It is time to listen to an everlasting Tamil film song: 'Netru Varai Nee Yaro"

Poet Kannadaasan

The late Kannathasan, a Tamil writer, poet, and film lyricist, adeptly utilized his knowledge of ancient Tamil literature in crafting lyrics. Many of his popular songs were composed in this manner, including one of my personal favorites from the movie 'Vazkaip Padagu' (Life Boat or Life as a Boat), produced by the famous Gemini studio. Listening to this song allows one to feel his profound understanding of ancient Tamil literature.

The opening lines of the song are:

'நேற்று வரை நீ யாரோ? நான் யாரோ?
இன்று முதல் நீ வேறோ? நான் வேறோ?'

This translates to

'Until yesterday, you were someone unknown to me. I was someone unknown to you.
From today on wards, you are not someone unknown to me. I am not someone unknown to you'

These lines remind me of a poem from the Sangam period, belonging to an anthology called 'Kurunthokai.' The poem was written by Sempulapeyaneeraar. During the Sangam period, the land was divided into five regions, with mountainous areas referred to as 'kurinji'. The other four regions were: the forest region, sea-shore regions, paddy-field region or agricultural region, and desert region.

This particular poem expresses a male lover's emotions about his partner.

"யாயும் ஞாயும் யார் ஆகியரோ?
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளீர்.
யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி அறிதும்.
செம்புலப் பெயல் நீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாம் கலந்தனவே."

"Who is my mother and who is your mother?
Who is my father and who is your father?
What is the relationship between them?
How did you and I come to know each other?
Like rainwater mixing with the red soil,
our loving hearts have blended together."

Kannadasan might have drawn inspiration from these lines to write the lyrics for the film 'Vazkaip Padagu.

"உன்னை நான் பார்க்கும் போது
மண்ணை நீ பார்க்கின்றாயே.
விண்ணை நான் பார்க்கும் போது
என்னை நீ பார்க்கின்றாயே?"

"When I look at you,
you look at the ground.
When I look at the sky,
you look at me."

These lines remind me of the Tirukkural couplet (The Tirukkural consists of 1,330 Tamil couplets organized into 133 chapters, with each chapter containing 10 couplets that belong to a specific subject. Thirukkural was authored by Thiruvalluvar, also known as Valluvar.):

"யான்நோக்கும் காலை நிலன்நோக்கும் நோக்காக்கால்
தான்நோக்கி மெல்ல நகும்"

This translates to:

"When I glance at her, she lowers her gaze;
when I don't glance at her, she looks at me in joy."

The lines of this song prove that Kannadasan's knowledge of ancient Tamil literature played a major role in writing these lyrics.


To listen to the film song, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBE9CNqHnbM

Singer: PB Sreenivas  Music: Viswanathan Ramamorthy  Lyrics: Kannadasan  Cast: Gemini & Devika