(Translation on request for ERJ & RA)
Once on the road, I pointed to a Camaro and said that looked like a cool car and my husband immediately told me it is what old men buy when they go through midlife crisis. We were pretty young then. 😀 Now as we are slowly approaching “midlife”, I recall hearing talks about midlife crisis, but mostly from a male perspective. Do women go through midlife crisis? Most times, I feel, women do not pause to contemplate much about it as they carry the major part of the burden of day to day home duties. Nirupama is one such woman who works in a public sector job and manages a house which includes her loving in-laws, a husband who thinks of her as a useful idiot and a teenage daughter who is pretty much embarrassed to have her for a mom. Her husband wants to move abroad for better prospects, but she also needs to pass the immigration interview and find a job to be able to afford the move as a family. After a series of events which includes Nirupama fainting in front of the President of India, the husband decides to move abroad with their daughter. Nirupama argues with him that their daughter really needs a mom by her side during growing years, but he shuts her up using deeply hurting words – he doesn’t want their daughter grow up to be another Nirupama who doesn’t have any dreams or wishes of her own. This comes as a wake up call for Nirupama who along with one of her old friends from the university wonders what happened to the fierce young woman she once was. She decides to live life for herself, taking up hobbies like running and getting her neighbors to grow organic vegetables on their terrace using her garden architecture plan to supply to a wedding reception. The movie had been a huge comeback for Manju Warrier who played Nirupama where she slipped easily into the “new age” movie character, poles apart from the movies she used to do years back. This movie also inspired many Malayalis to start their own vegetable garden in their yards/terraces at the time. A truly inspirational movie from a woman’s perspective where it reminds every woman not to lose themselves in the run of life, but to keep doing something for themselves which nourishes their hearts and souls. A song which contemplates about forgotten dreams and the determination to grab them back from the movie How Old Are You.

To listen to the song, click play:

Vijanathayil paathi vazhi theerunnu
Churi manalil veenu veyil aarunnu
[In desolation, half the distance on the pathway finishes
Falling on twisted sands, the sunlight cools]
Aazham ariyaa saagarangal neendi neendi
theeram anayaa koorirulil aeka aayi oru olam aakayo?
[Swimming across oceans of unknown depths
without reaching any shores, in darkness, am I becoming a lonely wave?]
Chuvadukale… thalararuthe…
idararuthe… varoo, varoo pokam akale
[Hey footsteps, do not tire 
do not falter, come, let’s go afar]

Vijanathayil paathi vazhi theerunnu
Churi manalil veenu veyilaarunnu
[In desolation, half the distance on the pathway finishes
Falling on twisted sands, the sunlight cools]

Odi marayum kaalam engo
orthu nilkaath(e-)angu doore
[The era runs and disappears somewhere
without pausing for thoughts, at a distance]
Engo, poyathu engo, en kinavin venpirakkal?
enthe, maanjathu enthe, mann chirathil pootha nalam?
[Where did they go, the white doves of my dreams?
why did it fade, the flame which blossomed in the mud lamp?]
Pularikale…ithu vazhiye
Ini unaru…varu, varu, ven veedhiyil aayi
[Hey dawns….this way
please begin and come, on this bright new path]

Vijanathayil paathi vazhi theerunnu
Churi manalil veenu veyilaarunnu
[In desolation, half the distance on the pathway finishes
Falling on twisted sands, the sunlight cools]

Neela mukil aayi vaanil aeraam
mele mele paari neengaan
[As a blue cloud, I’ll alight on the sky
up high, to fly and move]
Ullil, ullin ullil, pandu pande neytha swapnam
veendum thedi vannu kannil aazhan nidra neendi
[The dream which had weaved in the heart long long back
came searching again to submerge in the eyes, swimming across sleep]
Nizhalukale…ini marayu
pakal olilkal niram tharum mann paathayil aayi
[Hey shadows…disappear now
from this muddy path where sunlight gives colors]

Vijanathayil paathi vazhi theerunnu
Churi manalil veenu veyil aarunnu
[In desolation, half the distance on the pathway finishes
Falling on twisted sands, the sunlight cools]
Aazham ariyaa saagarangal neendi neendi
theeram anayaa koorirulil aeka aayi oru olam aakayo?
[Swimming across oceans of unknown depths
without reaching shores, in darkness, am I becoming a lonely wave?]
Chuvadukale… thalararuthe…
idararuthe… varoo, varoo pokam akale
[Hey footsteps, do not tire 
do not falter, come, let’s go afar]

+Image copyright to the original uploader.