Author Nirmala Lakshman to speak on Tamil poetry from the Sangam age and a history of Tamil people on February 11

Author Nirmala Lakshman explores Sangam poetry and Tamil history in a conversation at The Purple Turtles on February 11.

Author Nirmala Lakshman first fell in love with literature from the Sangam Age — a period in ancient South India that lasted from approximately 300 BCE to 300 AD — when she read poet AK Ramanujan’s translations in college.

“It seemed so egalitarian. The poems spoke of vastly different topics, including tales of women and their loves, and of dying heroes. The akam [focussing on personal emotions and love] and puram [heroism, ethics, and societal values] poems, for instance, discussed death and love in such a detailed manner. It felt like reading a haiku. Not all of it was understood at the time but it blended the themes of Nature with the world,” says Lakshman, who is also the Chairperson of The Hindu Group, speaking of her tryst with verses from the age.

Lakshman hopes to deliberate on the lyricism of Sangam poetry, and a host of other themes, including the history of the Tamils, in a conversation with former Union Minister Jayanthi Natarajan at Amethyst’s The Purple Turtles on February 11. While the focus will be on arts and poetry, the session will also speak of enduring Tamil values and the region’s history that spans empires, colonisers, nationalists and revolutionaries.

Lakshman released her book titled Tamils — A Portrait of a Communityin January. The book was a part of a series brought out by the Aleph Book Company, portraying different communities in India, and was edited by novelist and publisher David Davidar. Lakshman says that she has been fascinated with poetry from her childhood and dove into the world of Tamil verse while researching her book. She adds that she enjoyed the process of going through Tamil scholar UV Swaminatha Iyer’s research of palm leaves containing verses from the Sangam Age from the 19th Century.

“It is a good introduction to Tamil history and its literary landscape but there is much more to Tamilakam than just this age,” says the author. During the talk, she also hopes to tell many other stories through snippets from her book. “Jayanthi was one of the resource people I had quoted in the book and her family has a vast understanding of the region and its people. I thought it was right to be in conversation with her on the subject,” she adds.

The idea of hosting such a conversation came to be when Radeesh Shetty, founder and owner of The Purple Turtles, wanted to reopen his renovated space in Chennai for conversation on arts and culture. “We have always championed authors, poets, and artists from the region. The release of this book, which speaks of an origin story of the Tamil people, seemed perfect,” he says, adding “Everyone today is hoping to find their roots and go back to their traditions. Such books allow people to contemplate an idea of a home.”

The Art of Poetry and Other Stories from the Tamils is on February 11 at 5.30pm at Amethyst’s The Purple Turtles. Register on thepurpleturtles.myinstamojo.com/product/the-tamils-a-portrait-of-a-community/