Rudolph the red nosed reindeer came to cheer me up
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Poetry in Malayalam film songs
Malayalam music industry has a rich history graced by many master composers and lyricists. Not to mention the perfection of Dr K.J Yesudas' golden voice.
There are a few songs where beautiful poetry is sung in the traditional way, with out many classical notes. I miss such songs!
Here are a few..
1.Himasaila saikatha bhoomi from Shalini ente koottukari
2. Bhoomiye snehicha devangana from Neeyethra dhanya
(Once a very sad 13 year old , asked God to give her a sign if he knows what she was going through. There was a music program on tv and this song suddenly came to her mind. And it was the next song they played.)
3. Oruvattam koodiyen ormmakl meyunna from chillu
4. Sharadindu malar deepanalam from Ulkkadal
5. Irulin Mahanidrayil from Daivathinte vikruthikal
I could die for the lyrics here..
6. Padunnu vishu pakshikal from Punaradhivasam
7. Palavattam pookkalam from Manichitrathazhu (of course, of course)
8 And last but not the least, a song from a 2012 movie
Maranamethunnanerathu from Spirit
Thursday, November 14, 2013
From the pensieve 2
The pensieve is a place to store the memories, this magical instrument holds the silver strands of the long gone days randomly, irrespective of the chronological order of events.
We were walking down the narrow lane in front of my school, Miniechi and I, we were going to a certain tailor's house to get a blouse stitched. We walked and we walked, pebbles rustled under our slippers, as our feet relentlessly made their way through the old beaten down lane.
Miniechi is my cousin. She is a good 15 years older to me. She usually came to my school to pick me up. The confused eyes of a four and a half year old, sometimes tried to see a mother figure in her. But it did not matter that she was not my mother, what mattered was that I looked forward to seeing her face at the school gate every evening.
I had always loved those lanes, from the time I could remember, I could even walk up and down all day, aimlessly, looking casually at the houses and trees. Its better when it rained, I loved to feel the little streams of the muddy water under my feet.
Sheema konnas were in bloom. The purple bunches of flowers smiled at us from every corner, I had heard of a time when the compound boundaries were marked with Sheemakonna hedges. Like the left over of a different time, a few shrubs still grew stubbornly near most compound walls.
Miniechi paused for a moment and looked around, the house had to be somewhere there. As she was one of those people who were mature beyond their years, she didn't want to show her apprehension. We walked again , through another lane.
I felt cold. The gust of wind which brushed against my face had a certain familiar chill.
"The river!" I yelled.
We were walking parallel to one of the quiet branches of the Kallayi river.
The river revealed its shy face after the next bend. It flew calmly, brushing against the rocks and pebbles teasingly. There were Sheema konnas on the shore, a few bent branches were touching the water.
I had seen this river before, she was an old friend. But this new, beautiful face of hers , took my breath away. It did not look the way it did, down from the bridge near Puthiyara market, it did not smell the way it did, at the timber mills. It was fresh and beautiful. The water looked invitingly calm. I sat on a rock and dipped my feet in that flow of ancient love. I was too young to express it with words, but I felt one with nature. For a moment I was aware of its mysteries and dubious ways and I smiled in the knowledge that I was also a part of it.
Miniechi held me by hand and pulled me back. We walked again, my wet feet moved uncomfortably.
We did make our way to the tailor's and reached home before dark. But my life would never be the same again.
We were walking down the narrow lane in front of my school, Miniechi and I, we were going to a certain tailor's house to get a blouse stitched. We walked and we walked, pebbles rustled under our slippers, as our feet relentlessly made their way through the old beaten down lane.
Miniechi is my cousin. She is a good 15 years older to me. She usually came to my school to pick me up. The confused eyes of a four and a half year old, sometimes tried to see a mother figure in her. But it did not matter that she was not my mother, what mattered was that I looked forward to seeing her face at the school gate every evening.
I had always loved those lanes, from the time I could remember, I could even walk up and down all day, aimlessly, looking casually at the houses and trees. Its better when it rained, I loved to feel the little streams of the muddy water under my feet.
Sheema konnas were in bloom. The purple bunches of flowers smiled at us from every corner, I had heard of a time when the compound boundaries were marked with Sheemakonna hedges. Like the left over of a different time, a few shrubs still grew stubbornly near most compound walls.
Miniechi paused for a moment and looked around, the house had to be somewhere there. As she was one of those people who were mature beyond their years, she didn't want to show her apprehension. We walked again , through another lane.
I felt cold. The gust of wind which brushed against my face had a certain familiar chill.
"The river!" I yelled.
We were walking parallel to one of the quiet branches of the Kallayi river.
The river revealed its shy face after the next bend. It flew calmly, brushing against the rocks and pebbles teasingly. There were Sheema konnas on the shore, a few bent branches were touching the water.
I had seen this river before, she was an old friend. But this new, beautiful face of hers , took my breath away. It did not look the way it did, down from the bridge near Puthiyara market, it did not smell the way it did, at the timber mills. It was fresh and beautiful. The water looked invitingly calm. I sat on a rock and dipped my feet in that flow of ancient love. I was too young to express it with words, but I felt one with nature. For a moment I was aware of its mysteries and dubious ways and I smiled in the knowledge that I was also a part of it.
Miniechi held me by hand and pulled me back. We walked again, my wet feet moved uncomfortably.
We did make our way to the tailor's and reached home before dark. But my life would never be the same again.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Out of the pensieve
In July 1995, when my college admission was confirmed, I finally got to pack my bag and go to Calicut. I wasn't particularly excited about the trip, I wasn't going to stay at my grandfather's house, at that point of time nobody lived there. Valyamma and Valyachan had moved to small house in another part of the town. Nobody had asked them to leave, its just that sometimes pride takes better of people and they end up doing exactly what they shouldn't have done.
I sat on the train and thought about death. I don't know why, I had a feeling that I was going to die. Soon.
She waited for me at the gate. She said I had grown up. She had not seen me in a year and half, I was 5 feet 4 inches tall and I had long hair. She stared at me in disbelief.
"I am starving." I told her.
Later that day, I lay down on the bed complaining of a bad head ache.
She was talking to another of my aunts, who stayed near by.
I closed my eyes listening to their conversation.
One of them came and checked on me. I didn't open my eyes. I felt a hand on my forehead.
"You think her mother would agree to look for an alliance in Calicut?"
"We should tell her."
That's exactly what my mother had in mind, but certain things came in the way!
But nether of them were there to find out!
A few days later we were listening to a Vayalar poem.
"swrgavathilpakshi chodichu, bhoomiyil sathyathinethra vayasayi?" She sang along with the voice in the tape recorder.
"sixteen and a half" I told her, smiling. I felt it was funny to imply that the universal truth was only as old as me, or rather, that I was the universal truth.
She laughed. "You have not changed at all, its just that you have become taller."
I felt she was feeling relieved with that thought. "Don't ever change..."
A week later I had to go back.
I am not usually a fan of public display of tears, but I cried uncontrollably that day. I didn't know what I was crying for. May be on some level I sensed the imminent end, end of my childhood, end of her life.
Later, I was really embarrassed that I cried in front of people. I did not reply to her letter. I put it off.
Shopping for college, clothes, books, T scale...
I guess that was the last time I had been a child.
I sat on the train and thought about death. I don't know why, I had a feeling that I was going to die. Soon.
She waited for me at the gate. She said I had grown up. She had not seen me in a year and half, I was 5 feet 4 inches tall and I had long hair. She stared at me in disbelief.
"I am starving." I told her.
Later that day, I lay down on the bed complaining of a bad head ache.
She was talking to another of my aunts, who stayed near by.
I closed my eyes listening to their conversation.
One of them came and checked on me. I didn't open my eyes. I felt a hand on my forehead.
"You think her mother would agree to look for an alliance in Calicut?"
"We should tell her."
That's exactly what my mother had in mind, but certain things came in the way!
But nether of them were there to find out!
A few days later we were listening to a Vayalar poem.
"swrgavathilpakshi chodichu, bhoomiyil sathyathinethra vayasayi?" She sang along with the voice in the tape recorder.
"sixteen and a half" I told her, smiling. I felt it was funny to imply that the universal truth was only as old as me, or rather, that I was the universal truth.
She laughed. "You have not changed at all, its just that you have become taller."
I felt she was feeling relieved with that thought. "Don't ever change..."
A week later I had to go back.
I am not usually a fan of public display of tears, but I cried uncontrollably that day. I didn't know what I was crying for. May be on some level I sensed the imminent end, end of my childhood, end of her life.
Later, I was really embarrassed that I cried in front of people. I did not reply to her letter. I put it off.
Shopping for college, clothes, books, T scale...
I guess that was the last time I had been a child.
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