If Bharathi’s writing was fire, that fire was not meant merely to burn the political chains that bound a nation; it was also a ray of light that entered the darkest chambers of the human soul

If Bharathi’s writing was fire, that fire was not meant merely to burn the political chains that bound a nation; it was also a ray of light that entered the darkest chambers of the human soul. His creative force did not remain within what we today call “poetry”; it moved freely across the vast expanse of “the philosophy of liberation.”

When India of that era was being crushed under foreign oppression, Bharathi, with the vision of his inner eye, perceived the Russian people in a distant corner of the world rising in their own struggle for freedom. He transformed that same human longing into flashes of lightning through the gentle, musical cadence of Tamil. His words, travelling beyond all boundaries of thought, became a rare bridge linking the soul of Tamil with the universal spirit of humanity.

And that is what we realise—

Bharathi’s writing was not a storm that rose for India alone;

it was a thundering cry for the liberation of humankind itself.

When Russia’s empire was trembling in turmoil, Bharathi’s voice, though it did not physically reach that land, continues to echo through the corridors of global intellectual history even today.

The singular beauty of Bharathi lies in this: he never spoke to please the world; he uttered only the truth that seared his own heart. His mind never lived confined within the narrow walls of nationalism; it soared in the boundless universe of human compassion.

When we read him today, we are not merely reading the political upheavals of that period;

we are reading a profound philosophical inquiry into human freedom.

That philosophy tells us this—

Words are weapons.

When they move toward goodness,

they can transform not just a community,

but an entire world.

That is why Bharathi did not remain just a poet;

he became a revolutionary of thought,

a torch of truth,

a banner of hope for humanity.

Every word he wrote, when it falls into the heart of a child, becomes a spark powerful enough to reshape the destiny of the next generation. That is why we may call him “the first teacher of the kindergarten”—

not to teach Tamil alone,

but to elevate the very spirit of life.

And even today Bharathi’s voice calls out to us:

“Fear not… Rise up… Do not shackle your thinking…

Freedom is not a flag meant only to topple governments;

it is the ray of light that lifts the human heart.”

In that light, our path continues to shine even today.

– Venkataramanan Ramasethu

11 December 2025