“There you and me here, what life is this”.
There are innumerable songs in Tamil literature that depict the languor of the heroine, unable to bear the separation of her husband. Especially in Sangha literature. Our poets have expressed in so many songs how her partner, lover and loved one, who has gone long distances in search of material things, has not returned for a long time, and the body is emaciated and the soul is broken and withered in longing for his separation. It can be said that the Mallipoo song released in the movie ‘Vendhu Tanintha Kadu’ has joined that line.
It is different that the poet Tamarai could have written more forcefully than this. However, this song has also touched many hearts in one way or another. Perhaps abroad or even in our country, this song expresses the longing of a wife who is mourning the separation of her husband after going for work in some area and not seeing him for a long time. When we look at this song with poetic elegance and savor it with the taste, it makes us forget the truth and make us sad.
Enchanting music!
The first thing that made me notice this song was the music. Then the lyrics of the song. That is, the music of the song and Madhusree’s sweet mesmerizing voice turned everyone’s ears towards the song. First it makes you hear that a song is good and then it makes you want to listen again and again. There is so much charm in Madhusree’s voice. (Peacock Feather.. Peacock Feather (Anbe Aaruire), Kannan Vaadi Ero Anthi Mala (Diwali), Ding Dong Koil Mani (G), En Nandane Mani Eithai (Mangatha) please remind me of these songs)
This song is kind of a sad anthem. Expressing longing. But the musical chorus between the pallavi and the stanza is beat type. Set to create a punchy, boisterous mood. The chorus starts in beat mode with “Dring Dring Dring Dring” before Madhusree’s vocals begin. But as soon as Madhushri starts singing ‘Hey Mallipoo Vachu Vachu Vaduthe’, our mind melts in a kind of sadness. And when he repeats ‘Machan when will he come’, that longing infects us.
The background of the song in the film!
Vendu Tanithana Kadu Screenplay is based on the background of working people from a small village in Tirunelveli who moved to Mumbai for work. This song gives extra sweetness to those who know the context in which it is featured. The song comes when a character calls his wife after leaving his wife and baby girl to work in Mumbai. He calls his wife while drunk too. One is always in a state of forgetfulness when one is under the influence of alcohol. Affection or anger will then be at its peak. That’s how it is. He is talking to his wife on the phone. He asks why you are not putting jasmin. To which she says why should you put jasmine at this time, you are not here. Only then he asks his wife to sing. She also starts singing Jasmine. The meaning of the song can be understood even more if you look at the situation in the film.
The meaning of the lyrics!
Although the lyrics of this song written by Thamarai are very simple, he has written them with some literary flair.
The pallavi begins as if the jasmine is dying. The refrain reads, ‘I met you only in a dream’. Those who live separately can often meet their spouses in their dreams. There is no way in person..!
If you think for a long time what is the ten-headed snake giving a kiss.. ‘What would it be like if the ten-headed snake took turns at the same time? In the blink of an eye, there is a possibility that there should be rain of kisses alternately.
The first stanza!
The first stanza is somewhat difficult to understand. The lyrics in the second stanza are straightforward. But, this is somewhat poetic. Saying something in one line makes us feel the extra meaning.
“I will look at the door and see Golam
I pour the bucket and see the water
I’m going to look for Chloe in the distance
A heavy burden on the rich woman’s chest” .. What these lines mean is that she is completely obsessed with her husband’s thoughts and is not fully focused on any work. Even what we do shows lack of self-remembering. A millionaire is crazy. Her chest is so heavy like a mad woman.
“Wait and wait and wait
Wet eyes rock the ship”.
Second stanza:
It is only in the second stanza that the lines seem to express her distress.
“It’s gone too far
Become sad
To live side by side
Seems like enough
Curfew time makes a wish
A chicken crows and cooks without enough sleep.”
I am sad that you are gone. I am happy to live next to you. And so she says, and narrates her nocturnal woes. That is, when the town is quiet, a wish comes to my mind. It means the desire to think of the husband as well. How long will that desire last? till Kozhikode. Waking up without sleeping indicates body heat. Heat is the heat of longing.
“There you are and here I am
what a life
“Enough will come without saying enough.”
This is the most powerful word in this song. ‘It is enough that you lived there and I lived here. She pleads angrily, ‘Come here’. She asks if that’s how it is.. without saying it.. without saying it and come in person and give me a pleasant surprise.
At the end dripped poetry!!
Always after the end of the second stanza the refrain comes again. No new taxes will come. But, in the end, Tamara has given such amazing lines. So poetic.
“Uttaratta Pathe, I am also going to sell..
Oh, what a nostalgia this is
Raise the single flag with great breath
Dry the cloth”
After saying how long this is longing.. She breathes and says, “Wave the cloth flag” and the cloth dries in the heat of the breath. It means that the moisture dries up. Her body is so hot and she sighs longingly.
“Like fake love I have to talk softly
If you hear a noise, you should fall asleep
When will machan come
When will machan come”
Like fake love, we have to talk softly when the wife talks to the husband, and when the husband talks to the wife, it is somewhat intimate. Then they will talk in some kind of hesitation that no one will listen to them. He says that is what he is talking about as a fake. She says that when she hears someone coming, she pretends to sleep for a while and pretends to sleep.
At the end, the lyrics end with the hope that..
Surely this song will touch the heart of the separated husbands and wives living abroad.