Random Ramblings

Bharathiyaar was a great nationalist, philosopher and a social  reformer far ahead of his times. What most people miss out is that he excelled in romantic poems. Kannan Paattu contains some of his best compositions. In this collection of poems the poet visualizes Kannan or Krishna in many forms; his king, his guru, his servant, father, mother, sweetheart and lover. Despite the different manifestations of his Kannan, it is his songs on Kannan as the divine lover  that stand out.

This poem talks of the intense longing for Kannan , that Kannamma goes through , followed by a description of the absolute bliss she attains on experiencing His presence .

A short distraction ;

Thirvalluvar also has devoted a complete chapter on this kind of suffering .

116. பிரிவாற்றாமை

one of the most insightful couplets, I found  in the chapter:-

துறைவன் துறந்தமை தூற்றாகொல் முன்கை
இறையிறவா நின்ற வளை.

The bangles fall off her arms giving away how thin she had become

These are times when not many read poetry but everybody listens to music particularly when there are fancy visuals that go with the lyrics. The background music often  drowns the lyrics and most people don’t miss the lyrics anyway.

As an old fashioned Bharathi bhakt, first, I would  love to read the poem in full , unedited and unaffected by any sound or visuals. So, here’s the full version, all fifty six lines set in seven stanzas.

In 1948, the song was first popularized by AVM productions through the golden voice of  DK Pattammal in the film Vethala Ulagam. Eldest of the Travancore sisters, Lalitha dances to this song. The song is full of similes, a delight to any Bharathanatyam dancer. As always , a film can popularize a song but can never  do full justice to the genius of Bharathiyaar.

Generally Bharathiyaar bhakti runs through generations and there is a recording of DK Pattammal singing  many Bharathi songs along her grand daughter Nithyasree Mahadevan.

Obviously, the poet did not write for films where any song has to fit into a pallavi, anu pallavi and 2-3 charanams.  I feel Bhartahiyaar’s  songs should  be listened to , in full, with minimum accompaniments  even if it takes half an hour, so that one can soak in every word and every line and be immersed in bliss with  the after glow  lasting  for an hour or so .

The first half of the poem talks of the girl suffering the pangs of separation and longing.  There is a series of similes to describe her suffering ; heart trembling like a worm in an angler’s hook or a flame exposed to winds. It goes on and on  to the the agony of sleeplessness and lack of appetite. Everything that was supposed to taste great tastes so bitter and nothing at all interests her in life;  she cannot even tolerate simple joyful activities, leave alone, enjoy. She cannot bear the company of her friends or her mother trying to cheer her up. The doctors and astrologers, to whom one goes  in such times , have also given up all hopes.

When she  had become a complete physical and mental wreck and when everyone had given up all hopes of any redemption, something wonderful happens. She, in her dream, goes through a kind of experience that leaves her absolutely ecstatic.

On waking up, the world around her becomes extremely beautiful again. She is trying to figure out what had caused this  total transformation. She is musing  aloud “Who was that in my dreams who touched my heart? Every time I think of his presence, and I feel a strange sense of peace pervading through my entire being ?”

Thanks to the internet and the audio /video editing software; I have a short clip of a line rendered in the soulful voice of Bombay Jayashree.

It’s so soothing  whenever  I listen to .

The word than or Thanmai in Tamil  used to mean cool and probably even the hindusthani word Thand has originated from our Than. Today we have lost a cool word to chill about as a youngster would say today.

In the last stanza, as she keeps reliving her blissful experience , mulling on it over and over ,  it finally dawns on her that it was indeed Krishna who had appeared in her dream!

Here are some video clips not in any order

The singers : Bombay Jayashri, S Sowmya, DK Pattammmal and Nithyasree Mahadevan

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Continued from   Here

Another beautiful poem on Kannamma by Bharathiyaar. Here he describes the relationship between Kannan and Kannamma.

We are living in the times of gender equality , that is not just restricted to male and female but a whole range of genders !

Equality is a  western concept . It is a relatively modern idea that did not find a place even in Plato’s Republic, that held sway till the period of French revolution.  In the face of it , the idea of equality looks like a ‘self evident truth ‘as in the American Declaration of Independence. Even this article of declaration mentioned only men; probably the equality of all humans was not self-evident then.  Whatever be,   now, equality seem to include all humans , though not extended to other beings as yet.

Fair play, justice and harmonious living are desirable virtues in any society.But is equality really required ? Has there been any society that has ever achieved equality among it’s members?  We are not created equals , if the word created may be used, in physical or mental abilities or in temperament and  the differences are nowhere  more pronounced than in the genders.

This poem of Bharthiyaar describes a beautiful, harmonious, symbiotic relationship between Kannan and Kannamma. This is one of the songs where the poet addresses Kannamma in the compilation of poems under “Kannan Paattu)

http://www.lyricaldelights.com/  gives the lyrics in  Tamil  ; transliteration in roman letters for people who speak but can’t read Tamil and then translation to English for the others; click.

As always , it is only a few verses of a few songs that become popular, may be because of the singabilility , or that a renowned singer chose to sing those verses or simply because of political correctness of that period. It’s always a great insight to go through the entire song or whatever verses are left to us today, for much of Bharathiyaar’s writings were published after his time.

for the complete poem click.

Bharathi wrote for the masses; it is said he used to read his works to people, closely observing their reactions. If he felt that his audience is finding a word a little difficult to understand he re-wrote to make it simpler. Quite a contrast to some people who deliberately include rarely used words to sound scholarly and in the process end up making their  work totally incomprehensible.

In this song, the poet picks up such complementary attributes and objectives where one becomes meaningless without the other.  What is the point of   eyesight without  light and What is a song without a melodious tune to go with ?! What is a flower without fragrance? 

Certain idioms are peculiar to Indian way of thinking . We always associate flowers with fragrance ,but in the West, they grow flowers that hardly have any fragrance. Even the rose by any name that smells as sweet, smells sweeter in our country. To fully appreciate the poet you need to think desi.

Bharathiyaar was not a saint and he wrote about every goal of Hindu life;  Dharma (Righteousness, moral values) Artha (Wealth, economic values)  , Kaama (pleasure, love, psychological values) and  moksha (liberation, spiritual values) .

In this poem too he touches every aspect.  He likens himself to security or ‘nest egg’ when he likens Kannamma to Wealth. While the first two lines of a verse describes the complementary attributes ,the last line of each stanza personifies Kannamma as Divine Music, Intoxication ,Pure Bliss and so on.

The song has been picturised in a few Tamil films and seeing these one may feel that it’s the patriarchal way of glorifying womanhood and yet relegating her to cooking, washing or child care. But any one who has read his poems on emancipation of women would understand that the great poet was far ahead of his times to keep women away from any profession.

In a modern society , men and women, all face different challenges at different points in our journey.  And with those challenges will come the need to play a different role.

Bharthiyaar’s message on  two individuals complementing each other’s role may be taken as  to include changing of roles as required and yet celebrate cooperation rather than competition.

A quote by American poet , Edwin Markham comes to mind

For all your days be prepared, and meet them ever alike. When you are the anvil, bear—when you are the hammer, strike.

Here are some video clips of the song (some popular stanzas from the song)

I personally like the one by Indian Raga for the seamless switch from classical mode to folk mode , that shows the universal appeal these verses had on the learned as well as the masses.

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