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Subbu Arumugam - Part 1

When we mention the word 'Tamil', its language and culture immediately comes to one's mind. There are many rural or village arts like 'Villupattu', 'Karagaattam', 'Poikkaal Gudhirai' (Dummy horse dance) etc., which speak volumes of the greatness of the State and its culture. These rural arts have grown along with us as a part and parcel of our lives. Music, especially, is inter-twined with every activity of our daily life, and one can say that Tamil and Music are inseparable.

There are many artistes who spread the glory of our soil through their arts like Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Poet Subbu Arumugam, and Vijayalakshmi Navaneedhakrishnan, to name a few.

When one mentions 'Villupaattu', the name Subbu Arumugam is mentioned in the same breath. If 'Kamban' is synonymous with 'Poetry', then 'Villupattu' is synonymous with 'Subbu Arumugam'.

Subbu Arumugam, who hails from Tirunelveli, performs Villupaattu to this day with the same verve and sense of humour that he showed at the initial stages of his career. Son of Avana Subbiah Pillai and Subbammal, Subbu Arumugam attained fame through his Villupaattu, a word which has stuck to his name like a title.

"Our ancestral place is Sathirapudhukulam near Thirunelveli. Villupaattu was born here and I grew up in a sorrounding where I could hear Villupattu throughout the day", explains Subbu Arumugam as to how he was attracted to the art form. 

He adds further that the great poet Subramanya Bharathi belonged to Tirunelveli and one could hear the sound of a bow in his songs. There was a semblance of Villupaattu in all his songs, especially in 'Naladisandham', 'Kummi sandham', 'Kaavadi sindhu', 'Nondi sindhu', 'Kili paattu', 'Uzhavan paattu', and 'Padagu paattu'.

He narrates an incident about Bharathiyar, when the poet was eight years old. Bharathiyar was watching a person singing Villupaattu in front of an Amman Temple. The audience, spell bound by his performance, forgot to give him money. The singer reminded them through his song that he had not been paid, and this enraged young Bharathi. He rendered a song to highlight that God gave seas, mountains, rivers, wind and springs to Indians, but forgot to give them brains. That was the period when the freedom struggle was on, and Bharathi was angry with the singer for giving priority to money rather than the country's independence. This incident finds mention in the book written by Justice Maharaja Pillai on Bharathiyar.

Subbu Arumugam, whose inspiration was the great poet Bharathi, stood first in Tamil when he was a student of Madurai Tamizh Sangam, and gained expertise in Yappu Ilakkanam and Tamizh Ilakkiyam. His 'Kumaran Paattu', an anthology of poems, was released when he was 14 years old. It was published in 'Ponni', a popular literary magazine then. Subbu Arumugam was a proud youth when his very first book was published in the magazine. 

The turning point in his life came when N S Krishnan visited 'Hindu College' in 1948. Having read his Kumaran Paattu, N S Krishnan asked Subbu Arumugam to sing a song on Mahatma Gandhi. The latter complied. The song was about those who were initially against the attempts made by Gandhi to attain freedom, but eventually had the national flag flying atop their homes, and about those who brought sticks to attack Gandhi, later tied the Gandhian flag at the end of the same sticks.

N S Krishnan, impressed by Arumugam's spontaneity, invited him to Chennai. Subbu Arumugam was then 19 years old.