This is basically a satirical poem written by my grandfather in retort to a headline in one of the tamil dailies way back in the sixties. The headline said , “Arubathu moovarile Pathu per Kaidhu” ( which translates to ten of the sixty three have been arrested). This was an incident which happened during the festival at the famous Mylapore Kapaleeshwarar temple. Every year, the sixty three nayanmars (Shaivite Saints) are taken on a procession around the streets of Mylapore. Since, my granddad was a police officer,he was in charge of the security and protection in Mylapore during this festival. Since, he was a man driven by his wit and possessed a great sense of humour, he derived a different interpretation out of this headline and the result of it was a beautiful poem which manifested itself in the form of a satire.
In the poem, he assumes that ten of the 63 nayanmars are imprisoned, which would leave the procession with only 53 of them . Therefore, he decides to take the next bus (Route No. 3 those days) to Mylapore to settle the chaos and reassure the people that the procession will be restored in a while. But, on reaching Mylapore, quite in contrast to the melancholy mood he expected, he found signs of festivity and joy everywhere.Maybe,the nadaswarams were still playing the happy Shankarabharanam or Kalyani in place of the Shubapantuvarali! LOL! After all, 10 of the Nayanmars have been arrested for no possible fault! Oh No! Its only fair that the people were sad and depressed about it. After expressing his contempt at the attitude of the people, he finally discovered that the headline meant that ten pickpockets were arrested and all the 63 nayanmars were safe and sound and all the 63 members were part of the procession.To put it in short, it is like asking the writer who wrote that article, “Ida thaan solla vareengala ?” (Is this what you are trying to say ?).
The explanation is for those who cannot understand the language and for the others to understand the context.I am sure the explanation rather killed the beauty of the poem, but I didn’t have a better means of explaining it. So here goes the poem, without any further boring explanation.
அருபத்து மூவரிலே பத்து பேர் கைதென்ற
திடுக்கிடும் தகவலை தெரிவித்த தினத்தாளை
ஏந்திய என் கரங்கள் என்றுமிலா நடுக்கமுற
மறுக்கணம் மூன்றிலேறி மயிலை ஓர் டிக்கெட் என்றேன்
அருபத்து மூவரிலே பத்து பேர் கைத்தென்றால்
ஐம்பத்து மூவரந்றோ வீதிவலம் வந்திடுவர்
அப்பரோ சுந்தரரோ மாணிக்கவாசகரோ
கண் ஈன்று புகழ் பெற்ற கண்ணப்பநாயனரோ
யார் கைதோ எவர் கைதோ ஏன் கைதோ
என்று எண்ணி எக்கமுற்று மயிலை வந்தடைந்தால்!
தெருவெல்லாம் தெளித்து மாக்கோலம் தீட்டி
திருநீறு நெற்றியிட பல நூறு மக்கள் அங்கே
வருத்தம் வரும் வேளையில் வைபவம் தான் ஏனோ!
நெஞ்சுக் குமுறுகயில் கோலாகலம் தான் ஏனோ!
தாபம் மீருகயில் தமாஷா தான் ஏனோ!
என்ற மனத்தினனாய் மருண்டு நிற்கயிலே
அசைந்தாடி வரும் அமரர் தேரு கண்டேன்
அதில் அருபத்து மூவரும் வீற்றிருக்க கண்டேன்
ஆடி புகழ் பாடி ஆனந்தம் கொண்டேன்
கைது ஆனோர் கைக்காரப் பிக்பாகெட் என்றும் கண்டேன்! தெளிந்தேன்
For the benefit of those who cannot read tamil, I will retype the poem in English letters (Unfortunately,translating it will kill the elegance and grace of the poem.)
Arubathu Moovarile Pathu Per Kaidendra
Didukkidum Thagavalai therivittha Dinathaalai
Endhiya En Karangal Endrumila nadukkamura
Marukkanam moondril eri mayilai Oru ticket Endren
Arubathu Moovarile Pathu Per Kaidendraal
Aimbathu Moovarandro Veedivalam Vandiduvar
Apparo Sundararo Maanicka Vaachakaro
Kan eendru pugazh petra KannappaNayanaro
Yaar Kaidho Evar Kaidho En Kaidho
Endru Enni Ekkam utru Mayilai vandadaindaal
Theruvellaam thelitthu maakolam theeti
Thiruneeru netri yida pala nooru makkal ange
Varutham varum velaiyil Vaibhavam daan eno ?
Nenjuk kumurugayil Kolakalam daan eno ?
Thaapam meerugayil Thamasha daan eno ?
Endra manathinanaai marundu nirkayile
Asaindaadi varum amarar theru kanden
Adil arubathu moovarum veetrirukka kanden
Aadi Pugazh paadi Anandam konden
Kaidaanor Kaikaara Pickpocket endrum kanden! Thelinden!
The main motto of this post was a tribute to my granddad. I’ve always wanted to put a couple of his great poems on my blog for quite sometime. I finally found the time and the oppurtunity! I once again thank my granddad at this juncture for being my pillar of strength, my source of inspiration,my intellectual companion, a great friend, a loving grandfather, an awesome magician and above all a great human being! Miss you man 
