''Makkal Pavalar'' Inkulab (also spelt Inquilab, Inkulab or Ingulab) ( ta, மக்கள் பாவலர் இன்குலாப்; c. 1944 – 1 December 2016) was an Indian rationalist

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, and

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

with

Marxist Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

inclination. He retired as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

The New College, Chennai The New College ( ta, புதுக்கல்லூரி) is an institution of higher education in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Established in 1951, the institution is one of the affiliated colleges of the University of Madras, with autonomous statu ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. His birth name is Shahul Hameed and a known follower of

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

. His poems espousing rationality have been critically acclaimed. ''Kanmani Rajam'', his most famous poem, criticizes the

moral bankruptcy Amorality is an absence of, indifference towards, disregard for, or incapacity for morality. Some simply refer to it as a case of not being moral or immoral. Amoral should not be confused with ''immoral'', which refers to an agent doing or thin ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

s. His song/poem ''Naanga Manushangada (We are human beings)'' is a famous

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

-freedom song that is still played in many Dalit gatherings. Avvai, his

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

is considered to be the first modern Tamil drama, and a prescribed textbook for many colleges. In this revisionist account, the historical/mythic poet Avvai, contrary to the prevalent image of her as an old, wise, celibate woman, is rendered as a young, sensuous, creative, 'free' person, a wandering bard. The play also challenges the patriarchal view which has marginalized the female voice. His other famous literary works include modern versions of

Manimekalai ''Maṇimēkalai'' ( ta, மணிமேகலை, ), also spelled ''Manimekhalai'' or ''Manimekalai'', is a Tamil-Buddhist epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar probably around the 6th century. It is an "anti-love story", a s ...

and Kurinji Paatu. He was also involved in vocal expression of discontent of removal of statue of a Tamil legendary icon

Kannaki Kannagi ( ta, கண்ணகி) sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic ''Cilappatikaram''. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfai ...

in 2002 by the then

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mini ...

(AIADMK) government of Tamil Nadu. He died at the age of 72 on 1 December 2016. He has been selected posthumously for the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for his book ''Kaandhal Naatkal'' in 2017. However, his family declined the award, saying he did not write expecting awards and felicitations.

References

1940s births 2016 deaths Tamil-language writers Indian atheism activists Year of birth missing Writers from Chennai 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Tamil Nadu Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil {{India-writer-stub