Sometimes the beauty of the vernacular- the abuses of rustic Bhojpuri,the raw poetry of a Nivdung, the dhakki chiki nuances of Madras bashai, the sweetness of fastly spoken Bengali monotones are lost in the homogenised unifying Hindi and fraternal English that we all speak to be functional in a market centric world.
One is a foreign tongue which we speak at schools, colleges and work, but not to our mothers when they teach us to speak, not to ourselves when we are thinking within( Einstein would slip into German while deep into a conversation);
The other a national integration concept initiated by the romantically noble intentioned, but naive Nehrus and Rajajis, bolstered by cinema, TV and other media, furthered by a migrant population that travels state to state transfered by Govt services or aspiring for greener pastures, mingling in Tamil sangams or marwari sanghas or Maharashtra Mandals, speaking an impoverished mother tongue and a functional Hindi, a Kulturlos ( trust the Germans to come up with a word for the indescribable!)group.
A pan Hindi world cannot capture the beauty of a Shyamchi aai- a well in the aangan where Shyam learns swimming, or the Mastar concept of teacher- can you do that in Hindi? Nayakan had to be a tamil speaking don-Dayavan who spoke Hindi in the film( whew!)And how different is Pongal from Onam and Basant and Baisakhi?!So many of AR Rehman’s songs sound so absurd when lyrics are translated into Hindi for phonemic matching than meaning. Roja meaning rose becomes Roza- whatever that means!!?!So many of his songs, many penned by Vairamuthu are actually poems. In Hindi they become Jiya jale jaan jale nainon tale, raat bhar dhuaan chale……what the boonsocks does that mean!!!
Vairamuthu (meaning diamond pearl)
is the lyricist for the song that follows, set to music by ARR. Some of his songs are real beauties: the film Rhythm where each song is set to an element of nature is one of my favorites.Sample from Rhythm:
‘Oh River aren’t you a lady- ask me a reason why-I shall tell a hundred’
‘ Oh Wind, You came to my doorsteps
And slowly opened the door
Oh Wind, I asked your name
“I am Love”, you said
“where were you yesterday
oh wind, tell me” I asked
“I was in your breath“,
you said and went ‘
And the one from Pudhiya mugam, music ARR, singer UnniMenon:
Kannukku Mai azhagu
“Kaajal” makes the eye beautiful
Kavidhaikku poi azhagu
“Lies” make a poem beautiful.
Kannaththil kuzhi azhagu
A dimple on the cheek is beautiful
Kaar koondhal pennazhagu
Dark tresses of hair make a girl beautiful
Ilamaikku Nadai azhagu
An energetic gait adds beauty to youth
Mudhumaikku Narai azhagu
Grey hair adds beauty to old age.
Kalvarkku iravazhagu
Robbers perceive the night to be beautiful
Kadalarkku Nilavazhagu
Lovers perceive the moon to be beautiful
Nilavukku karai azhagu
The stains on the moon make it beautiful
Paravaikku siragazhagu
Feathers make a bird beautiful
Avvaikku koonazhagu
Even a hunch adds beauty to Avvai(a wise old lady in Tamil
mythology)
Annaikku Saeiazhagu
A child adds beauty to its mother
Vidikaalai vinnazhagu
The sky at the break of dawn is beautiful
Vidiyum varain pennazhagu
Till the break of dawn, a woman is beautiful
Nelluku Naatrazhagu
The saplings make the unchaffed grains beautiful
Thennaikku keetrazhagu
The branches make the coconut tree beautiful
Oorukku aarazhagu
A river adds beauty to a town
Oorvalaththil therazhagu
A chariot adds beauty to a procession
Thamizhukku “zha” azhagu
The alphabet “zha” adds beauty to the Tamil language.
Thalaivikku Naan azhagu
I add beauty to my mistress
