poongaatrilae.....

I still remember the first time I listened to this song. Then I was studying in 12^th, 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;