Paayum Oli Nee Enakku - A Poet and his Muse
Paayum Oli Nee Enakku is one of those poems that I would show you if you ask me how I'd want to be loved. Bharathiyar wrote a whole ballad dedicated to his wife, Chellamma, quite literally singing her praises. I waited for so long to translate this poem because I wanted to be able to translate the whole thing in one post, but now I realized it would be way too long for me to ever write, or for you to ever read. So here we go, I've tried my best to translate the first three stanzas of the poem!
பாயும் ஒளி நீ எனக்கு, பார்க்கும் விழி நான் உனக்கு தோயும் மது நீ எனக்கு தும்பி அடி நான் உனக்கு வாயுரைக்க வருகுதில்லை வாழி நின்றன் மேன்மை எல்லாம் தூய சுடர் வான் ஒளியே சூறை அமுதே கண்ணம்மா.
paayum oli nee enakku paarkkum vizhi naan unakku thoayum madhu nee enakku thumpi adi naan unakku vaayuraikka varugudhillai vaazhi nindRan maenmai ellaam thooya sudar vaan oLiyae sooRai amudhae kaNNammaa
You are the light that leaps into my eyes, I am the eye that perceives you; You are dripping nectar to me, I am a bee for you; I can't describe all your glory through words (a more literal translation would be, "through my mouth" but that sounds weird in English, doesn't it? Bharathiyar also uses the word "vaazhi" to address Kannamma in this poem. That's basically an expletive which is hard to translate literally into English, but it's used to call a person whom you want to prosper. "Vaazhga" means "may you prosper" and "vaazhi" is a person who prospers.) Oh Kannamma, the pure flame of the light of heaven and intense divine nectar. (Here Bharathiyar uses a very interesting word, "soorai." This word is typically used to describe a whirlwind, "soorai kaatru" or the act of looting "soorayaadal." However, he's used this word that describes the intensity of nature's vagaries and the violence of unlawfully plundering someone to describe amudham or nectar. This portrays the duality of being in love, especially as a sensitive artist. You feel emotions that are so intense that they feel like violence, but it is also so sweet it feels like divine nectar.)
வீணை அடி நீ எனக்கு மேவும் விரல் நான் உனக்கு பூணும் வடம் நீ எனக்கு புது வைரம் நான் உனக்கு காணும் இடம் தோரும் நின்றன் கண்ணி னொளி வீசுதடீ மானுடைய பேரரசி வாழ்வு நிலையே கண்ணம்மா.
veeNai adi nee enakku maevum viral naan unakku pooNum vadam nee enakku pudhu vairam naan unakku kaaNum idam thoarum nindRan kaNNin oLi visudhadi maanudaiya paerarasi vaazhvu nilaiyae kaNNammaa
You are the veena (string instrument) to me, I am the fingers that lovingly play the instrument (the word he's used, "maevu" means to desire, to attach, to manifest and/or assume, to showcase the intensity but also the subtlety of this relationship between the fingers and the instrument. The fingers won't just play the veena, they will lovingly caress its strings. That's the meaning that's conveyed here) You're the threading cord to me, I am a new diamond to you; Every place that I see is lit up with the light of your eyes (I feel like this is more like, every place that I see feels more radiant because I see it with your lit-up perception, if that makes sense? Think along the vibes of Tum Se Hi from Jab We Met) Oh Kannamma, the empress of all humans, the thing that sustains my life (here "vaazhvu nilai" can also mean the basis of life, and I think Bharathiyar has used the term to give multiple meanings to this line: one meaning that she sustains him, but also that she gives birth to their two daughters, thereby bringing new life into the world. Another meaning could be that while Bharathiyar wrote and was mostly absorbed in his intellectual ideas and empathies, it was his wife Chellamma - whom this poem is dedicated to - who managed the house, the finances and literally sustained all of them).
வான மழை நீ எனக்கு வண்ண மயில் நான் உனக்கு பானம் அடி நீ எனக்கு பாண்டம் அடி நான் உனக்கு ஞான ஒழி வீசுதடி நங்கை நின்றன் ஜோதி முகம் ஊனமறு நல்லழகே ஊரு சுவையே கண்ணம்மா
vaana mazhai nee enakku vaNNa mayil naan unakku paanam adi nee enakku paaNdam adi naan unakku nYaana ozhi veesudhadi nanggai nindRan Joadhi mugam oonamaRu nallazhagae ooru suvaiyae kaNNammaa
You are the rain, and I am the colorful peacock; You are the beverage, and I am your vessel; Your radiant face radiates the light of knowledge, Oh Kannamma, the beauty with no flaws, the taste that lingers.
