Blog
A Requiem for Earth
by Lumiere, May-21st , 2018
Now what sort of a post is this one?
A song in a language we are no experts in by any standards- Tamizh?
What is making us do this now?
It is highly possible we are still reeling under the heartwarming nostalgic experience of watching our high rise generation of urban kids frolicking barefoot in heaps of mud in the recently concluded Red Earth Nature Play workshop session where Lumiere was also a partner.
It is also likely that that experience suddenly made us more susceptible to the feel of this song we chanced upon on the net .
Anyway we are sure that you do know by now that a lot of the stuff we put up here are simple outpourings with no pretence at either authority or erudition but heartfelt and sometimes thought provoking .
.Yet we even tried digging translations for this song despite our ignorance of the language because
1. The visuals called out to our repository of memory working with Earth on our farms.
2. The tenor of the woman’s singing voice called out to distant rural roots.
3. The simple lyrics bespoke far too strongly of the laboring migrant’s angst of displacement & deprivation that, like invisible spores, saturates the very air of a growing metro like Bangalore overflowing with immigrants of all varieties .
4. We definitely caught the unmistakable smell of sweat and the sharp salt of suppressed tears and felt at the same time the inspiring steel of sheer human resilience
5. Not only that ,we thought also heard through the language we do not know so well a cry for earth , a remembrance of a life better connected with Nature , even a stray train of empathic thought on behalf of forms of non human life that is too rare to pass up acknowledged or be missed by us at Lumiere
Forgive us errors and do feel free to correct them even as you appreciate the spirit behind this sharing (This is specially to native speakers of the beautiful ancient language of Tamizh who are part of the Lumiere Family).
“Nature & Lumiere-Nature’s Partner
Uniting Hearts ever ...”
Lyrics of Senga Soola Kaara from Vaagai Sooda Vaa
(Sung By Anitha/Lyrics By Vairamuthu/Music By M Ghibran)
Freely translated to English.
Senga soolai kaara
Senga soolai kaara
kaanja kallu vendhu pochu vaada
megam koodi irutti pochu vaada
O man who makes bricks
The brick is baked, come now
Grey clouds are gathering, come soon.
sutta sutta mannu kallachu
natta natta kallu veedachu
nochu nochu patta namma pozhappu thaan
pacha mannaa pochu
The Mud we baked became bricks
The brick we placed became houses
But this hard slog that is our livelihood remains
Like Mud unbaked .
vitha vitha kallu ennachu
vinna vinna thottu ninaachu
mannu kuzhi pola namma parambarai pallam aaghi pochu
What became of those sold bricks
They stand now touching the sky.
But people who make bricks like us
are stuck deep inside the mud pit
Ayyanaar saami
azhudhu theerthu paarthom
soranai ketta saami
soththa thaane kettom ?
O Lord Ayyanaar
We tried weeping before you
Uncaring Lord!
We only asked for some rice !
kaalai vaasa kangu poda
kalli mulli vetti vaada
Like a bull, come soon
Cutting through thorns and stone,come soon!
Senga soolai kaara
Senga soolai kaara
kaanja kallu vendhu pochu vaada
megam koodi irutti pochu vaada
O man who makes bricks
The brick is baked, come now
Grey clouds are gathering, come soon.
mannu mannu mattum loraaga
makka makka paanju vaaraaga
mazha mazha vandhu
mannu karaigayil makka enge poga ?
The Earth gets dug and dug
People keep arriving in droves
When rain pours and the mud melts
where will the people go ?
indha kali mannu vegaadhu
enga thalai murai maaradhu
manna kindi pona
mannu puzhuvukku veedu vaasal yedhu ?
This mud cannot be baked
Our generation ,will they not change?
when you keep digging away the earth
where will the insects go and live ?
Ayyanaar saami
kannu thorandhu paaru
enga veettu saami
unne vitta yaaru ?
O Lord Ayyanaar
Open your eyes and see
Lord of my home
Who else can take care us other than you?
edhir kaalam unakkagga
yettu yettu vachu vaada
The Future is yours
Join with brisk steps
thanthana thaane thanthana thaane
vervai thanni veettukulle
velakku yethum vaada
Swiftly enter, let us light the Lamp
Iin this house damp with sweat
