(Translation on request for LJ and HJ)
Aarathi, a shy dreamer, sings poetry about a girl blossoming into a woman at an event in her college. A song about how a sleeping dew drop wakes up into a blossoming rose from the movie Pranayavarnangal.
To listen to the song scroll to the end.
+Varamanjal aadiya raavinte maaril, oru manju thulli urangi..
nimineram enthino thengi nilavin viraham, ennalum mayangi..
[On the bosom of the night where the blessed turmeric swayed, a dew drop slept
For a blinking second the loneliness of moon sobbed unexplainedly, even then it slept]
Pulari than chumbana kumkumamalle rithunandini aakki?
avale panineer malar aakki?
[Isn’t it the vermillion kiss by the dawn which turned her into a woman?
Transformed her into a blossoming rose?]
+Varamanjal aadiya raavinte maaril, oru manju thulli urangi..
[On the bosom of the night where the blessed turmeric swayed, a dew drop slept]
Kili vannu konjiya jaalakavaathil kaliyaayi chaariyathu aare?
Mudi izha kothiya kattin mozhiyil madhuvaayi maariyathu aare?
[The window pane where the bird crooned, who closed it playfully?
In the words of the breeze who combed the hair strands, who turned into nectar?]
Avalude mizhiyil karimashiyaale kanavukal ezhuthiyathu aare?..
ninavukal ezhuthiyathu aare?..
[In her eyes, with black ink/kaajal, who penned all those dreams?
who wrote all those thoughts?]
Avale tharalitha aakkiyathu aare?..
[Who made her tremulous?]
+Varamanjal aadiya raavinte maaril, oru manju thulli urangi..
nimineram enthino thengi nilavin viraham, ennalum mayangi..
[On the bosom of the night where the blessed turmeric swayed, a dew drop slept
In a blinking second, for some reason, the loneliness of moonlight sobbed, even then it slept]
Mizhi peythu thornnoru saayanthanathil mazhayaayi chaariyathu aare?
Dalamarmaram nertha chillakalkkullil kuyil aayi maariyathu aare?
[On the evening when the eyes showered and stopped who drizzled down as rain?
On the branches where leaves murmured who transformed into a cuckoo?]
Avalude kavilil thoduviralaale kavithakal ezhuthiyathu aare?..
Mukulitha aakiyathu aare?
[On her checks, with the index finger, who wrote poems?
Who made her blossom?]
Avale pranayini akkiyathu aare?
[Who made her into a lover?]
+Varamanjal aadiya raavinte maaril, oru manju thulli urangi..
nimineram enthino thengi nilavin viraham, ennalum mayangi..
[On the bosom of the night where the blessed turmeric swayed, a dew drop slept
For a blinking second the loneliness of moon sobbed unexplainedly, even then it slept]
Pulari than chumbana kumkumamalle rithunandini aakki?
avale panineer malar aakki?
[Isn’t it the vermillion kiss by the dawn which turned her into a woman?
Transformed her into a blossoming rose?]
To listen to the song, click play:
*This beautiful song is a poem penned by Sachidanandan Puzhankara for the movie, tuned by Vidyasagar and sung beautifully by Sujatha Mohan for which she bagged the Kerala State Award that year. The lyrisict brings out the beauty of an adolescent girl turning into a young woman by describing her as a bud which blossoms during dawn after a long night. Here is an article about the lyricist’s and singer’s thoughts on the song if you can read Malayalam.
+As Nikhil mentioned in the comments below, the first line’s poetic meaning would be ‘a night where moonlight danced’ where the turmeric is being compared to the color of moonlight.
As always, awesomeeeeeeeee!
i had a doubt regarding the line ‘avale tharalitha aakiyathaare’?
is it a mistake in the song itself? , (i repeated the song and heard the same )
isnt it supposed to be ‘thalaritha’
It is coming from the word തരളം which means shaking, tremulous. So here my interpretation is she is shaking with excited nervousness of turning into a woman.
“Where the blessed turmeric swayed” is a very literal translation. I don’t think that’s what is implied there. The poet is describing “the moonlit night” as “varamanjaladiya”.
Thank you. I took the meaning from the interview he did which is linked in the notes I provided. I also went back and forth on this interpretation like – Can “aadiya” mean “chaarthiya” as in adorned in blessed turmeric? But I couldn’t definitively find a meaning for aadiya which could mean adorn. So you may have a point, I’ll add this interpretation in the notes too.
Oh wait! I think I get what you are saying – a night where the moonlight danced. That sounds much better. Really appreciate your input! I’ll amend it.