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Mar 5, 2007

Dawned

It's a Saturday night. You have already had a nice afternoon nap for two hours. Your friend who was chatting with you has gone back home. You have surfed through channels enough. You are in no mood to watch an awards ceremony in Sony Max. Your dusty book shelf is not alluring. Your hubby seems to be experimenting with kubuntu installation on the home PC. What do you do? Why not watch a movie in a cable channel which you haven't watched at all? After all, you are intrigued by the "loosu penne" song. So what if the movie has passed the intermission stage?

I did watch the latter half of the movie "Vallavan" and a new realization has dawned on me. I feel I have understood the eternal truth. The truth that there couldn't be a worse movie ever made in the history of world cinema. Thanks, Mr.Simbu for helping me realize this fact. I'm so grateful to you. I really admire the guts in you to make such a crappy movie and on top of that, showing a placard in the end "to be continued". What a confidence you have in yourself and the viewers that they will come and watch your second part of the movie if you ever find a producer again!

Reema Sen as a school girl is in itself indigestible and her maturish, threatening voice(God knows who dubbed for her!) is totally absurd. I have only seen Simbu imitating Rajni but in this movie, he is imitating Vijay's mannerisms and has copied the typical background score you get to hear in a Vijay movie. The threatening scenes between Simbu and Reema Sen are simply hilarious. They have succeeded in making a comedy movie if that was their intention. The hero's friends and the heroine keep shouting "Valla" again and again (Or is it "Palla"?). I can't imagine how the first half would have progressed. As my brother suggested, 'From now on, I'll start to appreciate even the bad movies because the worst has come and gone".

Am in the driver's seat

Yipppeee....cleared my learner's license test today after flunking once. I feel so relieved as though I've cleared CAT. Most of the questions were scenario based. It's not enough to just remember the traffic signs and signals. This test not only tests your traffic knowledge but also tests your English reasoning skills. Can you believe there were options like "50:50", "little similar", "somewhat similar" etc? You need to make sense out of such ambiguous questions, eliminate two options and choose the right answer. I hope the driving license test will be better and they don't ask me to draw a 11 on the road.

Seriously, do drivers follow the traffic rules such as "Do not overtake from the left; Leave a 2 second gap between the vehicle in front of you; when pedestrians cross the road, wait until everyone crosses the road; when the red light is blinking, stop the vehicle, see if any other vehicle is approaching from the opposite end and then proceed; The vehicle that arrived first in a junction takes the precedence; if an auto driver says he cannot take you to a specific place, then he can be fined Rs.100" ? I can't imagine how Bangalore roads would look if everyone follows the rules.

One thing I hate so much is the fact that the impatient two wheelers who cannot wait for the traffic signal step onto the uneven pedestrian path and honk at you as though as you are walking in the middle of the road. Wish I could just slap them left and right. Where are people supposed to walk then? I don't understand why people rush through so much. What are they going to benefit?

ரோஜா நாள்

என் வீட்டு ரோஜா
இன்று பூத்தது
பூக்களின் ராணி
இன்று மலர்ந்தது

ஒரு மொட்டு
அது இன்று
முழுப்பூவிற்கு
வழி விட்டது
விநாயகரின்
பாதம் சேர்ந்தது

மலர்ந்து சிவந்த
இதழ்கள்
காலை நேர வெட்கமோ?
புன்சிரிப்பில்
கொள்ளை கொள்ளும் அழகோ?
புது வாசம்
வீசும் மணமோ?

உன்னை படம்
பிடித்தது என் கண்கள்
உன்னை ஏந்தியது
என் கரங்கள்

கண்களும் மலர்ந்தன
உன்னால்
கன்னங்களும் சிவந்தன
உன்னால்

நீ இன்றைய
நாளை முழுமையாக்கினாய்
நன்றி கூறும்
என் மனதை நிறைவாக்கினாய்

A rough translation in English

The day of rose

A rose in my garden
blossomed today
The queen of flowers
bloomed this day

A bud
gave way to
a flower
decorating the feet
of Lord Ganesha

the bloomed,
reddish lips
Is it the morning blush?
Is it the breathtaking beauty?
Is it the fresh fragrance?

Your picture
in my eyes
Your presence
in my hands

My eyes
bloomed as well
My cheeks
blushed as well

You completed
my just begun day
You filled
my grateful mind

Mar 2, 2007

மழையே......

மழையே சிறு துளி மழையே
சில பல ரகசியங்கள் சொல்லவா
என் காதலை பற்றி

காதல் பிற ந்தது எவ்வாறு
தெரியவில்லை எனக்கு
காதல் வளர் ந்தது எவ்வாறு
புரியவில்லை எனக்கு

கேட்டேன் அவன் குரலை
அமைதி தெரி ந்தது
பார்த்தேன் அவன் கண்களை
தெளிவு தெரி ந்தது

இதயத்தை கொடுத்தேன்
என் இதயம் அறியாமல்
தனிமையில் தேடினேன்
என் கண்கள் அறியாமல்

தன்னந்தனியே சிரித்தேன்
தூக்கத்தில் உளறினேன்
தோழிகள் பார்த்தனர்
ஏளனம் செய்தனர்

தட்டு எடுத்தேன்
உண்ண முடியவில்லை
கண்கள் அயர்ந்தேன்
உறங்க முடியவில்லை

தெரிந்தும் தெரியாதது போல் நடித்தான்
செல்ல பெயர் வைத்தேன்
புரிந்தும் புரியாதது போல் சென்றான்
கண்களில் காதலை காட்டினேன்

மனம் விட்டு பேசினோம்
ஒவ்வொரு நாளும்
நினைத்து நினைத்து சிரித்தோம்
ஒவ்வொரு நொடியும்

தயக்கமில்லாமல் சொன்னான்
அவன் காதலை
மறுப்பில்லாமல் சொன்னேன்
என் காதலை

காதல் கவிதை எழுதி
தீர்த்து விட்டார்கள் கவிஞர்கள்
என்று நினைத்தேன்

"போடி பைத்தியக்காரி,
கவிதை எழுத எழுத
கவிஞர் பிறப்பார்"
என்று உணர்த்தினான்

ஆம்! கவிஞியாக பிறந்தேன்
முதல் முறையாய்
கூறினேன் என்
காதல் பரிமாணங்களை
மழையே உனக்கு
முதல் முறையாய்

This poem has been lying in my drafts for more than a year now. I posted a part of it in 2005 typed in English and this is the complete version in Tamil. This is one poem very close to my heart.

A rough translation in English

Oh rain!
Tiny droplets of rain
Would you like to hear
some secrets about my love?

I don't know
when love was born
I don't understand
how love has grown

I heard his voice
I sensed peace
I looked at his eyes
I sensed clarity

I gave my heart
The heart doesn't know
I searched for it
My eyes didn't find

I laughed at myself
My sleep was disturbed
My friends looked at me
and teased me.

I took hold of my plate
but I couldn't eat
My eyes felt drowsy
but I couldn't sleep

He acted as if
nothing was happening
I gave him a nick name
He walked away as if
nothing was to be understood
my eyes revealed my love

We spoke from
our hearts everyday
We laughed together
every second

He conveyed his love
for me with no hesitance
I conveyed my love
for him with no resistance

love poems are all written
by poets, I assumed
"oh you fool! poets are made
with more and more new poems",
he made me realize.

Yes, I was born as
a poetess today,
narrating my phases of
love for the first time,
oh dear rain!

Superstition

My contribution to Sunday Scribblings #49 - Superstition

I'm not a very superstitious person and that leaves me a chance to scoff at people who believe in superstitions. My grandma believed in many of them and I used to question her a lot. Although she couldn't give proper explanation, I enjoyed poking her with my logic.

She always used to say that whenever a group of people leave the house, they shouldn't leave in a batch of three. So my dad and I used to leave first and then my brother used to follow after a few minutes. I never get the logic behind this. And ofcourse, I don't understand the most famous raghu kaalam and yamakandam timings being followed strictly in most of the homes. Though I don't remember any such timings, I can never forget the raghu kaalam timing on a sunday which is between 4.30 and 6 PM. Whenever we planned to go out on a leisurely Sunday evening, we had to leave by 4 PM and not later than that.

I had a strange habit in my early teens. I used to eat handfuls of raw rice quite often. Somehow I liked the raw, crispy taste very much during those days. My grandma used to warn me that it will rain heavily on the day of my marriage. I used to neglect her warnings and reply casually that many invitees will not be able to attend my wedding if it rains and we can save some money. Her warning failed and there wasn't any rain on my wedding day.

I don't think the present generation has many superstitious beliefs as it used to be during our grand parents' days. It's good and bad in both ways - good in the sense that people have started asking logical reasoning behind every action and that leaves less room for people who spread false messages in the society; bad because the opportunity to share hearty laughs with our grandparents is lost.

Mar 1, 2007

Magic repeats once more

I'm referring to the magical music of Harris and Gowtham combo and their recent musical flick "Pachaikkili Muthucharam". The music seems to be very romantic and peppy. I hope the picturization will be good. I wasn't very impressed with the songs picturization of "Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyadu".

"Kaadhal konjam" sung by Naresh Iyer is a peppy dance number that sets the mood to tap your feet and dream about an imaginary world of love and only love. That's how I felt. The lyrics suit perfectly to the beats. It's a beautiful song for a long drive, I would say.

"Unakkul Naane" gets repeated by two different singers - first by Bombay Jayashree and then by Madhushree. I like the Bombay Jayashree song better as her voice moulds well with the tune. Is it some kind of a lucky charm that she sings in every Harris movie? Who cares? All her songs are enchanting. The bad part about Madhushree's song is her horrible pronounciation. For instance, the very first line where she uses a small l instead of a big L in "ullaththai naan sollava". It just spoils the opening. Another instance where she uses a small na instead of a big Na in the phrase "ranamum then allava". Though she has a great voice, she doesn't focus on the lyrics.

The highlight of the album is a slow, romantic melody "Unn siripinil" sung by Gowthami Rao and Robby. It's a perfect song to listen in a quiet evening. This has captured my liking from the time I heard it first and been playing it repeatedly since. As it is sung at a low tone, it's quite difficult to catch the lyrics in the first few listens. I love songs where there is no mixing of words borrowed from other languages. That's the reason why my favorite lyricist is Thaamarai these days. This song is a good example with some nice, not-so-commonly used Tamil words like vanappu, vanjame, theeya etc.

"Karu karu vizhigalaal" sung by Naresh Iyer again along with Karthik is another peppy song. I would rate this as my last favorite in the album. The tune sounds very ordinary and not so special. Anyday, this song is much better than those we get to hear these days in the form of gaana and hero praising ones (You know what I mean?). Overall, the album is worth listening and has a few good numbers.