Lightning makes a line through the city,
engulfing it in darkness.
Thunder roars.
The rain opens up like a scene
in a silent movie.
I am looking at the rain from a nest in the concrete tree. Like scenes from a silent movie, the rain appeared to me. Rain is one of my favorite natural events. Watching it is one of my favorite hobbies. Enjoying rain is a kind of sweet and unique experience.
The relationship between rain and me started in my childhood while I sang 'come rain! come rain!' while making a paper ship and watching it sail in the rainwater falling from the gutter. It continued through my teen years, and it still continues.Lying in bed, enjoying the night rain, the musical concert of nearby field frogs, the sounds caused by the falling rain on the tiled roof, and, at times, the flashing beauty of lightning and the thunderous claps that follow—no words can describe that experience.
Sometimes, I enjoy and forget myself while taking a bath in the rainwater falling from the gutters in the courtyard of our house.
Although diverse in their styles, whether it's a poem, story, or essay, the descriptions of a rainy scene always bring me happiness and pleasure in my reading experiences. How many rainy scenes make me forget myself!
I feel that through emigrating, what is lost is not just relationships but also the soil where we crawl and natural events like this.
It is a nostalgic feeling about the lost ones. Yesterday, today, and always, this feeling is going to stay, I feel.
Can we stop the feelings? For whom? For what? The city rain lacks the
field frogs' until-morning musical concerts! Heavy rain! Whenever I
think about or watch rain, I recall the 'Mahakavi' Bharathiar's ('great
poet') rain poem that comes to mind. Feelings start to flow. What a
poet!
The city's downpour is falling heavily. I am in bed, curled up, and gazing at the rain. In the darkness engulfing the city, the lightning is not flashing, the wind is not tunneling the sky, and the clouds are not making thunderous sounds. Is it true? But for me, it looks like that. Or is it the result of the nostalgic state of my mind, or just paranoia?
I recall once being entranced while looking at the parrots sitting on a kovai tree branch, flapping their wings to get rid of the water that had fallen on them during a downpour.Outside, it's raining silently – a peaceful urban rain, heavy rain, city's ghost-like rain.
Manoranjitham loves rainy scenes. Like a child, she jumps up and down. Watching the rain brings her so much happiness. Enjoying the rain, bathing in it, thinking about rain – in all of these, she behaves like me. She likes the word 'maamazhai' (heavy rain) mentioned in ancient Tamil literature very much.
'Maamazai PooRRuthum. Maamazai PooRRuthum' (Praying for heavy rain! Praying for heavy rain!) mentioned in one of the epics, Silappathikaram, and another 'maamazai' mentioned in Natrinai, she likes them very much. More than these lines, she likes the lines written by the poet 'Sempulap peyal neeraar' the most.
These particular lines express a male lover's emotions about his partner.
* "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."
The late 'Kavinjar' Kannathasan is one of her favorite poets and film lyricists. He adeptly utilized his knowledge of ancient Tamil literature in crafting lyrics. One of her personal favorites is the song "'நேற்று வரை நீ யாரோ? நான் யாரோ?', இன்று முதல் நீ வேறோ? நான் வேறோ?'" from the movie 'Vazkaip Padagu'. This translates to 'Until yesterday, you were someone unknown to me. I was someone unknown to you. From today onwards, you are not someone unknown to me. I am not someone unknown to you'. Sometimes, she and I jovially converse using these lines. The following is an example.
Manoranjitham: "Until yesterday, who were you?"
Me: "Who was I?"
Manoranjitham: "From today onwards, are you a stranger?"
Me: "Am I a stranger?"
The happiness we derive from using the famous lines of the late Kannathasan is something unique.
Manoranjitham's interest is not only in literature, but also, like me, in astrophysics, nature, fine arts, and many other fields. She enjoys reading books and articles on these areas of interest, which enables her to engage in logical debates. At times, she and I engage in keen debates.
Both of us think similarly about literary books and the arts. Whenever the writer Sundra Ramaswamy has a chance, he criticizes Tamil popular fiction harshly. The hero, JJ, a Malayalam writer, in his novel 'J.J: A Few Notes,' ridicules the main character, Sivakami, of the Tamil historical novel 'Sivakamiyin Sabatham,' written by the Tamil writer Kalki. He asks sarcastically, "Has Sivakami finished her oath of vengeance?" ('Sabatham' means oath of vengeance.)
The main mistake in this, Manoranjitham points out, is that 'popular fiction does not only belong to Tamil literature; it's available in all languages.' Sundara Ramaswamy tries to portray that it only belongs to Tamil literature, which is a misconception. Instead of this, his argument should have been pointing out a Malayalam popular fictional character. Without doing that, pretending that, due to popular fiction, Tamil literature's standards have become low is unacceptable, Vikrama.
When Manoranjitham calls me 'Vikrama' with love, I get goosebumps. She calls me in a sweet and kind voice. Her rebuttal on this matter is perfectly right, and I completely accept that. In return, I reply, 'Ranjitham, what you say is right. Like children's literature, popular fiction has an important place in anyone's reading experience. Sundara Ramaswamy doesn't understand this.' She likes it when I call her 'Ranjitham.
"Manoranjitham is a good singer too. She likes Bharathiyar's poems, especially 'Ninnai saranadainthen Kannamma' (I surrendered to you, Kannamma); she likes it the most. She sweetly sings that song with full dedication. I enjoy listening to her sing it that way. When my mind is disturbed, I ask her to sing that song, and she records it. Then she gives me the song, telling me to listen to it whenever I want to.
I am looking at the urban rain—a silent, peaceful rain—still falling.
[To be continued]
*******************************************
* The original Tami lines:
"யாயும் ஞாயும் யார் ஆகியரோ?
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளீர்.
யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி அறிதும்.
செம்புலப் பெயல் நீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாம் கலந்தனவே."
No comments:
Post a Comment