Oh! Fearless hearted Anjalay, you are
our marvellous Tamil wealth.
We are heartily venerating you
with flowers that bloom from our bosom.
Till the veins of Mauritius are
still articulating bravely, we
salute your priceless services
with words, mind and actions.
You begged for some more salt
to be added in the labourers’ rice-soup
but the cruel patron found it faulty
and shot on your golden bosom.
Until sugarcane bears its sweetness
your famous works will remain alive and
you will stand like a mountain.
The blood that you poured out will chant
poetry. Dearest lady! You have been blessed
by Pandit Perumal, most honourably.
You are placed on the hill top of glory.
We praise you for an everlasting fame.
Soopaya Poinen*
* Born on the 23rd September 1926, Soopaya Poinen was a self-taught Tamil scholar, Poet, Playwright, Radio and Television Presenter. All his life, he was motivated by this precious advice from his guru, Pandit Rengasamy: “Like we sow seeds and they grow up to give beautiful flowers, go and sow these seeds of our Tamil language”. He headed the latter’s advice till the end and went on to form several generations of Tamil teachers. Soopaya Poinen’s poem on Anjalay Coopen was originally written in Tamil and is being published for the first time in his own english translation. He died at the venerable age of 90 years old on the 3rd September 2017.
