I still remember the first time I listened
to this song. Then I was studying in 12th, attending school in
theni, staying in aranmanaip pudhur- mullai nagar, just an 80 meters away from
mullai river. then I had no restrictions, a life full of freedom; I and my
brother used to roam around always together.
Then…..
one day, suddenly somewhere from the back street around 5pm I heard the song
first time. The music was soo good I wanted to listen to that again and again;
but I could not muster sufficient courage to know where the song came from or
who played it. Nor did I know which movie had this song.
After a
couple of months, I found it was from uyire and started listening to that again
and again till I remembered every words of it. It felt very nice.
Though not a big fan of
kavignar.vairamuthu, like many, I too know very well that he had written many
wonderful songs. And, a few bad songs too. I don’t want to dwell much on what’s
bad, since the song im about to write to, is tooooooo good that I shall write
ONLY about that. This song would easily qualify as the best of vairamuthu for a
few good reasons.
Tamil: only Tamil words, and none other. (few loaned from Sanskrit,
have only tamilized form)
Simplicity: it doesnot use any complex, difficult to
understand, out of colloquial, archaic words. Any average Tamil can easily
grasp the meaning without any effort.
Imagery: literary elements, particularly similes and
metaphors, have been plentifully used to render this song more appealing to our
senses. Words paint the pictures in our minds very easily. the longing,
yearning, unfulfilled suffering of a man is best captured in the evoked
imageries-
pain robbing
sleep,
searching for the
breath of the beloved in fragrant breeze,
searching for
that raindrop that fell into the endless sea,
drying waterdrop like
life,
a song-fetched by
the drifting winds-shedding a soul’s tears,
same winds
bringing the smell of a charred heart,
winds- carrying
tears mixed with honey like poetry- visiting the doors of the beloved,
protagonist seeing
the beloved’s visions everywhere in the sky,
but the inability
to reach for them and grasp,
wafting breeze
carrying the fragrance of the beloved,
but the
insufficiency of only that pleasant smell to live on,
uprooting of a
tender sapling like life,
being pushed into
the pyre alive,
lady-love
disappearing like a thief.
Sooooooooooooooo much in just less than 6 minutes, in less
than just 15/20 lines.
Musical: absolutely soul melting melody from beginning to
end, rendered with an yearning tone in unni menon’s voice. Music perfectly goes
hand in hand with the mood of the song, emotion of the situation and meaning of
the words. Beautiful composition, where every element of a wonderful song syncs
perfectly well with all other elements. We must add here that this song would also
be one of ar rahman’s best songs too.
Personal: being there exactly in the same situation makes
one realize and relate his/her own situation with the sentiments this lyric
attempts to evoke and capture in multiple imagery.
Song: poongaatrilae…
Movie: uyirae…
Year: 1998.
Lyrics: vairamuth.
Music: ar. Rahman.
Singers: unni menon, swarna latha.
Tamil lyrics:
¦Àñ:
¸ñ½¢¦Ä¡Õ
ÅĢ¢Õó¾¡ø ¸É׸û ÅÕž¢ø¨Ä;
¸ñ½¢¦Ä¡Õ
ÅĢ¢Õó¾¡ø ¸É׸§Ç ÅÕž¢ø¨Ä;
¸ñ½¢¦Ä¡Õ
ÅĢ¢Õó¾¡ø ¸É׸û ÅÕž¢ø¨Ä.
–:
âí¸¡üÈ¢§Ä
¯ý ÍÅ¡ºò¨¾ò ¾É¢Â¡¸ò §¾ÊôÀ¡÷ò§¾ý;
¸¼ø§Áø
´Õ ÐÇ¢ Å£ú󾧾 «¨¾ò §¾Êò §¾Êô À¡÷ò§¾ý;
¯Â¢¡¢ý
ÐÇ¢ ¸¡Ôõ Óý§É,
±ý
ŢƢ ¯¨Éì ¸¡Ïõ ¸ñ§½;
±ý
ƒ£Åý µÔõ Óý§É µ§¼¡Ê Å¡.
âí¸¡üÈ¢§Ä
¯ý ÍÅ¡ºò¨¾ò ¾É¢Â¡¸ò §¾ÊôÀ¡÷ò§¾ý;
¸¼ø§Áø
´Õ ÐÇ¢ Å£ú󾧾 «¨¾ò §¾Êò §¾Êô À¡÷ò§¾ý;
¸¡üÈ¢ý
«¨ÄÅ¡¢¨º §¸ð¸¢ýȾ¡?
§¸ðÌõ
À¡ðÊø ´Õ ¯Â¢÷ Å¢Îõ ¸ñ½£÷ ÅÆ¢¸¢ýȾ¡?
¦¿ïÍ
¿¨É¸¢ýȾ¡?
þ¾Âõ
¸ÕÌõ ´Õ Å¡ºõ ÅÕ¸¢È¾¡?
¸¡üÈ¢ø
¸ñ½£¨Ã ²üÈ¢,
¸Å¢¨¾î
¦ºó§¾¨É °üÈ¢,
¸ñ§½
¯ý Å¡ºø §º÷ò§¾ý;
µÔõ
ƒ£Åý µÎõ Óý§É µ§¼¡Ê Å¡.
âí¸¡üÈ¢§Ä
¯ý ÍÅ¡ºò¨¾ò ¾É¢Â¡¸ò §¾ÊôÀ¡÷ò§¾ý;
¸¼ø§Áø
´Õ ÐÇ¢ Å£ú󾧾 «¨¾ò §¾Êò §¾Êô À¡÷ò§¾ý;
¦Àñ:
¸ñ½¢¦Ä¡Õ
ÅĢ¢Õó¾¡ø ¸É׸û ÅÕž¢ø¨Ä;
¸ñ½¢¦Ä¡Õ
ÅĢ¢Õó¾¡ø ¸É׸û ÅÕž¢ø¨Ä;
–:
Å¡Éõ
±íÌõ ¯ý À¢õÀõ, ¬É¡ø ¨¸Â¢ø §ºÃÅ¢ø¨Ä;
¸¡üÈ¢ø
±íÌõ ¯ý Å¡ºõ, ¦ÅÚõ Å¡ºõ Å¡ú쨸 þø¨Ä.
¯Â¢¨Ã
§Å§Ã¡Î ¸¢ûÇ¢,
±ý¨Éî
¦ºó¾£Â¢ø ¾ûÇ¢,
±í§¸
¦ºýÈ¡§Â¡ ¸ûÇ¢.
µÔõ
ƒ£Åý µÎõ Óý§É µ§¼¡Ê Å¡.
âí¸¡üÈ¢§Ä
¯ý ÍÅ¡ºò¨¾ò ¾É¢Â¡¸ò §¾ÊôÀ¡÷ò§¾ý;
¸¼ø§Áø
´Õ ÐÇ¢ Å£ú󾧾 «¨¾ò §¾Êò §¾Êô À¡÷ò§¾ý;
¯Â¢¡¢ý
ÐÇ¢ ¸¡Ôõ Óý§É,
±ý
ŢƢ ¯¨Éì ¸¡Ïõ ¸ñ§½;
±ý
ƒ£Åý µÔõ Óý§É µ§¼¡Ê Å¡.
âí¸¡üÈ¢§Ä
¯ý ÍÅ¡ºò¨¾ò ¾É¢Â¡¸ò §¾ÊôÀ¡÷ò§¾ý;
¸¼ø§Áø
´Õ ÐÇ¢ Å£ú󾧾 «¨¾ò §¾Êò §¾Êô À¡÷ò§¾ý;
Transliteration:
peN:
kaNNiloru valiyirundhaal
kanavugaL varuvadhillai;
kaNNiloru valiyirundhaal
kanavugaLE varuvadhillai;
kaNNiloru valiyirundhaal
kanavugaL varuvadhillai;
aaN:
poongaatrilae un
suvaasaththaith thaniyaagath thaedippaarththaen;
kadalmael oru thuLi
veezhndhadhae adhaith thaedith thaedip paarththaen;
uyirin thuLi kaayum
munnae,
en vizhi unaik kaaNum
kaNNae;
en jeevan Oyum munnae
OdOdi vaa.
poongaatrilae un
suvaasaththaith thaniyaagath thaedippaarththaen;
kadalmael oru thuLi
veezhndhadhae adhaith thaedith thaedip paarththaen;
kaatrin alaivarisai
kaetkinRadhaa?
kaetkum paattil oru uyir
vidum kaNNeer vazhikinRadhaa?
nenju nanaikinRadhaa?
idhayam karukum oru vaasam
varukiRadhaa?
kaatril kaNNeerai aetri,
kavidhaich sendhaenai
ootri,
kaNNae un vaasal
saerththaen;
Oyum jeevan Odum munnae
OdOdi vaa.
poongaatrilae un suvaasaththaith
thaniyaagath thaedippaarththaen;
kadalmael oru thuLi
veezhndhadhae adhaith thaedith thaedip paarththaen;
peN:
kaNNiloru valiyirundhaal
kanavugaL varuvadhillai;
kaNNiloru valiyirundhaal
kanavugaL varuvadhillai;
aaN:
vaanam engum un bimbam, aanaal
kaiyil sEravillai;
kaatril engum un vaasam,
veRum vaasam vaazkkai illai.
uyirai vaerOdu kiLLi,
ennaich sendheeyil thaLLi,
engae sendraayO kaLLi.
Oyum jeevan Odum munnae
OdOdi vaa.
poongaatrilae un
suvaasaththaith thaniyaagath thaedippaarththaen;
kadalmael oru thuLi
veezhndhadhae adhaith thaedith thaedip paarththaen;
uyirin thuLi kaayum
munnae,
en vizhi unaik kaaNum
kaNNae;
en jeevan Oyum munnae
OdOdi vaa.
poongaatrilae un
suvaasaththaith thaniyaagath thaedippaarththaen;
kadalmael oru thuLi veezhndhadhae adhaith
thaedith thaedip paarththaen;