IT professional explores poems from Sangam literature through social media

He decided to start a social media account to explore poems from Sangam literature with bilingual meaning. “When I was in my home town Kancheepuram during the lockdown, I had read an article written by famous writer Perumal Murugan in a Tamil magazine and I found a scenic poem that starts with Allazhpazhanatthu Arakkaambal from Muthollaayiram. I fell in love with it before even finishing the first line as this was one of my favourite poems. The reason is, I used to memorise this poem as part of Tamil cheiyull (poetry). This nostalgic poem pushed me to write a little review on my Facebook page about the poem. After reading that, a few of my friends encouraged me to write more about such Tamil poems. Hence, I opened an Instagram account named @beautyinthamizh, especially for Tamil Sangam pieces of literature. I started making posts with simple poems from Naaladiyar, and one of my friends asked me to give a little introduction about the poets. It was a surprise that many other friends were astonished when they came to know that they are written by Jain monks. To bring my favourite poems under the limelight, especially for my friends, I started giving the basic details about the poet and poetess too,” says Barani.

 Currently, he is making posts on the poems from Agam which deals with intimate subjects such as love. “This subject usually does not take place in any of the school curricula. For those who didn’t study Tamil as a language in their schooling, this account became close to them. When people send me messages asking for a reference, I get a little satisfaction while responding to them. It also justifies the time taken to make each post. Poems have a minimal number of lines as there was no medium like paper when they were written. But still, we can visualise more dramatic scenes while reading. To the point when we come across more drama in a single word, it would move us and pull you to a different world. Tamil is not only a language; it’s a lifestyle and will make every reader an artist,” he adds.