(Translation on request for RA, RK & SS)
Sujatha, a mute young woman, often visits Ustad, who is the head of a mosque in her town. On one such visit she gets acquainted with a travelling Sufi, who used to be a student of Ustad. Sufi stays on in the town at Ustad’s request to teach kids in the mosque and slowly a loving relationship starts building between Sujatha and him through letters and sketches in a notebook they exchange between each other. A song expressing stirrings of love from the movie Sufiyum Sujathayum.

To listen to the song click play:

Vaathikkalu vellaripravu…
Vaakku kondu muttanana kettu…
[A white dove at the door…
Heard it knocking with words…]

Vaathikkalu vellaripravu vaakku kondu muttana kettu
thulliyaam en ullilu vannu, neeyaam kadalu
[Hearing a white dove knocking at the door with words
gushed into the drop that I am, an ocean that’s you]
priyane, neeyaam kadalu
[dearest, an ocean that’s you]

Yaa Maula Maula iraham lana
yahdina habban lana
[Hey Master please be merciful
guide us and love us]

Vaathikkalu vellaripravu
Vaakku kondu muttanana kettu
[A white dove at the door…
Heard it knocking with words…]

Kaattu pole vattam vechu, kannidayil muttham vechu
shwaasam aake thee nirachu, nee enna roohu, roohu…
[Like a breeze took circles and kissed between the eyes
filled fire in all of my breath, you the soul, soul….]
Njaaval pazha kannu imakkunne mylaanchi kaadu
Attharinte kuppi thuranne Mulla bazaaru
[Batted their jamun* shaped eyes, the henna jungle
Opened a bottle of attar perfume, the Mulla bazaar]
Dikharu moolana thatthakal undu…
Mutthukal aayi ava chollanathu enthu?
[There are parrots humming prayers…
What are they chanting like (dropping) pearls?]
Utharam undu, othiri undu
premathin thundu, priyane, premathin thundu
[There is an answer to that, there is an abundance of them
(it is a) slice of love, dearest, slice of love]

Vaathikkalu vellaripravu
Vaakku kondu muttanana kettu
[A white dove at the door…
Heard it knocking with words…]

Neerchuzhiyil mungiyittu, kaal kolussil vannu thottu
vellimeen aayi minnanundu, nee enna roohu, roohu…
[Going under in a swirl of water, swam up to touch on my anklet
sparkling like a silver fish, you the soul, soul…]
Jinnu palli muttathu vanne manja velicham
Vedanayum thaenthulli aakum prema thelicham
[The yellow light came to the yard of Jinn mosque
(bringing) the glow of love which transforms pain into honey drops]
Ullu nirachoru thaalinu akathu…
Enne eduthu kuricha oru katthu…
[A paper filled with inner thoughts
a letter penned with all of me]
Thannu ninakku, onnu thurakku
njaan ennu oru aedu, priyane, njaan ennu oru aedu
[I gave to you, please open
a page that is me, dearest, a page that is me]

Vaathikkalu vellaripravu
Vaakku kondu muttanana kettu
[A white dove at the door…
Heard it knocking with words…]

Yaa Maula Maula iraham lana
yahdina habban lana
[Hey Master please be merciful
guide us and love us]
Yaa Maula Maula iraham lana
yahdina habban lana
[Hey Master please be merciful
guide us and love us]

++In the refrain, I believe the lyricist is conveying that the lady protagonist opened the door for a white dove who came with words (signifying doves carrying letters probably) and into her who is just a drop of words, filled an ocean of words after reading it. In the first stanza, the lyricist’s verses artistically weave in neighborhood fixtures where the protagonists live, like the jamun trees interspersed with bushes of henna and the Mulla market where people sell perfumes, into stirrings of love they experience. In both stanzas, the swirling motion is highlighted – the circling of the breeze in the first and the water swirl in the second – and it could be a nod to the male protagonist who is a whirling sufi dervish.

*Njaval pazham or jamun is type of plum native to the Indian subcontinent.

+ Image copyright to the original uploader.