This was M. Karunanidhi in his poetic avatar: Throgathaal Ennai Thulaithu chendra thozhargal silarum (some friends who pierced me through betrayal)/ Thol meethu kai potu thunaikku vanthu vittom enbathum kanavuthaney! (wasn’t it a dream people putting their hands on my shoulders to support me?). To those who had watched the ugly power struggle unfold between Karunanidhi’s family and the Marans, these words said it all. While Karunanidhi refused to speak to the media about that episode, his poetry revealed what he really felt about it.

For many years now, the DMK patriarch has been in the habit of writing wistful poetry, tinged with sarcasm, bitterness or sadness, to suit the occasion. Dayanidhi Maran had been Karunanidhi’s blue-eyed boy and a permanent fixture in his life after the 2004 Lok Sabha election, when he made his political debut. He had been spotted frequently at public functions supporting the frail Karunanidhi. But after the sordid family drama that broke out in Madurai earlier this year, and which ended in Maran being dropped from the Union cabinet, thatha (grandfather), as Dayanidhi calls Karunanidhi, let his feelings flow through a poem, forcefully titled,

Ninaivugalin Porpaatu (war song of memories). When the poem appeared in Murasoli, the DMK organ, on May 19, it was clear that there was no scope for any rapprochement with the Maran family.

Known for his brilliant literary skills, Karunanidhi — who began as a script-writer in films — has devoted several columns in Murasoli to his poetry. Soon after his party’s victory in the 2006 assembly election, he had penned a poem which many read as a softening on his part towards his arch rival, Jayalalithaa. Appearing a day after the results, the poem, titled ‘Election victory’, firmly informed partymen that the DMK would not practise politics of vengeance.

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