You sometimes think that when people agree with you on something, they actually mean it. Little do you know that in some cases, they are in complete disagreement and that this facade of agreement is only a comma and not a period. They wait and watch and then when you expect it least, attack you in your own style and give you a taste of your own medicine.
Months ago, when I used to discuss with my cousin about the tamil lyricist Vairamuthu and his 'romantic' songs, I was naive enough to think that Niranjan (my cousin) actually agreed with me and that he hated Vairamuthu's love songs as much as I did. That belief was shattered about 6 months ago. That my cousin was a closet Vairamuthu fan, came out in the open that fateful day. I have heard that the sacrificial goat, is usually decorated well and fed sumptuously before it is sacrificed. I realized later the relevance of the above metaphor and the significance of a particularly good dinner cooked by Anu, (my cousin's wife) that day. (Given how vocal I am about the unnecessary drama and theatrics employed by our movie-makers and politicians, I surprise myself often with the kind of build-up I give for some lame stuff !!)
We were casually talking about my interest in books and our blog posts etc. I was enthusiastically talking about my interest in writing and how blogs had opened up a new way for me to write and also get to understand what others think about my writing etc. That was when Anu asked a seemingly innocent question - 'Have you written poems?'
'No', I said. 'I believe one has to be romantic at heart to be able to write poems. So except for a few childish attempts (thankfully as a child) to write poems, that were nothing more than rhyming sentences, I have never dared to attempt any such thing'.
'Why don't you try?' asked Niranjan.
'Because I don't think I can write one', I said.
'We think you can.' said Niranjan.
I realized something was fishy here and started to steer the conversation to other harmless topics. But our family is known for our perseverance. So in about 2 minutes, we were back to the topic.
'Actually, I composed a tune about 6 months back and wanted someone to write the lyrics', said Niranjan.
'Your mother (my aunt) is excellent in Tamizh, why don't you ask her? There are many of our cousins who are supposed to be good at poetry'. I said.
'Anu and I were thinking of you !' said Niranjan.
'We think you can do it' said Anu.
Well, there I saw in the manic gleam in the eyes of this crazy couple (CC), what I had suspected all along. They had resented from the start, my vitriolic comments about Vairamuthu and this was their way of getting back at me.
'There is no pressure of time. I don't want the song to be in the usual lines, describing the girl as a moon or cloud and all that. Write it at your own pace. Think about it. We can get it recorded with you or Vishali (another cousin) and we will release it to our relatives once you are done.' said Niranjan.
'Ok, what is the subject?'
'What else, its our favourite topic ! Love', said Niranjan. By this time, the CC were giggling looking at the way my expression changed, from a worried smile to sheer disbelief.
'You are joking !! Right? Why me? What did I do? Why this double punishment? You are looking at one of the most unromantic person on earth !!' I cried out.
'Like I said, give it a shot !' said Niranjan and that was that !!
Now that the issue was settled and I had accepted with much reluctance, I approached the task at hand, like I would approach any other job, which is do nothing. Once in a while my conscience would raise its ugly head and remind me of the promise. I learnt to simply ignore it. In the initial enthusiasm of doing a job I have never done before, I came up with some broad ideas for the song. This list of ideas, turned out to be more of what not to have in the song, than the other way. It was something like this:
a. No descriptions of the girl - no comparisons to the moon, angels or flowers (poor things !)
b. No mention of sweat, saliva or other body fluids
c. No nonsense about how the person was dead all along and he/she came alive after the other one came into his/her life.
d. No formulaic songs - a:b as c:d or if a=b then c=d etc. Lyrics must be free-flowing.
e. Chaste tamizh was not required. But definitely no English words or other meaningless words (like Mukkala, Uyyala, Salomi etc.)
f. Lyrics can be about reactions caused by love etc.
So now the framework, if you could call it that, was ready. Niranjan had sent me the tune, with him humming in place of words. Now came the difficult part of actually putting words in the tune. The tune was simple in the beginning, but the 'charanam' or the stanza was a little more complex. It was longer than usual and the only relief was that there was only charanam.The other difficulty was the language. Although I love Tamizh, my proficiency in the language was not good enough to write a song. I had studied the letters in class 1 and forming sentences in class 3. After that I had not learnt Tamizh as a subject. My attitude towards Tamizh is similar to my attitude towards studies, at first and work, later. I am fascinated by the idea of it, but don't care to actually work on it! The only plus point was that Niranjan knew lesser Tamizh than me !
I wrote the pallavi first and circulated it to Niranjan and Anu. They were happy about it and said so (probably to keep me motivated). With these 2 lines in hand, I started putting on airs as though I was and had always been lyricist! After 2-3 months, when I could not take Niranjan's inquiries about the 'progress' anymore, I wrote the entire charanam. (or atleast the skeleton) on a single day (this guy has a surprising knack to keep track of the conversation - no matter how much you try to distract him and steer the conversation away from the topic, he has the uncanny ability to pick up the thread from where it was dropped and continue from there !).
After the lyrics were ready, Niranjan asked for a few minor corrections. I thought the entire song had to be changed. I had lived with the lyrics long enough to have grown tired of them and thought they were all rubbish. These minor corrections took longer than the song itself and I finally gave the lyrics to Niranjan about a month back. Our singer- my cousin Vishali ordered a mike online to get ready to sing. Things moved fairly fast from there and Niranjan finally put together the different tracks together and uploaded them on to coolgoose.
Below is a link to the song. Those of you who can, please download and listen and give your valuable comments.
http://music.cooltoad.com/
Below are the lyrics with the translation. The more I read them, the more I cringe. The translation, to me sounds like what is popularly called Junoon Tamizh.
பல்லவி:
விழிகளில் வரும் விளக்குகள் அவை விரல் தொடா கடிதங்கள்
இந்த பார்வைகள் இன்று போதுமே இங்கு தேவையா வார்த்தைகள்
வார்த்தைகள் வரவில்லையே, உந்தன் பார்வைகள் கணைகள்
என் மனம் சொல்லும் எண்ணங்கள் சொல்ல தோற்குமே மொழிகள் - உன்னை பார்த்ததும் (விழிகளில்)
சரணம்:
மாலை பொழுதுகள், மழையின் அழகுகள், கடல் தாண்டும் அலைகளும் உன்னோடு
பார்க்க கூடுதல் சுகம்
இரவின் பனியில், நிலவின் ஒளியில் நடக்கையில், இங்கு, நீ அருகில் இருக்கையில்
நம்மோடு உள்ள மௌனமே இதம்
உன் பெயரை எவரும் சொல்வது கேட்டால், நடை தடுமாறிடும்
நண்பர்களின் கண்களை பார்த்து பேச கொஞ்சம் தயக்கம் வரும்
நெஞ்சில் உள்ள காதலை கண்கள் சொல்லும் என்ற பயம் தோன்றிடும்
உன்னை கண்ட நிமிஷத்தில் உலகம் எல்லாம் மறைந்தோடிடும் - நாம் தவிர
யார் இருப்பதும் மறக்கும்
Translation:
The lamps that light up in your eyes are letters untouched by fingers,
These sights /glances are enough for today, do we need words?
Words don’t come out (I am at a loss for words), your looks are like arrows
The thoughts that my heart says- languages will fail to say - (When I see you)
Charanam:
Evening times, the beauty of rain, the waves that cross the sea - I
feel good looking at these with you
Walking in the nighttime, under the moonlight, with you near me -
the silence between us is soothing
When I hear someone saying your name aloud, my walk staggers
I am scared to look into the eyes of my friends when I talk
I am afraid that my eyes will betray the love in my heart
(But) The moment I see, I forget about the whole world - I forget
about everyone but us
Months ago, when I used to discuss with my cousin about the tamil lyricist Vairamuthu and his 'romantic' songs, I was naive enough to think that Niranjan (my cousin) actually agreed with me and that he hated Vairamuthu's love songs as much as I did. That belief was shattered about 6 months ago. That my cousin was a closet Vairamuthu fan, came out in the open that fateful day. I have heard that the sacrificial goat, is usually decorated well and fed sumptuously before it is sacrificed. I realized later the relevance of the above metaphor and the significance of a particularly good dinner cooked by Anu, (my cousin's wife) that day. (Given how vocal I am about the unnecessary drama and theatrics employed by our movie-makers and politicians, I surprise myself often with the kind of build-up I give for some lame stuff !!)
We were casually talking about my interest in books and our blog posts etc. I was enthusiastically talking about my interest in writing and how blogs had opened up a new way for me to write and also get to understand what others think about my writing etc. That was when Anu asked a seemingly innocent question - 'Have you written poems?'
'No', I said. 'I believe one has to be romantic at heart to be able to write poems. So except for a few childish attempts (thankfully as a child) to write poems, that were nothing more than rhyming sentences, I have never dared to attempt any such thing'.
'Why don't you try?' asked Niranjan.
'Because I don't think I can write one', I said.
'We think you can.' said Niranjan.
I realized something was fishy here and started to steer the conversation to other harmless topics. But our family is known for our perseverance. So in about 2 minutes, we were back to the topic.
'Actually, I composed a tune about 6 months back and wanted someone to write the lyrics', said Niranjan.
'Your mother (my aunt) is excellent in Tamizh, why don't you ask her? There are many of our cousins who are supposed to be good at poetry'. I said.
'Anu and I were thinking of you !' said Niranjan.
'We think you can do it' said Anu.
Well, there I saw in the manic gleam in the eyes of this crazy couple (CC), what I had suspected all along. They had resented from the start, my vitriolic comments about Vairamuthu and this was their way of getting back at me.
'There is no pressure of time. I don't want the song to be in the usual lines, describing the girl as a moon or cloud and all that. Write it at your own pace. Think about it. We can get it recorded with you or Vishali (another cousin) and we will release it to our relatives once you are done.' said Niranjan.
'Ok, what is the subject?'
'What else, its our favourite topic ! Love', said Niranjan. By this time, the CC were giggling looking at the way my expression changed, from a worried smile to sheer disbelief.
'You are joking !! Right? Why me? What did I do? Why this double punishment? You are looking at one of the most unromantic person on earth !!' I cried out.
'Like I said, give it a shot !' said Niranjan and that was that !!
Now that the issue was settled and I had accepted with much reluctance, I approached the task at hand, like I would approach any other job, which is do nothing. Once in a while my conscience would raise its ugly head and remind me of the promise. I learnt to simply ignore it. In the initial enthusiasm of doing a job I have never done before, I came up with some broad ideas for the song. This list of ideas, turned out to be more of what not to have in the song, than the other way. It was something like this:
a. No descriptions of the girl - no comparisons to the moon, angels or flowers (poor things !)
b. No mention of sweat, saliva or other body fluids
c. No nonsense about how the person was dead all along and he/she came alive after the other one came into his/her life.
d. No formulaic songs - a:b as c:d or if a=b then c=d etc. Lyrics must be free-flowing.
e. Chaste tamizh was not required. But definitely no English words or other meaningless words (like Mukkala, Uyyala, Salomi etc.)
f. Lyrics can be about reactions caused by love etc.
So now the framework, if you could call it that, was ready. Niranjan had sent me the tune, with him humming in place of words. Now came the difficult part of actually putting words in the tune. The tune was simple in the beginning, but the 'charanam' or the stanza was a little more complex. It was longer than usual and the only relief was that there was only charanam.The other difficulty was the language. Although I love Tamizh, my proficiency in the language was not good enough to write a song. I had studied the letters in class 1 and forming sentences in class 3. After that I had not learnt Tamizh as a subject. My attitude towards Tamizh is similar to my attitude towards studies, at first and work, later. I am fascinated by the idea of it, but don't care to actually work on it! The only plus point was that Niranjan knew lesser Tamizh than me !
I wrote the pallavi first and circulated it to Niranjan and Anu. They were happy about it and said so (probably to keep me motivated). With these 2 lines in hand, I started putting on airs as though I was and had always been lyricist! After 2-3 months, when I could not take Niranjan's inquiries about the 'progress' anymore, I wrote the entire charanam. (or atleast the skeleton) on a single day (this guy has a surprising knack to keep track of the conversation - no matter how much you try to distract him and steer the conversation away from the topic, he has the uncanny ability to pick up the thread from where it was dropped and continue from there !).
After the lyrics were ready, Niranjan asked for a few minor corrections. I thought the entire song had to be changed. I had lived with the lyrics long enough to have grown tired of them and thought they were all rubbish. These minor corrections took longer than the song itself and I finally gave the lyrics to Niranjan about a month back. Our singer- my cousin Vishali ordered a mike online to get ready to sing. Things moved fairly fast from there and Niranjan finally put together the different tracks together and uploaded them on to coolgoose.
Below is a link to the song. Those of you who can, please download and listen and give your valuable comments.
http://music.cooltoad.com/
Below are the lyrics with the translation. The more I read them, the more I cringe. The translation, to me sounds like what is popularly called Junoon Tamizh.
பல்லவி:
விழிகளில் வரும் விளக்குகள் அவை விரல் தொடா கடிதங்கள்
இந்த பார்வைகள் இன்று போதுமே இங்கு தேவையா வார்த்தைகள்
வார்த்தைகள் வரவில்லையே, உந்தன் பார்வைகள் கணைகள்
என் மனம் சொல்லும் எண்ணங்கள் சொல்ல தோற்குமே மொழிகள் - உன்னை பார்த்ததும் (விழிகளில்)
சரணம்:
மாலை பொழுதுகள், மழையின் அழகுகள், கடல் தாண்டும் அலைகளும் உன்னோடு
பார்க்க கூடுதல் சுகம்
இரவின் பனியில், நிலவின் ஒளியில் நடக்கையில், இங்கு, நீ அருகில் இருக்கையில்
நம்மோடு உள்ள மௌனமே இதம்
உன் பெயரை எவரும் சொல்வது கேட்டால், நடை தடுமாறிடும்
நண்பர்களின் கண்களை பார்த்து பேச கொஞ்சம் தயக்கம் வரும்
நெஞ்சில் உள்ள காதலை கண்கள் சொல்லும் என்ற பயம் தோன்றிடும்
உன்னை கண்ட நிமிஷத்தில் உலகம் எல்லாம் மறைந்தோடிடும் - நாம் தவிர
யார் இருப்பதும் மறக்கும்
Translation:
The lamps that light up in your eyes are letters untouched by fingers,
These sights /glances are enough for today, do we need words?
Words don’t come out (I am at a loss for words), your looks are like arrows
The thoughts that my heart says- languages will fail to say - (When I see you)
Charanam:
Evening times, the beauty of rain, the waves that cross the sea - I
feel good looking at these with you
Walking in the nighttime, under the moonlight, with you near me -
the silence between us is soothing
When I hear someone saying your name aloud, my walk staggers
I am scared to look into the eyes of my friends when I talk
I am afraid that my eyes will betray the love in my heart
(But) The moment I see, I forget about the whole world - I forget
about everyone but us
