Kutti Revathi
| Dr. S. Revathi | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 Malailoyal, Thiruverumbur |
| Occupation | Poet, Lyricist, Activist, Siddha doctor, Screenplay writer |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Years active | 2000–present |
Dr. S. Revathi (pen name: Kutti Revathi) is an Indian lyricist, poet, activist and a doctor. She has published three books of poetry and is the editor of Panikkudam, a literary quarterly for women’s writing and also the first Tamil feminist magazine. Post several literary meetings and reviewing poetry collections by fellow students, she began working on some of her own pieces. Following school, she studied Siddha medicine and got a bachelor's degree in Siddha medicine and surgery, one of the oldest medical systems in the world that derived from her native Tamil Nadu. She had been pursuing her doctoral research in medical anthropology at the Madras Institute of Development Studies in Chennai. Revathi received the Sigaram 15: Faces of Future award for literature from India Today and was awarded a travel grant in 2005 by the Sahitya Akademi to meet leading litterateurs from India. She is a contemporary Tamil poet and has published numerous controversial poetry collections.
Works by her are noted to be much women-centric. Panikkudam the first Tamil feminist magazine by her claimed varied aspects such as family, politics, business, discovery of feminine language, introducing modern play, novels, short stories and poetry created by women writers. Interviews of women writers, introduction to modern poetry and short stories, translations of such works into Tamil from World languages, discussions of the creative process and sangam literature were some of the elements that made the part of the magazine. In the field of poetry, her first release in the year 2000 was Poonaiyai Pola Alaiyum Velicham. Kutti Revathi’s second book, Mulaigal that was published in 2002, evoked a storm of protest and stirred controversies from the conservatives of the Tamil literary establishment. The consequences of release were such that a group of outraged male film lyricists damned the book. The debate extended to parameters of cultural debate: obscene calls, letters and threats ensued, and comments on the author’s morality were freely aired. While one lyricist demanded that writers of her types must watch out for dire consequences, the other exhorted the public to burn them on Chennai’s Mount Road. However she explained, "My aim is to explore 'Mulaigal' (breasts) as an 'inhabited' living reality, rather than an 'exhibited' commodity." Adjoint to the content, an essay titled "With Words I Weave My Body", she discussed the ways in which a patriarchal tradition, fearful of sharing the power of the written word, compelled women to imprint narratives on their bodies. Her third release was Thanimaiyin Aayiram Irakkaigal in 2003.
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