Colour and life. Nature and Beauty. These things somehow have a connection. A heartfelt one. The impact of colour is pretty significant in our lives. Colour is perceived at an emotional level. We attribute different moods to different colours.
In this rendering of "Pachai Nirame" from Mani Ratnam’s "Alaipayuthey”, Vairamuthu has churned out the to the best, a picturesque ode to color. Even in here, femininity and beauty seem to go hand in hand. But nevertheless, the real magnificence of the song lies in the awe striking cinematography by PC Sriram and a mellifluous tune by ARR, voiced appropriately by Hariharan and Clinton.
My earnest efforts lie in “translerpreting” in English what the lyricist conveyed in Tamil. A fairly simple job, I must confess, it however took quite a bit of analysis to appreciate the beauty at the same time trying to keep the poetic flow alive. Read on...
And see if you can relate to it...
You symbolize fortune, desire & penchant
Harmonize meadows, so lush and verdant
Green, you dwell in juvenile leaves
Mellow my nerves to peace
You assure, allure and you do please!
The parrot’s beak with the verbal squeak
The pouty lips of the damsel speak
Through the loveliest scarlet rose
And the newborn’s tender feet
Red, you justify the most righteous woes
Richly lining dusky skies
Emanating from feisty fires
Sparkle, you do on the golden pendant
Daffodils & tulips, oh, don’t they flaunt?
Yellow, you glow and do outline
The radiant full moon’s soft shine
The idyllic expanse of the wave-less ocean
The spotless azure sky with an endless horizon
Ah! The cobalt-naped prideful peacock
Thanks you for its copper-sulphate flock
From the romanticism of blaue blume
To the purple tinge on the Martin’s plume
Blue, you exude the lull in a melancholic tune
The pitch darkness of the midsummer night
The nimbus clouds of stormy might
The forlorn feather of the northern raven
Lining mascara’d eyelashes of pretty women
In the earnestly lilting springtime cuckoo
And in silky tresses, black, you rule!
In flakes of snow, icicles and sleet
On the innocent dove and flag of peace
Through sclera in eyes of serenity
White, you signify honest thought and purity
6 comments:
Machi...good attempt da....add the tamil lyrics below or something..so that people can appreciate your input to PearlDiamonds lines :)
All I can say is "Marvelous". As suggested by Anand, you could have the tamizh lyrics down below so that readers can appreciate it better. Rich language, and absolutely poetic. How about trying "thendral vandhu theendum podhu enna vannamo manasule?" from avatharam next?. I think thats even more poetic than pachai nirame, and will be master piece if done well. I will also suggest that you should go ahead right now and try "Kaakai chiraginile nandhalala" of Barathiyar as well. Again, a remarkable poem of Barathi, that talks so much more than just colors alone. Will love it, if you can join me in the effort to translate his works in english so that it reaches everybody.
very nice,
a real good shot at getting to the essence, without exact prose formation which would just make it feeble in its english form..
the melliflous rendition of the song also adds to the art in it,kudos to hariharan!
My Brother , Amazing work....
Although i have a few doubts and i also think if you could add the original lyrics too...
First..
About Red:
"Red, you justify the most righteous woes"
Could you please explain how?
Second:
About Yellow:
"Richly lining dusky skies"
Do we find yellow in the dusky skies?
Is it written so in the original song too?
Remaining part .. i've understood and enjoyed to the best of my abilities...
If you can give me any lines among these in which you have put extra effort or you can share some insight about some special parts which possibly have a deeper meaning, i think i would enjoy even more...
Great work..
Would like to read a lot more from you...
Srikanth
I have sent you the original list by email vis-a-vis the translation. To answer your question:
1. Red is the colour that is associated with anger, poverty, anguish and pain and indignation. In a way, all these could be a righteous sensation.
2.a)The dusky sky is "streaked" or "lined" with the sun's yellow glaze.
b) Yellow represents a spectrum of colours from yellow to orange. Like blue represents a range from a shade of purple to violet.
Yes the original song refers to the evening sky.
The first para took some effort to get the poetic flow. The second one set my rhythm, by the third and fourth I was on full throttle. Giving direct word by word translation sometimes loses effect in a different language. The proverbs and figures of speech aren't consistent between them. So, sometimes I have to come up with an equivalent or an analog.
Thanks for asking :) I just love to share....
WoW!!! Its an OMG kind of a work. Seriously good. The word play and the vocabulary is just fantabulous. Keep up the good work. As Ajith has suggested, do try Kaakai Chiraginile..... Waiting for it :-)
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