I am happy that I get very good counterarguments for my mails.Particularly Dr.Rathnam is very logical in his replies. I am also happy to see the devotion the group members have on kalki.I remember derrida who died recently having similiar love affair with carl marx.He even said that that his deconstrcutionism can be applied for any philosophers but not carl marx.I too have similiar passion for kamban.Its sad that I cannot compare him in my literature classes.Nobody knows him.
I think one person who certainly has read kambaramayanam is priya vaishnava....
She used the same quote of baratha and rama
I quess the rest of us are just illeteratre on that aspect... At one stage I did seriously consedered reading tamil literature ...ti really able to understand these magnum opuses....
Maybe I would have donr that if I wa still in India
I meant comparing Kamban in my literature classes in USA.There we discuss poets like Bloom and larkin who are good,but not like the king(kamban)That is what I meant when I said "I couldnt compare Kamban since nobody (in USA) knows him"
Initially I wasnt at all happy that my dream poet had such a horrible name."'Kamban'-what a horrible name it is"-I thought.I equated it with kambam near theni.Many other poets have majestic names."Bharathi"-when I hear that name I feel as if saraswathi devi lives in that name.
In did not like the name Bharathidasan though.I dont like poets being dasans to other poets.One exception is kannadasan.Since he named himself as dasan to kannan and not to mortals.Similiarly I dont like the name Suratha who is "subbu rathna dasan"(dasan of bharathi dasan)I guess Bharathi would never have named himself anything like Kamba dasan or Ilango dasan.
These are just my thoughts.Dont hold them against me hardore bharathidasan fans,please.
Coming to the point similiarly I had this small problem against Kamban.I somehow equated it with kambam(place) and Kambu(grain) and thought that the name looks too rural.
But then I learnt the meaning of the word kamban.Kamban means one who lives inside the pillar(kambam).One who lives in pillar is none other than narasima.Kamban's parents were devotees of narasimma and named him as kamban poetically.Now suddenly this name got a new meaning.I can imagine kamban as narasimma himself,who is the most majestic of all vishnu avathars.Suddenly I started to like the name Kamban.
Just sharing my thoughts though.I get childish often.