What makes anything everlasting, perpetual, immortal and even beyond time? Do these have some special powers or have these been granted boons? Or is it that ‘it just happens’ without any reason?
By now many are aware that the
Tamizh Changam poetry is more than 2500 years old and yet these
are alive and kicking(in the tongues of scholars and in the minds of the
literati) despite so many things having changed in two millennium. How and Why?
Allow me to quote a poem from
one of these works, before I attempt to answer that question:
தொடி நெகிழ்ந்தனவே, தோள் சாயினவே,
விடும் நாண் உண்டோ தோழி விடர் முகைச்
சிலம்புடன் கமழும் அலங்கு குலைக் காந்தள்
நறும் தாது ஊதும் குறுன்சிறைத் தும்பி
பாம்பு உமிழ் மணியின் தோன்றும்
முந்தூர் மேனிய மழைக் கிழவோற்கே.
Says she:
My bangles are
slipping; My arms are getting leaner by the second.
Do I still have
any modesty left(to lose)?
The bees spread
the fragrance of the Malabar Blue lilies
That resemble the
gems spat by the snake
Oh! My man who
rules the mountain surrounded by the thorny bamboo fence.
What does this convey to you?
The angst of the girl who pines for his man? Her ecstatic reminiscence on the
time spent together? Her helplessness?
Forget all these for the time
being and look at the way the poem is structured with focus on simile and
contrasts. The little bees and the pollen here indicate the union while the
snake and the gems(contrasts) depict the separation.
Bees spread the fragrance.
Likewise, her man spread good things about her. Or put simply, fragrance here
symbolises Love.
‘Bangles are coming off the
hands’ – shows her angst.
‘I have no modesty even to
lose’- does this need any elaboration at all?
Coming to think of it, each
line is a small poem by itself and doesn’t this explain the reason for its
immortality? By the way, this poem written by Aasiriyar PerunkaNNanaar,
is part of KuRunthogai, which is part of Ettuththogai which is
part Tamizh Changam literature, which, as per history and research dates
back to BC 500.
Talking about immortality,
this composer’s works too will fall under that category though sceptics would
jump and comment that it is too early to say and ask ‘where is 2500 and
where is 48’? Though they are partly correct, I have my own reasons
for my presumption and the collection of posts here would list out that reasons
though not in a specific order. But more than anything else, the fact that the
compositions sound fresh even after decades at a time when what is considered a
‘hit’, disappears even before one bats an eyelid, is proof enough to suggest
that the presumption might turn out to be a reality.
Today, I am taking up ‘EnnuLLe
EnnuLLe’ from VaLLi(1993) as one of the examples. A song
well-known to many, it is also packed with intricacies, not known to many.
First and foremost, it would
disappoint people who look for ragas in each and every song, it I said
that the composition cannot be classified under a particular raga. It
just follows the minor scale of Western Classical Music. More on this,
in a while.
Secondly, there is not a
single percussion instrument in the song throughout the Pallavi, interludes
and the CharaNams. There is a rider here. The composition starts with
the percussion ruling the roost for 1 minute and 45 seconds, but
the moment the melodic instruments start playing, the percussion retires. In
fact, this segment (percussion) is not part of the normal audio one gets to
listen, though it is part of the OST of the movie.
Let us get going and
experience the Laya from the Raaja to start with:
Dheem - - ta/dheem
- - ta
ta ki ta ta ki ta dheem
-/- ta ka ta ki ta dheem (twice)
Dheem dheem ta -(twicw)/ ta
ki ta ta ki ta dheem -/- ta ka ta ki ta dheem
Ta ka dhi mi/ta ka
jhanu(8 times)
Dheem dheem ta ka
ta ka/ki ta ta ka ta ka ta ri ki ta ta ka
Dheem dheem dheem
dheem/ ta ka ta ri ki ta ta ka
Ta ka dhi mi/ta ka
jhunu(3 times)/ ta ka dhi taangida ta ka ta ri ki ta ta ka
Ta ka dhi mi/ta ka
jhunu/ ta ka dhi taangida ta ka ta ri ki ta ta ka (mel kaalam) – twice
Ta- ta – dheem/ ta
ki ta dheem/ta ka dhi mi dheem/ ta dhinginnaththom/ta dhinginnaththom/ta
dhinginnaththom
Ta – dhi -/ta
taangu/ ta – dhi /ta taangu/ta – dhi/ta taangu
Ta-dhi – ta
Ta- ta – dheem/ ta
ki ta dheem/ta ka dhi mi dheem/ ta dhinginnaththom/ta dhinginnaththom/ta
dhinginnaththom
Ta – dhi -/ta
taangu/ ta – dhi /ta taangu/ta – dhi/ta taangu
Ta-dhi – ta
Ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka jhunu(12 times)
Ta - ki ta ta
ka/dhi- ki ta ta ka/ta - ki ta ka/dhi – ki ta ka
Ta - - -/ta - - -.
After these labyrinthine alleys, what we see and hear is something totally different.
There are three layers- one
with the lead guitar, second with the rhythm guitar and third
with the bass guitar. If the third layer shows the first layer in a
different form, the second layer just backs the two layers. If you are confused
and even bewildered by this line, let me try and explain.
The lead guitar plays a
melody (which very soon we learn, is the melody of the Pallavi) in the minor
scale. Interpreted in Carnatic language, this is Nata Bhairavi
scale, but there is a catch here too. The entire bit eschews the note ‘ni’,
the variant of which differentiates this scale with that of the Gowrimanohari
scale, with the former being known by the name Diatonic minor and
the latter going by the name Melodic minor.
Now, the bass guitar
just plays the notes played by the lead guitar in the lower-octave.
This is somewhat strange because generally in his compositions, the bass
guitar plays a totally different sets of notes either while backing the
lead instruments or while playing along with the vocals. Next, the rhythm
guitar keeps playing ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi throughout. Hope the
layers are understood now.
The chorus joins and
hums the melody of the lead guitar even as the instruments continue to
play. Can we call this a fourth layer?
More layers are seen in the Pallavi
when the lead singer-Swarnalatha- takes over. The chorus sings in
a different octave(lower) giving that effect of Harmony.
But what is amazing is that the three different guitars continue in the
background, albeit in a subdued tone.
Once layered, will it be
possible for these to disappear on their own? Surely not especially if the
layering is done by a master composer. We have three layers again the first
segment of the first interlude. One set of strings is beguiling.
The second set is enticing and the third set, soft and supple.
The double bass joins
the set now and there is the fourth layer again. The brass flute
interjects vivifying the atmosphere and one sees the different dimensions of
the minor scale. The strings play sustained melody now and then even as
the flute trots up and down assiduously. It is time for harmony
again and as the chorus sings in harmony, the rhythm guitar
backs it with continuous 1 2 3 4 with grace.
The layering continues in the CharaNams
with the alluring flute and the translucent strings charting their own
course with unique melodies, playing along and in between, to make it
grandiloquent.
As mentioned, the lines in the
CharaNams straddle between the Diatonic minor (Nata Bhairavi)
and Melodic minor (Gowrimanohari) with the last two lines
following the latter and the first two lines following the former.
The strings play a
movement twice. Does it sound pensive? Or does it sound mystical?
If this occurrence in the
beginning of the second interlude, what follows leaves us spell bound.
The strings go in higher-octave; another set just backs it with
sustained melody; the double bass plays with a touch of nonchalance; the
chorus sings in harmony with the strings in the background; the cello
just follows up with a very subtle touch.
We see the light. Is it the
Light of Eternity?
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