Motherly thoughts from male poets

Poems and poetical works are one of my passions. I used to admire the way our male poets pen their thoughts which seem quite motherly to me.  I wonder how could such words originate from a man!!  

Let us take the Mahakavi first; "Unnai thazhuvidilo kannamma unmaththamaguthadi"  I could not find ways that can express how you feel when you listen to these words.  Not just this line but the entire "Chinnanchiru kiliye kannamma" is awesome and an incomparable composition in such a simple manner and it turns out to be a great lullaby. 

I love to listen to "Solla solla inikkudada muruga!! ullamellam un peyarai..." from Thiruvilayadal movie.  I think it is Kannadasan's composition.  My favourite words are "Murugan endral azhagan endru thamizh mozhi koorum, azhagan endan kumaran endru manamozhi koorum".  We have heard "Kakkaikkum than kunju pon kunju" but this one is a new thinking and it is indeed a wonderful expression.

And the last one in this series is "Paaloottum annaikkellam thangal pillai marbai mutti paalunnum saththam sangeetham".  Vairamuthu rocks here.  

How can a man express such motherly thoughts?  Are they the "Thaayumaanavargal"???

Scintilating Suddhasaveri

There are innumerable raagas in the world of carnatic music and each one is rich in its own way.  Some of them express a particular mood and make us feel elated when a perfect lyrics is tuned in that raaga.  I'm writing this post now because I happened to listen to a film song that is based on suddhasaveri raaga.  Those who learnt carnatic music may be able to recollect that "Aanalekara unni..." Geetham is set in this raaga.  It seems to be light, easy going and very melodious one - hence suits for light music.  I feel that suddhasaveri brings out the excitement quite nicely.  It is a bubbling raaga.  In my opinion, this raaga goes very well with both vocal and instrumental. 

When I first heard the song I was impressed by Chinmayi's singing and suddenly I realised that it is Suddhasaveri.  Then I found out that it is ARR's composition.  Ilayaraja has set some popular songs in this raaga such as "Kovilmani osai thannai" from Kizhakke pogum rayil, "Idu oru kaadal mayakkam" from Pudumaippenn etc.  But ARR's "En uyir thozhiye" from Kangalal kaithu sei is so pleasing to the ears and all credit should go to Chinmayi as she has done a perfect job singing this suddhasaveri. ARR's idea of suddhasaveri on the piano is cool.  It makes the suddhasaveri a scintilating one! 

Rain Rain Do not go away!!

Its raining out here!  It was quite pleasant from morning.  Krishna and I enjoyed a ride in this wonderful weather.  And now its raining.  Great to be watching it pour.  I am sipping my tea (pazhayadu :-( ) and watching a movie.  I dont know who composed the "rain rain go away" nursery rhyme.  Is there anyone who does not like rain?  May be our cricket fanatics will not like it during an Ind-Pak final match of a tournament.  Is there anyone who does not like rain, elephants, ice cream, breeze, train, beach, dance and mother's love? 

செம்மொலியான தமில் மொலியாம்....

என்னுடைய நண்பர்கள் சிலர் ஓர்குட்-இல், நடக்க இருக்கும் தமிழ் மாநாட்டிற்காக இயற்றப்பட்ட பாடல் வீடியோ வை upload செய்து இருந்தார்கள்.  அந்த வீடியோ முடியும்போது அது மூத்த தமிழ் தலைவர் முதல்வர் மு.கருணாநிதி இயற்றியது என போடப்பட்டு இருந்தது.

முதலில் வீடியோ பார்த்த போது பாடல் வரிகள் புரியவே இல்லை.  பாடகர்கள் வார்த்தைகளை வெளியில் விடவே இல்லை...சொற்குற்றமோ பொருள் குற்றமோ (புரிந்தால் தானே சொல்ல முடியும்?) இல்லை...நிறைய உச்சரிப்பு பிழைகள்.  முதலில் "யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளிர்" என்பதை Oscar புகழ் ஏ ஆர் ரஹ்மான் "யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளீர்" என்று பாடுகிறார். 

பின் பாதியில் western style-இல் இரண்டு பேர் தமிழை கடித்து துப்பி இருக்கிறார்கள். 

கம்ப நாட்டாழ்வாரும்

கவியரசி அவ்வை நல்லாலும்

என்ற இரண்டு வரிகள் காலை எழுந்தவுடன் எனக்கு நினைவுக்கு வருகின்றன.  

இந்த வீடியோ பதிவு "phir mile sur" என்ற தேசிய ஒருமைப்பாட்டை நினைவு படுத்தும் பதிவை விட நன்றாக இருப்பதாக சில விமர்சனங்கள் படித்தேன்.  உண்மை தான் -  ஆனால், இன்னும் பல மடங்கு நன்றாக செய்திருக்கலாம் என்று தோன்றுகிறது. பாடல் பதிவை பொறுத்த வரையில் உச்சரிப்புக்கு முக்யத்துவம் கொடுத்திருக்க வேண்டும்  - எப்படி பாடலாசிரியர் இந்த பிழைகளை பொறுக்கிறார் என்று புரியவில்லை;  "நெற்றிக்கண் திறப்பினும் குற்றம் குற்றமே" என்று சொன்ன நக்கீரனின் மொழி இன்று ஒரு ஆஸ்கார்-இன் முன்னால் கை கட்டி வாய்  பொத்தி நிற்கின்றதா? 

திரை வடிவாக்கம் யாருடைய சிந்தனை என்று தெரியவில்லை.  தமிழை இயற்தமிழ் இசைத்தமிழ் நாடகத்தமிழ் என்று தானே பிரிக்கிறோம்? பாடலும் மொத்தமாக தமிழ்-இன் அருமை பெருமைகளைத்தான் குறிப்பதாக தெரிகிறது (எனக்கு புரிந்த வரையில்) பின் ஏன் இசைத்தமிழை ஒட்டி இசைக்கலைஞர்களை மட்டுமே பதித்திருக்கிறார்கள்?  வள்ளுவர்  ஒரு நொடி வந்து போகிறார்.  "செந்தமிழ் நாடென்னும் போதினிலே இன்பத்தேன் வந்து பாயுது காதினிலே" என்ற பாரதியும் காணவில்லை, "தமிழுக்கும் அமுதென்று பேர், அந்த தமிழ், இன்பத்தமிழ் எங்கள் உயிருக்கு நேர்" என்ற பாரதிதாசனையும் காணவில்லை. சரி ஏதோ சாலமன் பாப்பையா, சாரதா நம்பிஆரூரன்,விஜயலட்சுமி நவநீதகிருஷ்ணன்,புழ்பவனம் குப்புசாமி  போன்ற மக்கள் கூட தென்படவில்லை.  ஒரே ஆறுதல் சில கிராமிய கலைஞர்கள் இருப்பது தான்.

தமிழ் எனது தாய்மொழி இல்லை, இருப்பினும் எனக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்த மொழிகளில் ஒன்று, என் தாய்மொழியை விடவும் எனக்கு தமிழ் மிகவும் பரிச்சயமான ஒன்று. ஆயினும், இது வரையில் ஒரு ஐந்து அல்லது ஆறு முறை இந்த பாடலை கேட்டுவிட்டேன், ஒரு கோர்வையாக பாடல் வரிகள் மனதில் நிற்கவில்லை,செவிக்கு எட்டும் வரிகள் மூளைக்கு எட்டவில்லை. அது பாடல் மற்றும்  இசையமைப்பின் பிழையா அல்லது எனது திறமையின்மையா என்று தெரியவில்லை.  உங்களில் யாருக்காவது புரிந்தால் எனக்கு விளக்குங்கள் ப்ளீஸ்...

Old wine in new bottle...

This happened last week.  A lesson from the kitchen...

I was thinking of making palidya or morekozhambu for the next day.  So I cut tindora aka kovaikkai and stored the pieces in the refrigerator.  I just then realized (I think Im becoming Americanized...I used to use "s" for realiSe but I inadvertently used "z" here) that I was running short of curd and buttermilk - the main ingredients of the dish.  Then I changed the menu to a simple kozhambu.  I generally make a different masala powder for kozhambu but was lazy enough that morning to roast and grind a powder.  So I decided to use my sambar powder for the kozhambu.  Kozhambu was ready in the next 10 minutes.  However it was not thick as sambar powder did not have a few lentils that make the dish concentrated instantly.  DH is very particular about the concentration part so I thought I made a mess of it.  I also tasted a little bit of it and made sure it was "unsagikkable" from taste point of view as well.  I paused and thought for a moment - my instinct told me to add a bit of jaggery.  Then I packed his lunch and forgot about it for the next few hours.

It was time for my lunch.  Instantaneously I thought what DH would have felt after eating his food.   I picked up the telephone, called him and asked him about his lunch.  He said it was good and was wondering why I was so apprehensive about it.  I hung up and started to eat my food and found that the kozhambu was really yummy.  I wished I had more of it on my plate.  That was a simple but satisfying lunch I should say.

It's time to get the moral of the story; we need to find the jaggery that will fix the odds of the kozhambu. For every problem under the sun, there is a solution!!!

Reminiscence

It has been a year since my mom left us. I am sufficiently grown up to understand that everybody has to bid farewell one day or the other but when it comes to mother, it takes a lot of time to forget the pain of missing her and to get the courage to move on.

Her thoughts were bringing tears earlier but now they are cherished. Everyday, every moment I think of her. She is belovedly called SK. She was a superb cook - cant beat her Bisi bele hulianna (this is how we term bisibelabath in our house), ambat baaji or soppu hulipalya (keerai sambar that is so thick such that it looks like keerai sabji), wheat halwa, varulu avalakki (a snack made out of poha), rasam, rasavangi (a kind of kozhambu with brinjal in it), vaangi bath, karunai kizhangu masiyal and the like. The taste of these items is still lingering in my mouth.

According to me, she was the epitome of patience. I can better understand it now when I struggle to manage my little one while she brought up all of us not having known what mother's love (she lost her mom when she was around 3 years old) is all about. She used to like babies a lot. My nephew Hari is her most beloved grandson. Thanks to the technological advancements - She could see my little one's photos as soon as he was born.

While I was going to the elementary school, she would bring lunch for me to the school. We would sit in a corner and I would ask her to tell me a story. She would start telling Ramayana or Mahabharatha but down the line she would blabber because she would feel sleepy. Every year, she would buy me 2 new clothes when the school starts for the academic year.

When I was doing my graduation, I had invited a lot of my friends home quite often. She would happily serve them meal and was very hospitable. She had offered food, snacks or coffee to those that stop by our house - be it anytime.

I have never seen her relax; she would always be doing some household work or the other. I have not seen any other person making the hoo baththi (you call it as vilakku thiri in tamil) as perfect and neat as her. She had a long hair and she would sit on the floor, stretch her legs and split her hair into two parts and would comb it. That is very much fresh in my memory. And she did not have a single grey hair in her 71 years of life. She used to recite all slokas such Bhagavath Geetha, Raghavendra stothra, Saneeswara stothra while cooking and she did learn all of them by heart just by listening to my father's recital during his daily pooja. She used to say "We have to have a good heart and think of good things and utter good words while cooking as it will have an impact on the ones who consume"

She is a woman who underwent a lot of hardships in her entire life. But I have never seen her lamenting about anything. Simplicity and contentment will keep us and everyone around us happy. She loved nature and was interested in touring. When I had been to the Niagara for the first time I told myself "I should bring her here once". Even when she was in the hospital in the last few days, she did not grumble about her condition; she welcomed her end quite happily after much suffering.

I have inherited few of her characteristics such as reading religious materials, showing interest in music and literature, being patriotic, being respectful to national leaders such as Gandhiji, Rajaji etc. We have never used any bad words in our house and I think it is all because of her upbringing. She liked to listen when I sing "kurai onrum illai". She liked Bombay sisters' Oothukkadu compositions and of course MS' renderings.

I lived my life to the fullest from Year 2003 to 2007. A handful of salary, bachelor life hence no worries or commitment, life was good in the Chromepet house. I enjoyed being with my family. Chennai is famous for its power cuts during summer (that is a perennial one but popular in summer) and my amma and I would play "yaaru manasula yaaru" and the rest of the family will be the audience. I remember the day I took her for a ride in my scooter. That was the first and last time she sat on my scooter; that is one reason why I still dont want to sell it off though it is not of any use to anyone now. Tears showed up in her eyes when I left to my in-laws' place after my marriage; she had not wept for any other sister of mine like that.

Days passed by; months passed by; and a year has passed now. Her first Aapdika i.e. annual ceremony falls on the 31st of this month. This is going to happen to all of us one day and this is what life is all about. We need to move on and that is why we all have a family of our own and have lots and lots of responsibilities towards the family. Brain understands this reality but heart fails to understand and ultimately suffers.

A common man's autobiography

It was quite odd for me when I came to know that my father's uncle S.R.R has written an autobiography as he was not a public figure and I should say that I did not quite think that anybody can write a biography of his/her own life until I knew of this. However he was certainly a big shot in the family in the sense that he was highly qualified amongst his contemporaries in the family, a Doctorate.   Also he was an associate of Sir C.V.Raman.

They were 6 brothers and 2 sisters. My dad's father was the eldest (actually second but the eldest died at quite an early age).  My grandfather being the responsible elder brother had provided monetary support for the family. He did his PhD in London around 60-70 years ago and it sure was a great thing for a family like ours then.

My second cousin G.R.R who is the grandson of my father's uncle had the electronic version of his grandpa's autobiography and thanks to him I had the opportunity to read it a few years ago. There were a few things that interested me a lot and some of them made me proud to have been born and raised in that lineage. I have learnt some lessons from it too.

It gives some insight about the previous generation of my grandfather, A.R. My great grandfather S.R is the 3rd of 8 sons in the family. And they were financially doing well. When the sons grew up and individually set up their families, their financial status was on the descent (Most probably because the head of the family unexpectedly died at an early age). There was a need to sell a family property and the first four brothers who were doing better financially, gave away their shares too to the last 4 brothers who were struggling to make both ends meet. It is something that I could not believe at all and am very happy to learn that my ancestors had been so kind and considerate. Secondly, my great grandfather's mother wanted to throw away one of the boy babies born to my grandfather as she expected a girl baby in the family (she bore 8 boys no girl). I pinched my own self when I read it as no parent preferred girl babies during those days.

After reading his autobiography, I sometimes feel that everyone should write a biography or some note to mention about those that help us to be who we are today. Well, I told my mother to write her autobiography and she immediately said "I dont know where my maternal cousins are!! They did so much to me when I was down with jaundice at my grandma's place". I am happy because I made her think of those that helped her, during her last days.

I dont know how much time is left for me so I have also jotted down about those who had created an impact in my life. 

What's your child's name?

Last week I got introduced to a neighbour through a common friend. She was talking about her experience of a career break due to motherhood and her new job. My son was having a short nap. She peeked into his stroller seat and asked me what was his name. When I responded, she expressed "oh simple-a vechuteenga".And she went on and her hubby too joined with her for the conversation... "We wanted a UNIQUE name for our son and named him so-and-so and you know it is a very uncommon name". But my husband's friend's son has the same name and is probably in his first grade now. He expressed it politely (not to offend them by any means though) and they shurgged and one of them said "But I am sure he will not have it spelt the way my son's name is spelt". And I am sure this would have been their dinner time conversation for the night.

Yesterday I took Chinnu to the play area in our community. There were 2 other kids enjoying their time on the slide. One of them was escorted by her grandfather. He asked me what's my son's name. His response was no different from the young couple and this time I was really taken aback.

Having a toddler causes us to interact with other folks especially those who entered into parenthood recently. And obviously "whats his/her age, name, activities, food habits" etc. are few of the discussion topics that will hang around. Out of such talks I kind of got an idea on how we Indians especially south Indians want to name our babies. The older generation followed these protocols for naming the newborns - 1) Name after some deity or kuladeivam in specific, 2) Name after one of the grandparents or great-grand parents 3) Name after the kshetra swami (the Lord mainly worshipped in the home ground or the current habitat). And they did not bother if there were a whole lot of people with the same name. There are lot of Krishnamurthy's amongst my paternal uncles - each one is referred to as S Kittu, N Kittu, R Kittu etc etc. and there are innumerable Usha's and Shantha's. But we, the today's generation want novel names and unique ones too. I am not against this but I think we should also try not to pass comments directly or indirectly about one's name. I read somewhere that for everybody under the sun it is his/her name that matters the most and no one can bear if someone misspells or mispronounces it. I always agree with this because I hate when people dont call my name properly - probably they breathe out the air when they say my name. Novel names sound good to the ears and may be easy to utter but at the same time we should also, to a greater extent, consider the meaning of the word. Some parents want to name their newborns after applying numerology. All they do is replace certain consonants with others such that it either means nothing or means something unpleasant. And another thing that I have wondered about is inventing new names which mostly are portmanteau of part or full of parents' names. A neighbour had framed her daughter's name from hers and her hubby's and per my father a very slight pronunciation change in the name will mean "A big Zero" in Sanskrit.

It is going to be sun-shine summer soon and I have to get myself ready to receive a lot of comments on my son's name in the neighbourhood, but absolutely no regrets. It was very rewarding when a Muslim lady told me "Oh that's wonderful name - I like it".