December 11, 2021 was C. Subramania Bharati's 139th birth anniversary. On this occasion, I was interviewed by Storytrails, an Indian company interested in discovering, exploring, and sharing stories about India's culture and history. "India exists in her stories," they write. In this case, they wanted to know the story of Bharati's life - to trace the basic outlines of the poet's biography, attempt to separate fact from fiction, and celebrate the legacy of the great poet on his birthday. This will be the first in a series of podcast episodes dedicated to Bharati's biography this January, simultaneously allowing us to celebrate two more occasions: the Indian harvest festival known as "Pongal" to Tamils, and Canada's Tamil Heritage Month. Please join me on the podcast this month to explore the fascinating life of the man who has now become a Tamil and Indian legend.

Heartfelt thanks to the Storytrails team, particularly host, Akila Raman and organizer, Lavanya Rajagopalan. For more information, please visit https://www.storytrails.in/ and www.youtube.com/c/ThreeMinuteStorytrails/. 

Executive Producer and Host: Mira T. Sundara Rajan

Engineer: Emma Markowitz

Producer: Bradley W. Vines

Musical Credits:

Percussion by tabla maestro Bickram Ghosh and ghatam maestro V. Suresh in a spectacular "jugalbandhi" brings together North and South Indian classical traditions, symbolizing Indian cultural unity.

The full performance is available here: Drums of India, Bickram Ghosh on Tabla and V. Suresh On Ghatam. Subscribe to Bickram Ghosh's youtube channel.