What happened when a lady’s love was auctioned? In this article, I summarise a song from the film “Ninaivellam Nithya“, directed by C. V. Sridhar.
“கானல் நீர்போல் எந்தன் காதல் கண்ணீரில் என் கண்கள் இன்றில்லை என் தென்றல் தொடுவானம் என் சொந்தங்கள்”
“My love is like a mirage. My eyes are in tears. Today, there is not my breeze. The horizon has become my relatives,” she says as she cries.
To save her man, who struggles for life, the lady is asked to sacrifice her love. Although she accepts to do this, her heart secretes tears in her eyes. This prelusion defines her pains. She tells us that her love is like a mirage. If you can’t get the word’s usage, the mirage, produced by very hot air, is an image. It will seem far away if we see it, but it does not exist as we thought, for example, water in a desert. The love that she did crave to achieve above all is now unattainable. Since she can’t be with the man, she calls her love an optical illusion.
If balls are in the water, the water should have submerged them. As her eyes are in tears, it becomes clear that her tears have drowned her eyes. How painful she feels! The breeze that blew for this rose until the day before is nowhere now. Well, this line is a direct reference to the song “Rojavai Thalattum Thendral“. If the rose lives without the breeze, won’t its eyes sweat like this? And as she is left alone, her relatives are none other than the horizon. For you to learn what it does mean, the horizon is a line where the earth and the sky appear to join. It will seem near if we see it from the shore, but it will move further if we try to get closer. She does bemoan that her connection with the man is just like that distant horizon.
“உயிரொடு சேர்ந்த உறவு பாதை விலகிப் போகாதே கடலொடு சேர்ந்த கங்கை மீண்டும் திரும்பிப் போகிறதே”
“A relative who is united with life! Don’t deviate from the path. The Ganges that joined the sea is going back,” she says with shock.
Though the lovers lived in the same place, they did conclude not to have intercourse. But this didn’t preclude them from being interconnected. Even if she decides to sacrifice her love, she doesn’t want him to leave. Because in the pride path of love, he is unified with her life. She does finish the sentence by saying that the Ganges that met with the sea returns to their place.
“கண்ணில் நீர் உள்ள வரைக்கும் எந்தன் உயிர் இங்கு இருக்கும் கண்ணில் நீர் உள்ள வரைக்கும் எந்தன் உயிர் இங்கு இருக்கும் சோகங்கள் என் காதல் பரிசாகும்”
“As long as my eyes have tears, I will be living here. The griefs that I bear are the gifts of love for sure,” she does assure.
Her life is not in the hands of his, but it is in the glands of her eyes. If they produce tears, she will live for years. Sometimes crying can be a sign of confidence. She says that she can live until she cries. Adding to this, she feels that the prize of her love is the pain she carries. This line explains her endurance.
“காதலை பலி கொடுத்து காதலனை வாழ வைத்தேன் ஒரு குயில் வானில் பறக்க எனது சிறகை தானம் தந்தேன்”
“I sacrificed my love and let my lover live. For a cuckoo to fly in the sky, I bestowed the wing of mine,” she does explain her pain.
To save her man, who has been injured in his abdomen, she hasn’t had the money for his operation. So, she begs his parents to pay, to which they say that they can spend for their son, but not for her future husband. Distraught, she agrees to separate. For the sake of her beloved, she does forsake her love. For a cuckoo to take wing, this dove does break its wings.
“பூக்களே மண்ணில் விழுங்கள் சாபமே எந்தன் வரங்கள் பூக்களே மண்ணில் விழுங்கள் சாபமே எந்தன் வரங்கள் கன்னத்தில் கண்ணீரின் காயங்கள்”
“Fall on the ground, O flowers! My boons are nothing but these swears. On my cheek, there are wounds of tears.” Her words are severe.
A lady flower has lost her lover. And as she cries for the loss, her tears make slash on her cheeks. Thus, she curses other flowers to shed their petals in the soil.
How can she curse the flowers all around to fall on the ground? Isn’t this natural for every plant in our environment? Yes, it is. If you had read “Silappatikaram“, you would have come across many incidents like this. Yet, this is not worse than Kannagi’s curse.
Vairamuthu is the lyricist of this masterpiece. It is said that the heart of every poet is very soft. Yes, the curse that he gives defines it. Ilaiyaraaja is the song’s musician. Just like us, his violin cries for the heroine. If you feel the first vocable, you will know why S. Janaki is called South India’s Nightingale. That’s all, dear all. I will meet you with my next article.
