Falling in love is natural, but is feeling as follows normal? In this article, we scrutinise some lines of the song “Manasukkul Oru Puyal” from the film “Star” directed by Praveen Gandhi.
“மூச்சு விடவும் மறந்து விட்டேன் எனக்கென்று பெயரில்லை அன்பே என் உடலில்லை இங்கே என் உயிரில்லை உயிரே என்ன புதுமை அட தூக்கம் என் இடக்கண்ணில் கனா என் வலக்கண்ணில் நிஜமா”
“I forgot to breathe out, too. I have no name for me now. I don’t have a body, O my love. And my life is not here, O my life! What a miracle! My left eye drowses while my right eye dreams. Is all this real?” asks a girl.
This verse reveals that a lady and a man are leading a love relationship. Once the lady has fallen in love, she starts feeling unusual things, unlike before. So, she concludes to converse with her man about all of what she feels. At first, she says to him that she forgot even to breathe out in the past. Then, she adds that there is no name and body for her, and her life is also not here. Finally, calling the man her life, she tells him that her left eye alone falls asleep, while her right eye is in a deep dream.
Now, it is time to delve into these unique lines! As we all know well, this verse is about a maiden’s unusual ordeals. Even the first line alone may raise many questions in our minds. Can a woman forget to exhale when she is in love? And how does she sing so well if this is true? No, this cannot happen at the time she does sing. Instead, as a result of her love, this might have ensued in her past, I sense. That is why the lyricist has used past tense.
And to elucidate the following line, when a woman is in love, all she has in her mind is none but her man’s name. Hence, if anyone asks her name, she will always take some time to answer them. It is what the lyricist hints at in this line. Of course, I have also been in a similar situation once.
Moving on to the ensuing line, I think the lady might be enduring sallow skin, an anaemic condition known as ‘Green Sickness‘, which is primarily found in lonely, young women. In Tamil, it is called ‘Pasalai Noi’. If this is not the case, what else does the lyricist mean by the phrase ‘என் உடலில்லை‘? And when she is seized by her beloved there, how will she have a full and fulfilling life here? The lyricist has implied only this in the line. To prove her point further, she does denominate him ‘my life‘ soon after.
Marvelling at something lastly, she tells us that at present, her eyes are acting oddly. Her left eye is in sleep, while the right one is in dreams. Though, it seems that even she, the one who feels this, doesn’t know if this is true or not. And we cannot argue against her point either.
The optic nerve of my left eye is weaker than that of the right due to increased intraocular pressure inside it. Because of this, the left eye would be somnolent when I had to work at night sometimes. Whereas, my right eye would always be wide awake and ask me to work. Thus, if the word ‘dream’ refers to our ambition, what Poet Vairamuthu has written may be true. Yet, if that word refers to what we have at night daily, what he has penned in that line is not authentic scientifically. Well, is this only the reason that she calls all this a miracle?
