Poet Kuloththungan

Poet Kuloththungan,a modern Tamil poet, who belongs to the Bharatidasan School of poetry is a renowned poet, who has taken poetry for the expression of his concern over growing social problems and ventilation of his rage over the hypocrites who pretend to do social service. His mightier pen is producing thought-provoking poems in Tamil for the past six decades.
The personality behind the penname 'Kuloththungan' is a multifaceted genius. Dr.V.C.Kulandai swamy, is an Educator, Administrator, Engineer, writer, Orator, poet and a free lance journalist in Tamilnadu,India.
As an engineer he has proven his genius by developing a model in Hydrology studies known in his name as 'Kulandaiswamy model'. As an educator he has been celebrated as a 'Great Commonwealth Educator and he is an Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning.
As an administrator he had honored the posts of Vice-chancellorship at Anna University (1981-1990), Madurai Kamaraj University (1978-1979) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (1990-19994). He may rightly be described as the Architect of Anna University in its formative years and made it as the citadel of Specialized Technical education .As a writer he had been awarded 'Sahitya Academy award. (1988).
Poet Kuloththungan, a myriad talented genius, insists through his poems the supremacy of Man.
Human energy is the source of all kinds of energies in the universe, according to Kuloththungan.
Man, a paragon of living beings in this globe has no comparison.
There's no species known so far
That towers above the species human,
We must found a world on earth
Where men in flesh would rise to be divine.
Without knowing his potentialities man is highly depressed in the false hope that there is a supreme power. The lazy man who always dreams that miracles may happen anytime to favor him with fortunes, never cares to do anything for the betterment of mankind and develops illusions and superstitions which only induce divisions among mankind.
Kuloththungan clearly expresses:
"...there is
No heaven in the Universe
The abode of Gods
After all our own mind."

The poet never delves deep in romanticism, but enlightens his readers with an aim to motivate the present generation in a more pragmatic way.
Humans are an evolving species
A refined form of life on earth
.....................................
Countless are the produce
Yielded by the tiller's toil;
Human society took many strides
And massive assets were created.
Our late lamented leader Jaweaharlal Nehru, who is undoubtedly the architect of modern India, was a prolific writer and eloquent orator. He had contributed many thought-provoking writings. He declared that science and technology alone would redeem the poor Indian from all his evils and salvation can not be expected from anywhere else.
In Kuloththungan also we see another Jawaharlal Nehru.
Science and Technology holds
Potential unbounded;
Handled with lofty intent and deftness,
It can conquer the breadth and depth of oceans,
It can triumph over the mountain peaks,
It can make winning expeditions in the skies,
It can gain access to nature's wealth,
It can lead into more realms of knowledge,
Then human mind can open up;
And set up on the earth
A heaven of its own
Man will then verily be God.
Here the voice of an internationally renowned Engineer as well as a unique Hydrologist is expressed through a progressive poet. Kuloththungan's poems may rightly be described as "The fusion of Science and literature for the progress of mankind."
Gender biased attitudes in working places and sexual assault on women angers Kuloththungan and he asks:
Are our womenfolk sinners?
Should their misery remain interminable?
His outburst is expressed in multiple questions, which make everyone to realize the mistakes committed by the 'male ego' for many centuries.
Is not your mother a woman?
Are not your sisters elder and younger
And your loving daughter too
Of the species of women?

Should there be impediments
For these divine souls
To find parity of standing with men?
Kuloththungan can not be underestimated as one among the poets who pay lip-service to the emancipation of woman. He respects and reveres womanhood and he is in all praise for it in all his poems.
Womanhood is the spring in sand
Whence wells up freshness perennially,
Womanhood is the garden of flowers
Wherein blossom a million beauties,
Womanhood is the perfected whole
With every part embodying.
This is not praise for catching a bigger vote-bank, as Kuloththungan is not a politician. He knows the value of the womanhood and he assesses the important role played by the womanhood in a befitting manner.
It is the womanhood with its
Blossoming smile through the ages
That has swayed the minds of the poets,
That has formed the fount of every art,
That goes deep to touch one's
Soul itself and fascinates.
As an ardent follower of Periyar E.V.R., the poet adopts a pragmatic approach to the social problems. Social justice is given the first and foremost place in his poems. As an educationist, he has done his best to achieve social justice in educational institutions whenever and wherever possible. His poems reflect his inner mind.
Social justice is a sacred river
A sanctified ambrosial fount
That nourishes the soil all thro' its course
Rooted it's in the pursuit of cultivating
And harvesting human resource in its entirety.
Among the poets who belong to Bharatidasan school Kuloththungan has a unique place, as he is a myriad talented artist-scientist. He uses poetry as a medium to express his social concern. To him poetry is the vehicle of powerful feelings and provoking reflections on societal set-up. He considers poetry as a mode of discourse with his fellow-citizens. He not only records his feedback on what is happening but also suggests what should happen. When there are plenty of poets who pretend to be prophets, he communicates louder thinking through his poems with a desire to get a feedback. He neither tries to instruct nor desires to impress the readers. His aim is to discuss the present situation with an intention to analyze it objectively.
Kuloththungan never stooped to populist gimmicks to attract a wider range of audience. As a result his poems possess a wide range of theory discussions and problem-analysis and appear to be theses in verse. His poems appeal to the head and not to heart. Rich Intellectual appeal and lack of emotional appeal may seem as a defect in the process of communication.But that is what Periyar E.V.R. adopted in his lectures and writings.Did he not succeed in changing the mindset of people? In fact Kuloththungan is a sincere follower of Periyar in all aspects.
Iconoclasticity, deconstructing age-old myths and condemning the hypocrisy of men in all walks of form the main themes of his poems and there is no need to say that these are the content of Periyar's writings.Periyar was an emancipator who fought throughout his life against the atrocities committed in the name of religion, against the oppressive measures that carried on perpetration on our brothers and sisters who are labeled as Dalits and marginalised in the societal setup for many centuries.Kuloththungan through his poems convey the ideology of Periyar in a fine form and successfully motivates the readers successfully.
Kuloththungan's poems dream for a brighter future; the dreams are not romantic fantasies but realistic layouts for a stronger India.