A Doctor’s Verse

Dear all,

தமிழில் அழகு, அழகு தமிழில்

Have you ever noticed that some songs carry lines that appear plain and simple on first hearing, but when you pause a bit and think, you realise the magnitude of the implications and you are left in awe of the poet?

Often great poets augur grand thoughts. What seems impossible seems very possible in their imagination. Exaggeration and grandeur are often used to embellish their viewpoints.

Can an ideal world (Utopia) exist? If so what does it feel like? By definition “utopia” exists only in imagination. Each of us will have our own idea of Utopia – Our perceptions, wishes and desires filling its entirety for most part. But how do illustrious poets envision it?

பாரதி was a very well read scholar who had mastery over several languages including Sanskrit, Hindi, Telugu, English and French. He used ideas from Sanskrit scripts and penned several songs.

This week picked a பாரதியார் song that is very dear to my heart. I love it for its forcefulness, completeness and its lucidity. How can a mind be so prolific, that thoughts flow from all directions seamlessly and yet be still each moment conveying those with so much clarity. All happening while lines flow cogently and with extreme authority so easily. It will take a life time for a lesser mortal to even ponder over each line, leave alone honing them. I have always felt that even working on one of these lines a year diligently, and picking a new one every year will make us progressive and better humans over time.
It is the spark that is very much needed to ignite our morale and jolt our conscience.

This week picked a பாரதி song that is packed with abundant energy and power. The song has several layers and its inner meaning and what பாரதி actually meant is till date being debated. An enigma of a song – it raises our curiosity and interest and yet at the same time it’s forcefulness and boldness leaves us inspired and speechless.

Bharathi’s words in this song as always bring rigour and pace. They provoke you, stimulate you, empower you and invigorate you.

This week wanted to bring another facet of பாரதியார் – his ரௌத்திரம் or anger that underlays in several of his songs.
The song this week is a prototype of this aspect in my mind. This song attracted me because of its very powerful words that are so typical of பாரதியார், the width of this thought process, and his lyrics that don’t miss the rhyming even a tiny bit.

The song is “அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை” – Also felt this was apt after the fearless cricket our team played in Australia for a historic win.

Saved one of my favourite பாரதி songs for the last in this “கண்ணம்மா” series. A song that expresses the pain, betrayal and separation brings about in love. The song is about a lover’s broken promise over their clandestine meeting. The lyrics are relatively simple yet potent in conveying the heartbreak of the man from this let down.

The song I picked this week is “ தீர்த்த கரையினிலே”. I have picked the version from “வருமையின் நிறம் சிவப்பு” composed by MSV and sung by SPB.

A lot of talk happens about “unconditional love”. But does “unconditional love” exist? I often wonder!! Even the most intense love we have for someone has expectations making it conditional. Even when the love is not conditioned by gains, we as humans often tend to vary the shade of our love based on our presumptions and the degree of reciprocation we receive.

பாரதி in one of his கண்ணம்மா songs provides the answer. A parent-child love (upto a certain age of the child) arguably is the closest to “unconditional love” one could experience.

Wanted to start this year with strong பாரதி lines and positive thoughts. Picked a song that unlike the usual பாரதி songs is easy to decipher and is unanimously relatable. Many of us would have wished and desired for at-least a few of the things he lists. It is neither the Tamil nor the wishes that make the song special. It’s the width of the spectrum of his ideas – from personal gains to societal upliftment that he seeks in this song that makes him unique. Although simple, clarity and the strength of his lines don’t fade even a bit.

Bharathiyar allegedly wrote 12 “கண்ணம்மா” songs – 7 songs seeing her as his lover, 3 songs with his wife Chellamma in mind, 1 song visualising her as his child and one as his family deity. I have picked the song titled “கண்ணம்மா என் குல தெய்வம்” for this week.

We all have had a rough rocky year and badly want the next year to be positive in every way. Being the last write up of this year, I picked this song because it communicates everything all of us would want for ourselves and wish for every one as well in the coming year.