible for you to shine in all fields of writing? (Smiles cheerfully) We have to plan our time. After all, our existence is not for spending our time in idle sleep. Even Bill Gates has the same 24 hours that we have. But you see, only Bill Gates is on the top. We have to plan our time. Enough if one sleeps for four hours a day. Whatever be the pursuit, one should have the determination to reach the top and be complete. This is something that I have developed right from my childhood. One should be keen in using the opportunity to the best of one's ability and be ready to give expression to one's talents in all the available avenues. The process of learning is a continuous one. It is important to understand that. How do you define poetry? It is like cultivating a barren land. Living and internalising experiences. A poet should go through all kinds of emotions. A few poems need more efforts. Other few could be written only in a particular manner. But it is not possible to have terse definitions and write within that framework. The form and body of poetry takes shape as it is written. There can be no predefined codes for poetry. Is it true that poetry comes only when the mind is affected by one's surroundings? What makes you write poetry? Have you written any lyric for any film? My mind is constantly running around the events taking place around me. And therefore it is possible for me to pen a poem in any circumstance. What is most important is, a poet should be able to internalise the feelings, the emotions and passions of whatever is happening around her or him. I have not written any lyric so far. But I am sure I can write much better lyrics if opportunity arises. I don't have any qualms about writing for movies. There are not many women lyricists in the film field. What do you think the reason for this could be? You see, writers give shape to characters in their stories on the basis of persons they meet in real life. Of course they do whet, grind and polish the characters. Therefore short story writers or novelists do not face the question, 'How come you know so many details? Is this your personal experience?' But a poetry or lyric is born of personal feelings and emotions. That leads people to ask, 'How do you know these feelings? Have you experienced them?' This happens more so when a poem speaks of love or say the feelings of a prostitute are expressed in a piece of poetry. People look at the one who wrote the piece with askance. That too, if the author of that piece happens to be a woman, people immediately look at her quizzically. Her character becomes a matter for discussion. The basic reason is there is lack of freedom of expression for women. The society is responsible for this. I know that some girls, though interested, do not pursue this passion. Even promising and talented poetesses disappear after they get married. The sociological reasons are to blame. That is the main reason for many women not coming forward to express themselves in poetry. We know Andal Priyadarshini as a writer, poetess, and a compère for TV programmes. What are her other facets? (Laughs) A good mother. A good wife. A good reader. I love music. I have even penned a few lyrics. There are different opinions on women liberation. What, in your opinion, gives women real independence? Women should be educated and should have economic independence. That is freedom in the real sense of the word. Education is in fact the first husband of any woman. Her spouse comes only next. A woman should have an identity of her own. Let it be any identity. But she should of necessity have a meaningful identity of her own. One can do something worthwhile in any walk of life only if there one's family extends its understanding and support. It is said that women who are not able to get such support come out of the bounds of the family. What do you think about such decisions? First of all, one should be clear as to what one wants. There should be clarity of thought and purpose. If one comes out, one should achieve what one came out for. If one is confident of doing so, one can certainly do so. One should not swerve from the path after coming out. The content of almost all magazines for women do not differ greatly. They always speak about housekeeping, recipe, etc. People say that they do not go beyond this. What do you feel about it? I don't think so. If the magazine gives recipe for pulav, the same magazine makes you recite a poem also. One cannot move away from the roots. Cooking, home decor, housekeeping are arts that one has to learn. Can anyone live without eating? If something can be done about it, we can then think of stop knowing about cooking et al. Agreed that cooking should not be seen as an exclusive responsibility of women. But nonetheless food is most important. Cooking is something which has to be shared between women as well as men. But that is the way it is all over the world. I do not think that there is anything wrong with publishing such material. Your poem 'naangal enna thaavarama' (are we mere vegetation?) speaks about child labour. Poverty steals their childhood. Unless there is an alternative arrangement, it is not possible to eradicate child labour. What is your view on this problem? There is something inherently wrong with our system of education. If children are taught their regular syllabus for say, three hours in the morning, they should be given some professional education for three hours in the afternoon. Six hours of education is more than sufficient. The interests of a child should be identified and he or she should be trained in the area in which his or her interests lie. What we do is, we push all kinds of stuff down their throat and force them to know things that won't be of any real help in their pursuits. When one comes out of the school campus, one is not properly equipped to face life out there. The system of education should be such that children are enabled and empowered when they learn - like what they do in other countries. They should be able to earn when they learn in their spare hours. That would to a very great extent change the situation for the better. NGOs come forward to educate children in the match factories of Sivakasi and teach them to read, to write and give them the basics. The government should also come forward to do this in all the other places. See what is happening in our schools. Just for the sake of getting free midday meals, children do not perform well and see to it that they do not pass their exams for two or more years. The system of education should change to bring a ray of hope in their lives. Andal Priyadarshani has an admirable depth of thought and expression and her views on life are sharp indeed. Here is a translation of one of her poems. 'Bharati Maheswari
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She is so calm, simple and gentle. Her words betray a mind that is clear and ready. A planned life and an eye for punctuality. That describes a part of her personality. Her creativity takes different shapes and finds its expression through poems, short stories, novels, essays and all other forms of writing, including translations. Her name appears in various journals of all hues and heights. She has a penchant for reciting her poems in poets' meets and she enjoys penning lyrics too. Of late she makes an appearance as a compère in TV programmes. Andal Priyadarshani is her name. Of course, an 'I knew whom you were speaking about' smile would flit on the lips of the person who reads it now.
