(cache) The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “A fusion of outer, inner universes”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 06, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“A fusion of outer, inner universes”

Staff Reporter

Title of World People’s Poet conferred

CHENNAI: The World Poetry Society Intercontinental on Friday conferred the title of World People’s Poet on Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International, Tokyo, at a function here.

It was conferred at a symposium on ‘Poetry for World Peace, Harmony and Humanism,’ organised by the World Poetry Society Intercontinental, The Institute of Oriental Philosophy and the Soka Ikeda College of Arts and Science for Women. Awards for scholarly achievement were also presented to Krishna Srinivas, co-founder, World Congress of Poets and president of the Society and A. Padmanabhan, vice-president of the Society and former Governor of Mizoram and Tamil poet Perunkavico Va. Mu. Sethuraman.

The 95-year-old Dr. Srinivas drew a resounding applause from the audience when he quoted with gusto the lines from Subramaniya Bharathi’s poem in Tamil, which translates as ‘Even if the skies break and fall on our heads, we are not afraid, we are not afraid.’

Dr. Padmanabhan said the country had been a land of several religions co-existing together, preaching harmony, tolerance and brotherhood.

Secularism was an integral part of the Indian ethos, Dr. Padmanabhan said.

“Today’s mantra for the world should be ‘live and let live’. Mental slums are more dangerous than material slums,” he said, pointing out that intolerance, fundamentalism, terrorism and the like emanated from mental slums.

Education and other sustained efforts from poets and writers were required to do the cleansing, he added.

A message from Dr. Ikeda, read out on the occasion, said that in a world rent with schisms, excessive greed, global warming and weapons of mass destruction, the voice of the poet called out for peace and harmonious coexistence.

The Institute of Oriental Philosophy Director, Yoichi Kawata, said that poetry was the means by which the fusion of the outer and inner universes of the self was achieved.

Besides presentations from several poets, there was a poetry session in the evening session.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail