monsoonjournal online

(www.monsoonjournal.com) by: Nate. V

Greek cuisine is the cuisine of Greece and of the Greeks. It is typical of Mediterranean cuisine accompanied by commonalities with the cuisines of Southern France, Italy, the Balkans, Anatolia, and the Middle East.

The most characteristic and ancient element of Greek cooking is olive oil, which is present in almost every dish. It is produced from the trees prominent throughout the region, and adds to the distinctive taste of Greek food. The basic grain in Greece is wheat, though barley is also grown. Important vegetables include tomato, eggplant, potato, green beans, okra, green peppers, and onions. Honey in Greece is mainly flower-honey from the nectar of fruit and citrus trees (lemon, orange, and bigarade trees), thyme honey, and pine honey from conifer trees. Mastic is grown on the Aegean island of Chios.

Greek cuisine uses some flavorings more often than do other Mediterranean cuisines: oregano, mint, garlic, onion, dill, salt, and bay leaves. Other common herbs and spices include basil, thyme and fennel seed. Many Greek recipes use “sweet” spices in combination with meat, for example cinnamon and cloves in stews. Greek flavor is often characterized by the use of mint and nutmeg. Other typical ingredients are lamb, pork, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, grape leaves, zucchini and yogurt. Dessert items are dominated by nuts and honey.

The terrain has tended to flavor the production of goats and sheep over cattle, and thus beef dishes tend to be a rarity by comparison. Fish dishes are also common, especially in coastal regions and the islands. A great variety of cheese types are used in Greek cuisine, including Feta, Kasseri, Kefalotyri, and Mizithra. Some dishes use phyllo pastry.

Too much refinement is generally considered to be against the hearty spirit of the Greek cuisine, though recent trends among Greek culinary circles tend to flavor a somewhat more refined approach.

Many dishes names come from the Ottoman cuisine tradition and their names reveal Arabic, Persian or Turkish roots such as moussakas, baklavas, tzatziki, yuvarlakia, keftedhes. Many dishes names probably entered the Greek vocabulary during Ottoman times, but there was earlier contact with the Persians and the Arabs. Some dishes may be pre-Ottoman, only taking Turkish names later; Ash and Dalby, for example, speculate that grape-leaf dolmathes were made by the early Byzantine period.

A few dishes are influenced by Venetian (Italian) cuisine, such as pastitsio, makaronia me kima, though pasta with meat together is considered in culinary circles an “eastern” tradition, found mostly in Greece and Anatolia and Asia Minor and regions of that influence.

Recently, American food has also become more popular in Greece and Europe, with local fast-food chains such as Goody’s springing up. Although fast food is gaining popularity and many major fast food chains have opened all over Greece, Greek people still rely primarily on the rich and extensive dishes of the Greek cuisine. In addition, some traditional Greek foods, especially souvlaki, gyro, pita/pites, for example tiropita and spanakopita (savory or sweet stuffed phyllo) are often served in fast food style. Eating out has always been common in Greece. The Taverna and Estiatorio are widespread, serving traditional Greek home cooking at affordable prices to both locals and tourists.

Typical Greek food is simple, colorful and packed with robust flavours. Although many dishes show influences from the Greek past, they have a distinctive style of their own which has changed little over the years. Greek cuisine has a long tradition of fine cooking and the full range of Greek dishes usually remains undiscovered by the tourist.

Greek Salad

5 vine ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 English seedless cucumber, cut into bite-size chunks
2 small red bell pepper, seeded and chunked
2 small green bell pepper, seeded and chunked
2 cup Kalamata black olives
Several sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, about 1/2 cup
3 (1/4 pound) slices imported Greek feta
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons (4 splashes) red wine vinegar
2 teaspoon dried oregano
Coarse salt and black pepper

Pita breads

Combine vegetables, olives, and parsley in a large bowl. Rest sliced feta on the top of salad. Combine oil, vinegar, and oregano in a small plastic container with a lid. Shake vigorously to combine oil and vinegar and pour over salad and cheese. Season with salt and pepper and let the salad marinate until ready to serve. Serve salad with pita bread blistered and warmed on a hot griddle or grill pan.

Greek style leg of lamb

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 pound leg of lamb, boned and tied
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

Mix together everything but the lamb. Place lamb leg in a large shallow baking dish. Pour marinade over leg, making sure to coat every inch. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Preheat grill and prepare rotisserie.

Remove leg from marinade and discard the marinade. Tread lamb onto spit and secure tightly. Place on grill over medium to medium low heat and cook until the interior of the meat reaches 145 degrees, about 2 hours to 3 hours. Served with pita bread, tzatziki and rice pilaf.

Baklava

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 pound chopped nuts
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup honey

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan.
2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
3. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

(www.monsoonjournal.com) by: Anand. J

Here is yet another South bound action movie with director Hari’s style. The director has presented a racy film that proves to be a perfect entertainer, which has action, sentiment and romance in the right proportions. But at the same time the film looks like the mixture of Hari’s old versions Ayya and Thamirabharani in most of the parts. However, the director has succeeded in giving a racy entertainer with all required ingredients.

The story starts with a family, which has twin children, being separated with one child. The separated boys grow up in different environments. One grows in Chennai becomes an officer (Vasu) in a private investigative agency and the other grows in Dindukkal becomes a typical rusty young man (Vel). Meanwhile Vasu falls in love with a television hostess ‘7 Up’ Swati (Asin). At the same time Vel is given a tough time by Sankarapandi (Kalabhavan Mani), a former minister and local strongman, who has his own axe to grind. The twins meet, swap their roles and unite to fight the villain in a different way.

Surya in a dual role as an angry young man and a cool city guy with a comic sense has pitched in with yet another fantastic performance. Particularly his action packed performance in Vel character steals the show. Though there is no much difference in the get ups, he has got into the skin of both the characters adopting different body language and dialogue delivery techniques. His onscreen chemistry with Asin clicks once again just like his previous film with her - Ghajini.

Vadivelu is surely an asset to this films story and helps the viewers to relax in many scenes of this action cum sentiments packed movie - especially the ‘tea shop’ scene. Asin, with a typical ’soda butti’ is looking very cute, particularly in the song sequences. Kalabhavan Mani is the usual villain you have seen in many similar films with his trade mark loud act. Lakshmi, Raj Kapoor and Charan Raj also done their part well.

There is nothing special in Yuvan’s Music. The Switzerland dream song will bring the title track of Ghajini back to the viewer”s minds. It is the brisk pace of the film, which makes it a racy entertainer. It seems that the director safely has ridden with known subject and he has been successful. The way he has handled the story of the film is commendable. For Hari, ‘Vel’ is another successful action masala flick like ‘Saami’

Vel – Vetri Vel

(www.monsoonjournal.com) By: Anand. J

Double roles for Vijay and it’s double dhamaka for all Vijay fans. If you are ready to enjoy a movie without any logic, ATM is a must see. Of course Azhagiya Tamizh Magan is a new effort from Vijay and his team and the young box office prince has delivered well being seen in novel getups in the film. He is looking very smart and fresh in his first ever dual role performance. His stylish and comical mannerism in ATM steals the show and scores well for him. Director Bharathan has well exploited the actor’s strength and style in most parts of the film.

We only knew that Vijay is the hero of the movie. But what surprises the viewers is his villain role. Yes, he is playing both the hero and villain role. However, the director (Bharathan, a debutant) seems not to be bothered about the story as it is wafer thin, and in the climax it looks like he didn’t know how to end the film well. Among the major drawbacks of the film is its length – almost three hours. It needs a good trimming mainly in the first half which is too long and at times sags.

We must say that ESP is not a proven scientific fact and hence the director is not justified in putting it as a matter of fact. This could have been digested if the director had presented it in a different way without saying that it was scientific.

Guru (Vijay) is an athlete and a business management student who is always seen with his two friends Santhanam and Sathyan. They reside in a house owned by sex bomb Shakeela (she appears as herself) in a colony. Abhinaya (Shreya) is the daughter of a business baron (Ashish Vidyarthi). They happen to meet and fall in love. Both parents accept their relationship.

Suddenly Guru starts seeing things that are going to happen in the immediate future. The doctors say he has Extra Sensory Perception (ESP). He has two bitter experiences, which may be the cause of it. Just before Guru and Abhinaya are to be engaged, Guru gets a very disturbing ESP, of him killing Abhinaya. A shattered Guru distances himself from Abhinaya and goes away to Mumbai.

In Mumbai he stumbles upon a person, who looks like him. This adds a twist to the tale of the ESP he had about Abhinaya. Before catching the man, played by Vijay himself, Guru has an accident and the new man moves to Chennai where he is mistaken to be Guru. The stylish and care free Prasad (the villain), the look alike Guru, is a greedy person, who would do anything to earn money and enjoy life. Abhinaya mistakes him for Guru and invites him to her house.

Understanding what he has got into, Prasad decides to act as Guru and marry the rich Abhinaya. He proposes that they get engaged and she accepts. Guru, then sensing trouble returns to Chennai to set things right with his love.

Vijay plays the role with much ease and outstanding style. His comic timing, impeccable dancing abilities (particularly in the title song) make his performance simply outstanding. In the negative character Prasad’s role, he is the veritable scene stealer. No doubt, Vijay is the strength of the movie. Shreya is another sweet surprise in the movie. She is not appearing as a glamour doll, but performs well in a meaty role on par with the hero. Particularly in the climax, Shreya proves her acting agility.

There is nothing special in Namitha’s role. The director has used her effectively for a scintillating song. Santhanam plays the hero’s friend well and raises the comedy bar to a new level. The major plus of the film is AR Rahman’s catchy tunes and cool background score. Nee Marliyn Monroe… is an item number shot with Vijay and Namitha in Phuket islands. But in many shots of the song, one can easily find the censor officer’s work too.

Maduraikku Pogathadi and Valayapatti Thavile are other two foot tapping numbers. However the remix of Ponmagal Vandhal is not a pleasant one for the ardent lovers of original song. Balasubramaniyan’s camera work is another asset. The film’s foreseeable problem is the climax, which is undigestable for the masses. Over all, the film has many drawbacks in its script but Vijay neutralizes all of these with his outstanding performance!!

Namba mudiyadha Azhagiya Tamizh Magan!!!!

[www.MonsoonJournal]

By: S. Raymond Rajabalan

We are now in the midst of Christmas, a festive period concerning the birth of a child that altered the course of history of mankind. We rejoice, the birth of infant Jesus, the saviour of mankind and remember a heavenly host joining the angel of the Lord singing “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those whom he favours” However to this day, it has not been possible to determine the exact year and date of birth of Jesus born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. Many historians and Christian scholars have by their diligent effort and meticulous research has been able to compile some useful information relating to the time of birth of Jesus. Some of these information comes from the cherished stories of the birth and early life of Jesus described in the Gospels of Mathew and Luke.

Today in the city of David (Bethlehem),
there has been born for you a saviour,
who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11)

1. Gospels of Mathew & Luke

According to Mathew’s Gospel it is stated that “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King”Herod the Great who became King in 37 B.C. (Before Christ) died in the year 4 B.C. Mathew therefore places Nativity prior to the year 4 B.C. In the 6th century Pope John 1 assigned a Roman monk named Dionysius Exiguous to prepare a standardized calendar for the Western church .Dionysius made the birth date of Jesus the basis for his chart of Easter dates. Dionysius labeled the years after Jesus’ birth “AD” (which stands for Anno Domini, meaning “in the year of the Lord” in Latin), a system later supplemented by the term “BC” (which stands for Before Christ)In his calculations, Dionysius miscalculated the death of Herod by four years, resulting in the awkward situation that Jesus’ birth is usually dated into the years “BC” (Before Christ).

2. Census in Syria

Meanwhile Luke tells us that the birth of Jesus occurred at the time when Emperor Augustus Caesar ordered a census. That census took place when Quirinius was the Governor of Syria (Luke 2:2)

According to historical records, Augustus Caesar dispatched Governor Quirinius to Syria in AD.6.During the same period Coponius was the first Governor of Judea. Quirinius and Coponius jointly conducted a census at that time.

However if Jesus was born prior to 4 BC , at this time of the A.D 6 census Jesus would have had to be at least 10 years old by that date.

Therefore, the birth of Jesus could not have occurred prior to 4 B.C.

Some scholars have pointed out that Quirinius served an earlier term in Syria (from 10 B.C. to 7 B.C). This probably could be the period to which Luke refers in his gospel

3. Star of Bethlehem.

A third Clue to the date of Nativity is the Star of Bethlehem

In 12 B.C. Chinese astronomers recorded a comet named Hailleys. They also mentioned about a stellar explosion (or Nova) in 5 B.C.

Either of the above two events could have been the celestial guide to Three wise Men seeking the place of birth of Jesus.

Meanwhile in early 17th Century, German Astronomer and Mathemetician Johannes Kepler proposed another explanation. Kepler observed conjunction of the two planets Saturn and Jupiter within the constellation Pisces, in 7 B.C.

He remembered an ancient Hebrew tradition that the Messiah would appear when the two planets moved so close to one another, that they appeared to be a single large star. On checking the ancient astronomical charts, Kepler found that in year 7 B.C. The planets Saturn and Jupiter had three such Rendezvous – on May 29, Sept. 29 and Dec.4.

Out of these three dates, it is possible that the “Three wise men from the East” – possibly astrologers in Babylonia chose the September date to start out along the caravan route to Judea. Based on the geography of the travel, such a Journey would have brought them to Bethlehem area towards the time when there still could have been, as Luke writes “Shepherds out in the Field, keeping watch over their flock by Night”.

4. Month of Birth - November/ January

Mediterranean climates such as Judea’s have mild winters reaching their coolest in late February. Thus December nights can be quite balmy and warm enough to graze sheep. Moreover, December/January would have been an ideal time to graze sheep to take advantage of the winter rains.

During the hot months, conditions can be quite barren and the grasses dry. But the end of December was the time when the perennial grasses began to turn green again and the annual grasses had sprouted anew. Thus, climatically the ecclesiastical practice of placing Christ’s birth between December 25 and January 6 is possible.

Controversy over whether Christmas ought to be celebrated on December 25 or January 6 underscores the perceived importance of the day of Christ’s birth and the determination of church fathers to be accurate.

Based on the above evidences and reasoning from Keplers Hypothesis, it is at least a possibility that Jesus was born in Late Autumn in the year 7 B.C. though we may never know for certain.

However in order to bring an end to the dispute among the Historians and Scholars regarding the year and date of the Birth of Jesus, Pope John.1 in AD.525 declared that December 25th should be celebrated as the date of Birth of Jesus.

Irrespective of the exact dates and year on which Jesus was born, what is more important is that his Birth as well as His Teachings about the kingdom of God continues to be a spiritual guiding factor and of immense benefit to mankind.

This article is written in honour of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar [www.monsoonjournal.com]

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi

Subramanya Bharathi was born on Dec 11th 1882, in Ettayapuram a village in South India to Chinnasami Iyar and Lakshmi Ammal. His birth name is Subramaniya Iyar. He is celebrated as one of the great poets of India. He was a reformer, journalist, freedom fighter and poet. Bharathi was prolific and was adept in both prose and poetry forms. His rousing compositions helped rally masses to support the Indian independent struggle in South India. He is known as Mahakavi Bharathi meaning great poet Bharathi. The word ‘Bharathi’ is another name of Goddess of learning Saraswathi in the Pantheon of Hindu deities.

Subramanya Iyar lost his mother at a very young age in 1889. He started his education at the Hindu College, in Thirunelveli town in the year 1894, and studied there till 1897.At the time of marriage Bharathi was only fifteen while his bride who was his cousin was only seven. Her name was Chellammah. Misery struck Bharathi’s life again the following year; he lost his father. After the death of his father in 1898 he moved to Benares a town in the banks of river Gangees, and lived there till 1902 with his aunt. Benares is also known as Kasi and Varnasi a holy place of pilgrimage in Hindu religion. During this stay he learnt Sanskrit, and many other North Indian Languages. Another interesting experience Bharathi had during his stay was, when he met a Sikh gentleman and was greatly impressed by his turban. From that day Bharathi started wearing a turban always. Turban became a distinct feature of Bharathi’s appearance.

During his stay with his aunt Bharathi was exposed to two important traits which influenced him to a great extent. The first is the nationalism and the other Hindu spirituality. In December 1905, he attended the All India Congress session held in Benares. Here he was privileged to meet a keen social worker Margaret Elizabeth Noble an Anglo-Irish lady who was a disciple of Swami Vivekanda, and was better known as Sister Nivedita. This encounter made him realize the Indian women were deprived and kept in ignorance of the struggle of the nation and thereby lost their contribution to the struggle. He visualized a ‘new-woman’ of India as an emanation of Goddess Sakthi, a willing partner of man to build a new India. On his return to his home town in 1902 he was appointed the court poet at Ettayapuram till 1904.

Patriotism: - Bharathi realized the need to educate the public about the Indian struggle for liberation and other happenings around the world. He started taking keen interest in journalism and the print media of the west and home land. In 1904 he joined ‘Sudesamithiran’ a Tamil daily as an assistant editor. His enthusiasm made him to join the radical Tamil weekly ‘India’ and the English newspaper ‘Bala Bharatham’, becoming the editor of both. These journals not only educated the public but were also a great outlet for Bharathi’s creative mind.

Bharathi participated in the historic Surat Congress in 1907 at which the militant’s wing of the Indian National Congress led by Logamanya Tilak, Aurobido Gosh and Lajpath Ray challenged the moderates like Gandhi and Nehru. Subramanya Bharati together with V. O Chithambarampillai and others from South India joined the militant group agitating for independence. As early as in 1908 Bharathi organized a public meeting to celebrate Independence (Swaraj) Day of India. His nationalistic poems were printed and distributed free to the audience. In the same year he gave evidence in support of his friend in the case which had been set up by the British rulers against his good friend V. O Chithambarampillai the one who launched a shipping lines in defiance of the British orders and was called ‘Kappal Ootiya Thamilan’ meaning the Tamil who piloted the ship. The same year the proprietor of the weekly ‘India’ was arrested. Faced with the prospect of arrest, Bharathi escaped to Pondichery which was under French rule.

Living in exile he continued his journalistic pursuit, by continuing to edit the weekly journal ‘India’, and Tamil daily ‘Vijaya’. At the same time Bharathi continued the editorial work on the English monthly ‘Bala Bharatham’. Bharathi edited a local weekly of Pondicherry by the name ‘Suryothayam’ too. All this he achieved in spite of the might of the British Empire stopping remittances and letters to the papers in British India. It is also believed that as a journalist, Bharathi was the first in India to introduce caricatures and political cartoons in newspapers.

During exile he had the privilege to mix with many other leaders of the militant wing of the independence struggle who have sought asylum in the French colony.

After a stay of ten years in exile he returned to British India near Kadalore in November 1918 and was promptly arrested by the British and imprisoned in the Central prison in Kadalore for thrty four days.

Literary carrier: - Before one goes to study his outpouring of poems and penmanship it is important to understand what prompted him to pursue in this field. First and foremost the motivating factor was his desire to tell the world what he felt about the various issues of the world that made him to be a journalist and a poet. He was not man with head in the clouds. He realized the prime need of his mother land was its independence. He also realized it cannot be achieved alienating seventy five percent of the country’s population. It was the lowliest and the lost that made seventy five percent of the Indian population. By lowliest I mean the Harijans, the dalits, the adivasis, and the other backward classes tagged as low caste. And the ‘lost’ implies all women who are almost lost to the political world and had no say in the matters of independence struggle. Sister Nivedita had profound influence over him in this matter, for if an Anglo-Irish woman can come all this distance and does social work then why not his own country women take part in the struggle he thought. He wrote in his songs;

‘We will destroy the idiocy

Of denigrating womanhood’

In another poem he wrote;

Those who said women should not touch books are perished

The funny men who locked the women in their homes now bow their heads’

Bharathi was totally against cast system though he was from a high cast (Brahmin).He gave up his cast identity of wearing the sacred thread. He believed the whole humanity is equal and should be free to take to any field of studies. During his time only Brahmins were allowed to learn Veda. To prove his point he performed Upanayanam (Initiation ceremony) to a young Harijan man and gave him the sacred thread and declared him a Brahmin. This action earned him the enimity of his Brahin relatives and friends. On the subject of castes he wrote;

My blood boils to think of these idiotic men!

How many divisions within us, they are more than a crore….’

Again he sang to the children;

There is no castes baby; it is sin to say low and high by birth baby’

His poetry expressed a progressive, refined ideal. His powerful words molded the thinking of the Tamils and guided to progressive thinking.

In his short life of 39 years he wrote untiringly. His writings are

A special mention must be made on his greatest contribution to Tamil poetry. Until then the poems followed the strict syntactic rules set down in the Sangam era which was about two thousand years old. The language itself had evolved and an average folk could not understand what was written. Bharathi broke away from the ranks and created a prose-poetic style known as puthukavithai meaning ‘New Poems’. This was understood by all. Previously one believed if it is hard to understand it must be good. Initially the educated men brushed him aside as childish attempt, but the masses liked his literary works and a new style of Tamil songs developed, which enriched the ancient Tamil language.

Apart from the above songs he wrote on various issues in the news papers together with many short stories to educate the public. Bharathi was very much interested in Carnatic and Hindustani music. He composed songs in Carnatic music (kiritis) in Tamil on various topics. Though he was fluent in many languages including Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, Kutchi, French, and English he composed only in Tamil except two songs in Sanskrit.

During his time the elite Tamil musicians believed to be a good musician they must sing the compositions by the three Carnatic music composers known as ‘The Ttrinity’, whose compositions were all in Telungu and Sanskrit. The Tamil vocalist sang without knowing the meaning of the songs, and they were singing without proper expression. Bharathi rebuked this stupid attitude of the vocalist. He wrote his observations in an article ‘Sangeetha Visayam’ (issues in music). He also observed that these compositions of ‘The Trinity’ expressed only two emotions which were devotion and love. He insisted the music is much greater than that. Bharathi observed that music should bring out other expressions such as valor, anger, wonder, fear and hatred. He took the stand musicians should not sing songs which they do not understand the meaning. Naturally his forthright condemnation brought many enemies within the high class society of musicians.

It is sad to end this great mans story in a low note. Since his imprisonment he was not in good health. Though Bharathi was released there were many restrictions on his movement and employment by the British rulers. Bharathi lived in poverty. In 1919 he moved to Madras and met Ghandi at Rajaji’s house. Finally in 1920 when a general amnesty order finally removed restrictions, Bharathi was in dire poverty. Bharathi rejoined ‘Suthesamithiran’ again. Unfortunately he was struck by the temple elephant shortly afterwards, which he used to feed regularly. Though he survived the mishap a few months latter his health deteriorated and died on September 11^th 1921. At the time of death he was only thirty-nine years old. He was a people’s person and devoted his life to his mother land India and his mother tongue Tamil, but there were only about fifteen people attended his funeral. [monsoonjournal.com]

by Kumar Punithavel~Email: kumarpunithavel@yahoo.com

Photo: Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar in Nallur, Jaffna~Sri Lanka, by Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai