FIVE POEMS BY NAKULAN TRANSLATED FROM TAMIL TO ENGLISH BY CHENTHIL (DABBLER)

Nakulan was and is a master of minimal, metaphysical, meta-poetic, Vedantic postmodernism. Pritish Nandy  (Editor of Illustrated Weekly of India), Keshav Malik (of Thought) and Jon Silkin (of Strand) were all his fans - Dr. Koshy AV

"T. K. Doraiswamy (21 August 1921 – 17 May 2007), also known by his pen name Nakulan, was an Indian poet, professor of English, novelist, translator and short fiction writer, who wrote both in Tamil and English, and is known for his surrealism and experimentation as well as free verse. He served as Professor of English, Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram for four decades.

During his literary career which started in his forties, when he started writing in Ezhuthu, a literary magazine founded by C. S. Chellappa, he wrote a novel and six books of poems in English, and nine novels and five books of poems in Tamil. His English work was mostly published under his real name, while Tamil works often appeared under his pen name. He also wrote briefly under the pen name, S. Nayar. His symbolic novel Ninaivup Patai Nilakal (1972) is considered a milestone in Tamil literature and established him as an avant-garde novelist. His other notable works in Tamil include Nizhalgal, Naykal, Naveenante Diary Kurippukal, Ezhuthu Kavithaikal, Iruneenda Kavithaikal, Antha Manchal Nira Poonaikutty, and in English, Words to the Wind, 'Non-Being' and 'A Tamil Writer's Journal'.

He received the Asan Memorial Award for Tamil Poetry in 1983."

A tribute by a student: "Nakulan was my professor at Mar Ivanios College (T K Doraiswamy) and he was my closest friend with whom I spent almost 5 years of my life almost every evening in his beautiful house opposite the Golf Club in Trivandrum. He is a person I respect most and he mentored me and nurtured me in my love for literature and the arts and especially empowered me as a writer. He has not been respected by Tamil society although he was a Brahmin who broke his ‘sacred thread’ because he could not be bound by casteism and Brahminism. His house was always a haven for many young people who aspired to be writers and enjoyed literature. He was universal and unconditional in his love and a writer par excellence. Many writers have become famous but Nakulan could not become famous because he did not lick anybody’s boots or manipulate people to get to the top. He lived a simple, quiet life as almost an ascetic and yet as a doyen among writers, even though he has not been given his due by Tamil literature."

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._K._Doraiswamy)

Nakulan - a few poems

Nakulan is one of those writers in Tamil who is spoken about a lot but read only by a few. I am not one of those few. I have read only a few of his poems published in mainstream magazines. He is considered one of the pioneers of post-modern Tamil literature. I have tried to translate a few of his poems.

*************
Between the
writer and
the reader
words stand
as a
b
a
r
r
i
c
a
d
e


எழுத்தாளனுக்கும்
வாசகனுக்கு
நடுவில்
வார்த்தைகள்
நி
ற்
கி
ன்
ற
ன!

*************

Whichever book
we read, we find
what is inside
us is in that book
Nothing else.

எந்தப் புத்தகத்தை
படித்தாலும்
நமக்குள் இருப்பதுதான்
புஸ்தகத்தில்
எழுதியிருக்கிறது
அதை மீறி ஒன்றுமில்லை!

*************

We come
here to be
and leave
without being.

இருப்பதற்கென்றுதான்
வருகிறோம்
இல்லாமல்
போகிறோம்!

*************

He came to see me
and left saying
see me.

என்னைப் பார்க்க வந்தவர்
தன்னைப் பார்
எனச் சொல்லிச் சென்றார்!

*************

There is no one
for me
not even me.

எனக்கு
யாருமில்லை
நான்
கூட!

(http://chenthil.blogspot.com/2007/05/nakulan-few-poems.html)