How Much, Baby, Do We Really Need?

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Jyotsana’s comments on Amardeep’s post last week reminded me of my favorite Kannadasan song

Chorus
பால் இருக்கும் பழம் இருக்கும் பசி இருக்காது paal irukkum pazham irukkum pasi irukkaathu
பஞ்சணையில் காற்று வரும் தூக்கம் வராது panchaNaiyil kaaRRu varum thookkam varaathu
  
Verse #1
நாலு வகை குணம் இருக்கும் ஆசை விடாது naalu vakai guNam irukkum aasai viDaathu
நடக்க வரும் கால்களுக்கும் துணிவிருக்காது naDakka varum kaalkaLukkum thuNivirukkaathu
  
Verse #2
கட்டவிழ்ந்த கண் இரண்டும் உங்களைத் தேடும் – பாதி kaTTavizhntha kaN iraNDum unkaLaith thEDum – paathi
கனவு வந்து மறுபடியும் கண்களை மூடும் kanavu vanthu maRupaDiyum kaNkaLai mooDum
பட்டு நிலா வான் வெளியில் காவியம் பாடும் – கொண்ட paTTu nilaa vaan veLiyil kaaviyam paaDum – koNDa
பள்ளியறைப் பெண் மனதில் போர்க்களம் ஆகும் paLLiyaRaip peN manathil pOrkkaLam aakum
  
Verse #3
காதலுக்குச் சாதி இல்லை மதமும் இல்லையே kaathalukku chaathi illai mathamum illaiyE
கண்கள் பேசும் வார்த்தையிலே பேதம் இல்லையே kaNkaL pEsum vaarththaiyilE bEtham illaiyE
வேதமெல்லாம் காதலையே மறுப்பதில்லையே – அது vEthamellaam kaathalaiyE maRuppathillaiyE – athu
மேகம் செய்த உருவம்போல மறைவதில்லையே mEkam seytha uruvampOla maRaivathillaiyE

I’m terrible at translating in a way that makes the English sound even nearly as moving as the Tamil, so I’m just going to translate my favorite bits. I know some of you can do better, so please do in the comments.

Chorus:

We’ll have milk, we’ll have fruit, we won’t go hungry
A breeze will blow across our bed, we won’t get any sleep

Verse #2 (first two lines):

My disoriented eyes will search for you
A dream will come and close them again

Verse #3:

Love has neither caste nor religion
The words our eyes speak are the same
The Vedas never denied love
It [love] does not vanish like the shapes clouds make

There are many reasons I love it so much. I’m a real sucker for songs whose message is, “We might not have that much, but we have enough and we have each other.”

I think any one is damn lucky to feel that way, and luckier to look into another person’s eyes and realize they feel the same way. And even luckier if they’ve had to struggle to get there.

17 thoughts on “How Much, Baby, Do We Really Need?”

  1. I really like the last line:

    “It [love] does not vanish like the shapes clouds make”

    Of all the metaphors in the song, this is one is the most powerful, simply because it creates a very tenuous, dreamlike atmosphere. I’ll just speak for myself but it reminds me of that situation, having a great dream and then waking up in the morning only to forget it (but remember having a great dream). Almost like a group of clouds that you mess up when you get up.

    “The Vedas never denied love”.

    Very interesting. You never hear these kinds of lines in the (admittedly few) mainstream Bollywood songs I’ve heard.

  2. Thanks Vivek for the hat-tip! Yeeeaaaars ago, in the mists of lost time, Jayakanthan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayakanthan was in the process of scripting his book, Yarukkaga Azhuthan, into a film, when the producer began to pile on demand after demand. Jayakanthan gamely parried until the producer asked for a song sequence to be added to the movie, none had been scripted. Finding it impossible to deny, Jayakanthan insisted that it would be a song written by a poet of his choice. So it happened that Kannadasan walked into Jayakanthan’s offices one morning. After the customary ice-breaker (a few stiff whiskies) the poem was written down in a few minutes, and then the conversation began, we are told. Unfortunately the only fly on the wall was squashed!

  3. another attempt at translating could be The Vedas never forgot love and it(love) does not become hidden Like the images that clouds create

    Kannadasan, vairamuthu, tharmarai – and even the kalaignar himself – wonderful lyricists and poets

  4. another attempt at translating could be The Vedas never forgot love and it(love) does not become hidden Like the images that clouds create

    I beg to differ; I think Vivek’s is a more appropriate translation as the word is “marupathillaiye” and not “marapathillaiye”. Some of Kannadasan’s lyrics are outstanding – simple yet chaste language.

  5. Is the Indian community more into poetry type stuff than a lot of other communities? I see a lot of that stuff on sepia. I have a cousin who is into the whole cultural scene. I am not judging anyone. Just curious what others feel about so many literature/coffee house event related posts populating sepiamutiny. I personally find it boring. BUt to each his own.

  8. I really despair for my people.

    Love has neither caste nor religion

    This is nothing but defeatism–yeah, no resistance to the soul-harvesters or jihadis.

    We’ll have milk, we’ll have fruit, we won’t go hungry

    Yeah, being poor is ok.

  10. Beautiful. It makes me sad that I have such poor grasp of written Tamil. I’m not an ABCD, but always an NRT (non-resident Tamilian) even in India.

    I’d love to see more literary stuff on SM. And Vivek, great riposte!

  12. Verse 1: Something about having four types of gunas, but will not stanch desire. The legs that wish to walk will not have strength.

    Correct me if I’m wrong.

    And that’s the Memorial Union terrace on Lake Mendota. 🙂

  13. @vivek

    Pravin, if two people not sleeping while a breeze blows across their bed is boring, what’s exciting?

    aaah ,vivek, you don’t seriously want me to drive away all the family friendly audience of this blog with my reponse. What’s exciting is if two people are ……. while breeze blows across their bed..

    OK , I admit, I am one of those with arrested development and I am actually looking forward to the revival of Beavis and Butthead on MTV(it is supposedly true).

  15. what? no love for KAVIGNAR VAALI? He of “lalaaku dol dappi ma, kanne gangamma” and “mukkaala mukkabula laila, o laila!”?

    “Our legs will not even have strength to walk.” is certainly a much more poetic description of lust draining the singers than Vairamuthu’s constant allusions to “vervai” (sweat)! (I assume the 4 gunas means that “lust” is added to the traditional satva, rajas, tamas, but I am guessing here.)

    Kannadasan was considered quite the poet, at least by people in my parents’ generation. My dad loves the lyrics of Krishna’s eulogy to Karna, as Karna lies dying in the battlefield with his chariot wheel is stuck in the mud. What makes the story especially poignant, of course, is that Krishna, is instrumental in creating the circumstances for Karna’s death by taking advantage of Karna’s generosity. Pliss to ignore seductive bedroom eyes and breathless heaving by Sivaji. For those who understand Tamil, the song is here.

  16. The first two lines (chorus) should be translated as:

    There’s milk, there’s fruit, we don’t feel hunger A breeze will blow across our bed, we don’t get any sleep

    The message being, there is plenty of great food, but we don’t feel hunger; a soft, comfy bed with cool breeze, but we don’t get any sleep