COMMENT | As India is celebrating 75 years of its independence, officially termed the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, contributions of our great freedom fighters, revolutionaries, philosophers, and unsung heroes are being brought to the centre stage and celebrated.

Next year, when these celebrations reach their zenith, India will also be celebrating the 140th birth anniversary of Chinnaswami Subramania Bharati (above) – a great patriot and a poet.

Born on Dec 11, 1882, Bharati, aka Bharatiyar, was popularly called “Mahakavi” (great poet) as he is considered one of the finest Tamil poets recognised for his patriotic, revolutionary, and social reformist ideas.

The power of Mahakavi’s ideas can be glimpsed in...