The various dimensions of love (Part I) – Submission

Dear all,

After nearly three months of writing about Vaali and his lyrics, thought will spotlight a poet who revolutionised Tamil literature. He created an aura by the unfathomable scale of his thoughts, the forwardness of his ideas, the use of words that wielded power, the expression of unfiltered raw emotion, the range of themes and the purity of his compositions. His work was a huge milestone in the evolution of Tamil literature.

Talking about none other than சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதியார். Even though he never wrote a song for a movie, the themes he touched upon are so varied that a director could utilise one of his several songs for any given situation. Since my write ups are about the beauty of தமிழ், the musical composition and the singing, felt it was befitting to highlight some of his famous works adopted into Tamil film music and in the process dwelve into his work a bit deeper and appreciate them.

His songs on the love he had for கண்ணம்மா are numerous. The emotions they convey often strong and his perception of கண்ணம்மா kaleidoscopic. This week picked a song where he sees கண்ணம்மா as his beloved and in his immense love for her “surrenders” to her completely. In this particular song, he thinks about her, in her absence and ruminates the memories.

The song is from the movie: “கண்ணே கனியமுதே” – composed by MSV and rendered by KJ Yesudas and B. Sasirekha.

நின்னையே ரதியென்று நினைக்கிறேனடி – கண்ணம்மா
தன்னையே சசியென்று சரணம் எய்தினேன் 
(பாரதி gives us a novel word – “சசியென்று” – “as the moon”)

Listen to how MSV uses flute in the interlude and tabla throughout.

In the next paragraph he describes her using adjectives of the highest order:

பொன்னையே நிகர்த்த மேனி
(Skin shines like Gold)
மின்னையே நிகர்த்த சாயல்
(Her eyes resembles the lightning)
பின்னையே!– நித்ய கன்னியே!—கண்ணம்மா!  

A phrase a common poet can never invoke – “நித்ய கண்ணியே” – “my woman for eternity”!!!

மாரனம்புகள் என் மீது வாரி வாரி
வீச நீ —
கண் பாராயோ?
வந்து சேராயோ? கண்ணம்மா ? 

The next paragraph highlights his throw of imagination:

யாவுமே சுகமுனிக்கோர் ஈசனாம்
எனக்குன் தோற்றமே மேவுமே– இங்கு யாவுமே, கண்ணம்மா!    

“To the sage Shuka (son of sage VyAsa) all objects surrounding him appeared like the Shiva. I too see your form in everything around me”.

Just to create the effect of seeing கண்ணம்மா everywhere, MSV makes KJY sing “கண்ணம்மா” thrice at the end – just brilliant!!!

Bharathi did not actually have a beloved other than his wife (name: Chellammal). He created an imaginary character and fell in love with that fantasy character. When Bharathi’s songs were published Bharathi’s brother-in-law (Chellamma’s brother)–Appadurai Iyer changed the name Chellamma to Kannamma in three songs in which Bharathi originally wrote verses as Chellamma. This song is allegedly one of them.

The journey with பாரதி begins…..