CHENNAI: Have you ever imagined how Thiruvalluvar would have written the Thirukkural in the fifth century. No definite work desk that is filled with markers, pens, papers, notepads, laptop with internet connection, and tools like chatGPT. Sitting at the foot of the hills with his profound knowledge, and inspired by nature, he inscribed the words on a palm leaf using a metal stylus. It was as if the wind carried the words and put them in his mind, which was then transfered into a manuscript. I wonder the number of days, months or perhaps, years he would have taken to write the 1,330 couplets which resonate even today.
Centuries later, when people are attempting creative representations of the couplets, it is easier to calculate the time taken to present their works. It took precisely three years, seven months and 22 days for Sowmya Ramalingam, a self-taught artist and an assistant professor of visual communication at DG Vaishnav College, to present the kurals visually. From January 1, 2020, Sowmya took a kural a day to understand the meaning and message, and paint it. “For Valluvar, it was his diary, and for me, it was passion and the fear of losing the literature to this generation,” says Sowmya, adding, “I was born in the late 80s and my generation, we use more English words than Tamil in our everyday conversations. When we do not speak the language, then what about its literature? What are we passing on to the next generations?”
Brushing colourful couplets
The fear of losing touch with such works and the interest in artistic research helped Sowmya connect literature and illustration. “Thirukkural is very nomic and cannot be understood when read directly. It has to be accompanied by an explanation. So, when a kural is read along with the picture, the message is delivered easily,” she shares. To decipher the couplets, Sowmya read the definitions by Kalaignar Karunanidhi, Mu Varadarajan, Solomon Pappaiah, and Sivayogi Sivakumar. To convey the meanings she took to artistic expressions such as metaphorical realism, surrealism, semiotics, colour, and space.
Explaining the process, Sowmya says, “The average time taken to understand the interpretation, come up with a visual idea and paint it, took three to four hours.” These hours were spent on a working pad/desk and also travelling. Sharing an incident, the artist says, “We went to Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple for a vacation, I sat at the ticket counter there and drew. The only materials needed were watercolour paper, paint and my brushes.”
Once the artwork is brought to life, the artist shares it on her social media and her friends and family for feedback. For one of the kurals, ‘Selvathul selvam seviselvam achselvam; selvathu ellam thalai’, Sowmya drew a huge human ear, with no attachment to the body, donning a crown. Looking at this surreal take, Sowmya’s eight-year-old daughter questions, “How could an ear stand alone and why does it have such a big crown?”. She explains the couplet’s meaning — The richness of the ear is the wealth amongst all wealth, the foremost wealth.
The other challenging moments during the artistic journey were in the couplets Thiruvallur wrote about veganism and prostitution. “I am a non-vegetarian and for me to read what he has written about vegetarianism was hugely driven by guilt. For prostitution and extra-marital affairs, he has targeted women and not any other sex. Targeting one gender did not sit quite well with me,” she rues.
During such times, Sowmya stood in Valluvar’s shoes, acknowledging his perspective. “Such kurals are not well connected with today’s current affairs. Taking to parody mode, I drew the chapters with no gender identity and used body positivity,” explains the artist. According to her, art is a form of expression and individuals choose how to practice it. Thirukkural as literature can be interpreted differently and is being used as a book of solutions.
For her last painting for the kural ‘Uduthal kaamathil inbam atharkinbam; koodi muyanga perin’ meaning the delight of love is the lovers’ quarrel; the greater delight is the loving reunion — 50-odd individuals gathered at Madras Literary Society to complete it on August 22, 2023. With red colour denoting fashion, anger and violence and black meaning eternal existence, connected with space, the visual popped up on a 2X2 feet canvas. Even the other artworks were prominently in the shades of these colours, while some were on A4 sheet and 400 paintings on a 15X15 cm canvas.
Following the Sangam period
Not stopping with Thirukkural, Sowmya delves into other literature of the same period. “I am focussing more on poems written by female poets. I have converted three poems from Kurunthogai and Kalithogai. One of the poems in Kalithogai briefs about the practice of Jallikattu and the painting is on display at the Madurai Jallikattu museum since January,” she shares. Currently, Sowmya is working on a revisioned Soorpanagai, a character from Ramayana. “In Kambaramayanam, Soorpanagai, the princess is portrayed in a bad light. In her introduction, she is spoken highly as someone who owns territories and is confident enough when men trespass on her property. After Lakshmana cuts her nose, she is brought down to lust and vulgarity,” she opines. With a mission to break this notion, Sowmya paints the princess as bold and beautiful.
In between her teaching and painting, Sowmya is looking for a sponsor to frame the 1,330 kural portraits and a huge space so that she could display them as an exhibition.
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