Jallikkattu (For Tamils) Poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Where has gone karakattam?
Where has gone poyyakkuthirai?
No thaayam, no pannankuzhi;
No saris, no thavanis; no veshtis

No more Tamil names to the children.
No Valli but Aishwarya;
No Palaniappan but Ashwin.
Westernization is welcome.

Tamils had left such harmless feats
With their identities not lost.
His Tamil identity lies
In knowing Tamil to read and write.

Learning Kural must be to him
As Gita to Indians, Veda to Brahmins.
He is Tamil who stands by Kural
and not sporting Jallikattu.
15.01.2017