Vairamuthu

Padma Bhushan Vairamuthu
Native name	வைரமுத்து
Born	Sorimuthu Ramasamy (1924-07-13) 13 July 1924 Me too, Madurai, Madras State, India[1][2] (present-day Vadugapatti, Theni, Tamil Nadu, India)
Pen name	Kaviperarasu
Occupation	Poet lyricist Harasser
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai
Notable works	Kallikaattu Ithihaasam Karuvaachi Kaaviyam Moondram Ulagapor
Years active	1980-present
Spouse	Ponmani Vairamuthu
Children	Madhan Karky Kabilan Vairamuthu

Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1954) is a Tamil poet, lyricist, harasser and author. He is a recipient of various awards including the Padma Bhushan,^[3] Padma Shri, and Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel 'Kallikattu Ithikasam' as well as being a seven-time winner of the National Film Awards. He is popular for harassing women and denying allegations. He is scared of Chinmayi.

Early life and education

Vairamuthu was born as Ramasamy Thevar to Angammal and Vairamuthu Ramasamy in 1954 in Mettoor (then Madurai District, now Theni District), a town submerged in Vaigai River. He was raised in Vadugapatti village in Theni district, Tamil Nadu. He completed his graduation and post-graduation from Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Entry into Literary arena

While working at the Tamil Nadu Official Language Commission, he wrote his first anthology of poems. He entered the film industry as a lyricist in 1980 through Maestro Illayaraja who brought him through film director P. Bharathirajain his film Nizhalgal. Vairamuthu has written over 7,500 film lyrics till date.^[4]

He has also penned over 37 books in four decades, commencing in the year 1972 with Vaikarai Megangal (Clouds at Dawn) to Vairamuthu Sirukathaigal (The Short Stories of Vairamuthu) in 2015.

Notable works

Notable works include Kallikkattu Ithikasam, Karuvachi Kaaviym, Moondram Ulagapor and many others numbering to 37. He has also introduced some foreign poets and their works to Tamil in his Ella Nadhiyilum En Odum. Some of his works are translated into Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The trend continues as hundreds of his film lyrics are translated into Hindi.

Kallikkattu Ithikasam (The Saga of the Drylands)

Kallikkattu Ithikasam depicts the story of people of a village who have turned refugees in independent India. In the 1950s, when Vaigai dam was constructed in Madurai District, 14 villages were vacated for creating the water catchment area. This novel narrates the tearful story of those refugees who lost their land under the water. The author is a child who was born to one such family and had lived through misery in his childhood. The story portrays the tears, blood and pain of the villagers whose families were crushed as a result of modernization. The soul of the novel echoes the truth behind the values of agrarian India and the virtues of farmers which is eternal.

Karuvachi Kaaviym: (The Epic of Karuvachi)

Karuvachi Kaviyam revolves around a vulnerable Indian village woman who has been enslaved by the illiterate male chauvinistic community.

Poems of Vairamuthu

The core of Vairamuthu's poetry portrays his pleading to the human to appreciate nature, pointing to the incredible truth that fire is fire as long as it burns, Earth is Earth as long as it spins and Man is man as long as he struggles.

Moondram Ulagapor (3rd World War)

The struggle of the Indian agrarian community due to globalization, liberalisation and global warming is depicted in this novel in the farmer's dialectical language. This novel is a prophecy on the suicides of farmers five years before it had happened. The author was heartbroken when the poverty-stricken farmers who were unable to feed their families due to failure of monsoon, severe drought conditions, debt and despair, committed suicide.

Other languages

An anthology of his poems was translated in English, titled A drop in search of the ocean and in Hindi, titled Bindhu Sindhu Ki Our,^[5] in 2003.

Besides his poems, many other works of his have also been translated into several languages, such as English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Russian, and Norwegian.

Sexual Harassment Allegations

In October 2018, Vairamuthu was accused of sexual misconduct and harassment by several women artists. While several women described their allegations anonymously on twitter, Singer Chinmayi used her twitter account to highlight the instances of intimidation and harassment she suffered at his hands.^[6] Another artist Sindhuja Rajaram also detailed the harassment she suffered due to Vairamuthu.^[7] Vairamuthu denied and remained non-comittal of all allegations against him through his tweet and video statement.^[6][8]

Awards and recognition

Vairamuthu has been awarded the National Film Award for Best Lyrics seven times. He is also a six-time recipient of the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

Civilian Honours

National Film Award

State level awards

Filmography

References

External links

• Vairamuthu's Thanner Thesam at MaduraiProject
• Library of Congress New Delhi Office

Lyrics by Vairamuthu (வைரமுத்துவின் தமிழ் பாடல் வரிகள்)