Soundara for religious Harmony

Indian Muslims
Indian Muslim News and Information

Tamil scholar Soundara Kailasam pens poems in praise of Allah
Submitted by kashif on Mon, 04/09/2007 - 15:07.
Art/Culture
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
Chennai: Those who are lowering the coffins of the composite culture in India and writing obituaries about it, please wait, Tamil scholar Soundara Kailasam has proved all such pundits wrong, publishing her latest book `Yellai Illa Arulalaa,' on the teachings of Allah.
"It all started with my contributions to the `Samarasam' a Tamil magazine. I wrote poems on Allah and his teachings. Friends appreciated my poems and publishers wanted to bring out a book of my poems, Soundara Kailasam a popular Tamil poet told IndianMuslims.info
I was reluctant to give it to a non-Muslim publisher. When the Islamic foundation Trust, Chennai, came forward to publish the book, I was happy,� the eighty year old poetess said with a spark in her eyes becoming the first non-Muslim woman poet to have her work published by the Foundation.
The Islamic Foundation Trust so far has published 185 books. `Yellai Illa Arulalaa,' on the teachings of Allah, is the first book on poetry written by a non-Muslim woman that the Trust has brought out.
"I also wanted a Muslim poet to write the foreword and I am glad that poet Mu. Metha wrote the foreword,she added.
Soundara Kailasam is a popular poet in Tamil language and her literary works include essays and short stories. Till date, she has brought out 13 poetry collections and three books. For the past few years, she has confined herself to attending literary meetings.
"I am eighty years old but I still feel the urge to write, for me, poems are a way of expressing myself," the poetess said.
Soundara Kailasam comes from a family of socially conscious people. She is the granddaughter of Rathnasabapathi Gounder, the main person behind the Thiruchengode Gandhi Ashram, founded by Rajagopalacharya and formally opened by Periyar E.V. Ramasamy Naicker. She is the wife of former Supreme Court judge P.S. Kailasam and has three daughters and a son.
Ms. Kailasam has held various positions in several government as well as non-governmental organizations. She held the post of senatorship of the Madras, Annamalai and Tanjore Tamil Universities. She was awarded the Asan Prize for poetry in 1989. She was also awarded Rs.10,000 by the Islamic literary conference at Kilakkarai, Tamil Nadu in 1990.
By writing poetry on the teachings of Allah, Soundara Kailasam has proved that there is no dearth of practitioners of religious and cultural harmony in India.