Poetry had been an important part of my very early years and I grew up thinking that it was natural to all human beings. So when my son was born, I started singing him all appropriate verses I still remembered, hoping that he would start liking them. I even wrote him a few songs (Oh.. only if he would grow up to understand the value of a poem written to him!!!). As a baby, and almost an insomniac at that, he would sing with me almost all the poems I used to sing. But in these last few years he grew out of such elevated level of affection completely. He likes science, he talks passionately about photosynthesis and things like that. So, I accepted my defeat gracefully, poetry was a lost cause.
And then came a new German teacher to his class, who had slightly different methods to teach non-native speakers of the language, one of which was poetry. German poetry, of course!
Every week she would give a small poem to the first graders, they could learn it by heart if they like and say it before the class and earn some extra credits. I wouldn't say Navneeth is anywhere near being ambitious, but somehow, I actually made him learn a few since I found those little poems really interesting. To my surprise, he likes them too. A couple of those poems had been about spring, the most aesthetic season of all. About the month April, when the chilly wind, the mild showers, the darling buds, the chirping birds and the shy butterflies meet the children playing in the garden. They are lovely.
Poetry, when you begin to understand it, somehow breaks the barriers of a language.
Here is a song or poem I once made up for Navneeth.
അമ്പിളിപ്പൂമ്പൈതലേ നീ, എൻ മടിയിൽ വീണുറങ്ങ്.
താരകങ്ങൾ കണ്ണുചിമ്മും രാവുണർന്നൂ, നീയുറങ്ങ്.
നേർത്ത മഞ്ഞിൻ പുതപ്പുമൂടി, പൂക്കളെല്ലാമുറക്കമായി.
ദൂരെയേതോ മാമരത്തിൽ കാറ്റുപോലും വീണുറങ്ങി.
പൂനിലാവിൻ നേർത്തനൂലാൽ പൊൻകിനാക്കൾ നെയ്തുറങ്ങ്.
താരകങ്ങൾ കണ്ണുചിമ്മും രാവുണർന്നൂ, നീയുറങ്ങ്.
And then came a new German teacher to his class, who had slightly different methods to teach non-native speakers of the language, one of which was poetry. German poetry, of course!
Every week she would give a small poem to the first graders, they could learn it by heart if they like and say it before the class and earn some extra credits. I wouldn't say Navneeth is anywhere near being ambitious, but somehow, I actually made him learn a few since I found those little poems really interesting. To my surprise, he likes them too. A couple of those poems had been about spring, the most aesthetic season of all. About the month April, when the chilly wind, the mild showers, the darling buds, the chirping birds and the shy butterflies meet the children playing in the garden. They are lovely.
Poetry, when you begin to understand it, somehow breaks the barriers of a language.
Here is a song or poem I once made up for Navneeth.
അമ്പിളിപ്പൂമ്പൈതലേ നീ, എൻ മടിയിൽ വീണുറങ്ങ്.
താരകങ്ങൾ കണ്ണുചിമ്മും രാവുണർന്നൂ, നീയുറങ്ങ്.
നേർത്ത മഞ്ഞിൻ പുതപ്പുമൂടി, പൂക്കളെല്ലാമുറക്കമായി.
ദൂരെയേതോ മാമരത്തിൽ കാറ്റുപോലും വീണുറങ്ങി.
പൂനിലാവിൻ നേർത്തനൂലാൽ പൊൻകിനാക്കൾ നെയ്തുറങ്ങ്.
താരകങ്ങൾ കണ്ണുചിമ്മും രാവുണർന്നൂ, നീയുറങ്ങ്.
