One song at a time - 12. Kaalangalil aval Vasantham
(Vishwanathan Ramamurthy)
The aroma floating in from the neighbour's kitchen, a candle burning in someone's house, a kid arguing with his mother, a stranger running hard to catch the bus. You never know which almost insignificant incident will take you back to your past and make you nostalgic. Nostalgia attacks you at unexpected times and one of its secret weapons is the long forgotten song.
Given the prevalence of film music in our society, it is no surprise that the songs we heard in our early childhood remain embedded deeply in our memory . A song heard after a long time can evoke a significant part of your autobiography: your old school, playground, childhood friends, long forgotten neighbours and some random people whom you never would have thought about earlier. "Kanchi re Kanchi re" from Hare Rama Hare Krishna is one such song which helps me in time travel. It takes me to the earliest of my memories in Boiguda, Secunderabad: the street we lived in and all the friends of those times, not a single one of them in touch now. The guys in my street had formed a small band then and used to practise this song in my neighbours house and I used to watch from outside the window. The other song in this movie, 'Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka' crept on me unexpectedly during my post grad times. I had not heard that song for a long time and as soon as I heard it I was transported to my primary school days. I am sure each of you has such song(s) which are very close to your heart and can invoke that nostalgic feeling in you.
The song I will feature today is another song which is close to my heart. From the movie, 'Paava Mannippu', this is 'kalangalil aval vasantham'. Sung wonderfully by P B Sreenivas, set to tune by Vishwanathan Ramamurthy at their very peak and the master wordsmith Kannadasan's lyrics. A wonderful tune which starts with a very charming mouth-organ (harmonica). This song immediately transports me to Villupuram. This was where my grandmother was staying and we used to make an annual trip to Villupuram during my primary school days. This song used to played on the radio often and I loved it. Whenever I listen to it now unexpectedly, my mind wanders to that typical village house, with the slanting tiled roof, with a courtyard in the middle, the terrace where monkey's roamed free, the large garden behind the house and all the movies that my uncle took me to. Those were the best days we think, our vision clouded by the diffuse filter of nostalgia. (Now I realize that those were probably the toughest days for my grandmother, who having lost her husband then, was struggling to keep the house running with two children still in college. ) I still remember those days when my aunty, an avid film music fan herself, and I used to be glued to the radio when this song came on.
As you grow older, your music tastes evolve and some of the earlier favourites are discarded. Musically some songs don't age too well. Luckily for me, 'kalangalil' remains as young and as tasty today as it was when it was released a long time back. So lets go ahead and enjoy this song.
Comments
Panipoal anaippadhil kanni
Blame my less-than-half-baked knowledge of Tamil is am missing something blatant here :)
I think Kannadasan meant that she just melts when she hugs you :) But the line which ends this charanam is typical Kannadasan. 'kavignan aakinal ennai' A knockout punch :)
Kannadasan may have been inspired by the Bhagavat Gita where Krishna tells Arjuna "Amongst the months, I am Margazhi" :-)
Another interpretation of the last verse is that Kannadasan lauds the heroine in all the 3 stages - child, maiden and mother! And the "knockout" in the last line is great.
Another song having this Kannadasan touch could be "Muttukkalo kangal" - just when you are expecting another simile in the second line, he turns it around and says "thithhippathe kannam" :-)
Very true about this being a deceptive song. Sounds simple but is not.
Kannadasan was known to take such similies / metaphors from the classics, be it Tamil or Sanskrit and then work his magic. One song which comes to mind is 'paal vannam paruvam kandu' where the play on the word 'vannam' is taken from one of Kamban's poems.
I too have this experience of songs conjuring up certain specific images.Images that are firmly etched in my memory.
I listened to 'KaNdaen engum' and 'Oru vaanavil pole'(Katrinile varum geetam)on Radio Ceylon(s/w )in my small transistor radio in Udaipur when we were on North India tour.Therefore, whenever I listen to these ,my mind takes me to Udaipur.
'Idhaya mazhaiyil'(ALukkoru aasai) thorws up images of my house in Secunderabad and my Sanyo radio(valve set).
The enire write-up of yours is great and makes me nostalgic.
A lovely post on an evergreen song!
By the way, 'KalangaLil avaL vasantham' and 'MalargaLile malligai' have already come out as movies.Wonder when 'KalaigaLile avaL oviyam', 'MadhangaLil avaL margazhi', 'Katrinile avaL thendral','PaRavaigaLil avaL manippuRa'..... will be out.
At a time, when the present day Film makers-shorn of creativity- copy old film titles,this may not be a bad idea!
At least the title can be poetic you see :).
Yes, there is still a chance that we will catch the titles you have mentioned :)
Wonderful song I can relate to.
That said, if you have observed the lyrics, Kaviarsu Kanadaasan made it amazingly portable - It can be for mother as well as for the lover.He is a master of words.
cheers,
madhu