Subramania Bharati

Subramania Bharati loved children, and wrote poems and songs for them. He loved the koel and the sparrow. Even the crow. He once embraced the lowly donkey. To him all birds and animals were like brothers. To him the Brahmin and the untouchable were alike. He looked upon all mankind as one family.

He loved India with all his heart and suffered because he was a patriot. He was the poet of freedom and he wrote poetry that was like fire. He wrote prose, too, which everyone understood.

Bharati wanted women to be free. He wanted prosperity for all. He said that if a single Indian starved we would shake the whole world. He was not an orthodox man and spoke against caste. But he was proud of India's religious and cultural heritage.

Bharati died when he was only 39. But in a short life he did much, said much, wrote much. He was one of the great Tamil poets. He was one of the great Indian poets.