All from an old film song…(An idea remix)
[A tale adapted from the evergreen Malayalam film song, ‘Vakappoomaram Choodum’, penned by Bichu Tirumala]
Prologue: I have this particular MP3 collection in my car, a random assortment of old Malayalam songs from that golden period of Malayalam music, the 1960-1970 range, where legends like Devarajan, Baburaj, A.T.Ummer, Vayalar combined with the inimitable Yesudas to redefine the musical sense of the average Malayalee. One particular song, ‘Vaaka Poomaram Choodum’, sung melodiously by Yesudas, written by Bichu Tirumala and tuned by A.T.Ummer; a song which I have always taken for granted, recently caught my special attention. What sucked me in were the lyrics, and the brilliant picture which it painted in my mind. Without wasting much time, let me tell you the lyrics.
Watch out for the highlighted letters, which give you an indication of the superb rhyming nature of these poetic lyrics. The translation might not be as beautiful, bear with me for a while…
Vakapoomaramchoodum Varilampoonkulakkullil
Vadakakkorumuriyeduthu vadakkanthennal, Pandoru Vadakkanthennal…
(A Northerly wind, once took a room for rent, in the flowery canopy of a tree…)
Vaathilil vannethinokkiya vasanthapanchamipennin
Valakilukkamkettukoritharichu ninnu, thennal tharichu ninnu…
(The wind was thrilled to bits, by the sight of the Moonlight lady who peeped in through the door…)
Viral njodichu vilicha neram, viralkadichavalarikil vannu
Vidhuvadhanayayi vivashayaay avalorungi ninnu..naanamkunungi ninnu…
(When he beckoned her towards him, she came in, and stood besides him, shy-faced, coyly, readily…)
Tharalahridayavikaralolan thennal avalude chodinukarnnu
Thanuvanithalirshayyayil thanu thalarnnu veenu..thammil punarnnu veenu…
(The romantic wind, sucked her lips and then they fell into bed, overwhelmed, together in an embrace…)
Pularivannu vilichaneram, avanunarnnonnavale nokki
Avaladuthilla akaleyango maranjupoyi, thennal parannumpoyi…
(When the wind woke up in the morning, there was no moonlight around, and he flew away, far away…)
How this post resulted: The characterization of the inanimate Wind and the Moonlight and this tiny tale, caught my imagination in a big way. The imagination which compared the tree to a room, the wind to a romantic male and the moonlight (which peeps in through the leaves) to a lady, and the inevitable tragic end, where moonlight fades away in the sun – it just swept me off my feet.
This was the inspiration when I set out to paint this little story on a big canvas myself. To tie the lovely, mysterious loose ends in the poem, to make a more rounded, complete tale. To come up with a humble adaptation, which I hope, would do full justice to the imaginative wizardry of Bichu Tirumala. More like a remix, a remix of the original idea of the song 
.And here it is…
THE TALE OF A SUMMER RAIN
He was a rogue wind. Born on a fierce summer day, he thundered down the arid valleys, blew atop the dry hills and on a hot, sultry evening, reached a little village by the bank of a dried-out river. The village was already smarting under the fierce summer drought; crops were destroyed, land was parched and broken, ponds and rivers had gone dry. When the hot Wind blew, he stirred up dust and the dried leaves, which formed themselves into funneling whirls over the ground, accompanying him like devout disciples on his way ahead.
Thus, the Wind raged on, venting his spleen on everything which came in his way. The little children, who were out playing, shielded their eyes with their palms and scurried homeward, accompanied by the mothers, who, busy with their household chores, were squatting on the courtyards. The men too, stopped work and covered their faces and sought shelter, under roadside roofs and behind the broad tree trunks.
Done for the day, the Wind subsided, after having wreaked his havoc for quite sometime now. Since the sun had begun to set, and reckoning that a bit of rest would do him good, the Wind slowed down, tired, blowing less fiercely, looking out for a place to sleep in, to see the night through.
Near the village temple, there stood a giant banyan tree with an obscenely large trunk, roots which spread underground for miles, branches which stretched ambitiously towards the sky and its huge, green canopy large enough to hold the entire village population under it. The Wind decided to make his home here for the night, and as he moved in, there was a big hullabaloo – the leaves and branches swayed wildly and the birds, scared out of their nests, screeched and fluttered, wildly flapping their wings in panic. He settled down and made himself comfortable; the fuss died down and peace descended upon the village.
The sun had set by then, and the Wind closed his eyes and took a tired nap, giving the village folks a bit of respite. The Moonlight slowly came out, tonight at her brightest, so pretty in her silken white robe, that she almost appeared pink in color. The clouds parted sideways in a fawning gesture, the stars shone besides her like little jewels as she appeared, epitomizing all that was best of the dark and the bright.
She forayed into the village and lent the night a serene charm. She looked into the river at her reflection, sprinkled silver dust on the flowers and leaves and on her way peeped in, through the dense leaves of the banyan tree which stood, imposingly, near the temple.
The Wind, who was now reclining inside, heard her, looked up and saw, with amazement, the splendid white-robed figure of the Moonlight staring at him wide-eyed, from between the leaves. As he watched the cool light trickle in through the leaves, he felt as if transported into another world and felt the anger and hot-headedness within vanish as if under a spell. And as for the Moonlight, she had seen only cold gusts and dewy blizzards and was charmed to bits by the hot Wind, fiery eyed, strong and masculine.
They stood unmoving, admiring each other. Then they, the Wind and the Moonlight moved out, hand in hand, and made their way ahead, along the banks of the river. Love grew between them, and it grew each instant. The hot Wind now blew gently, amorously, along with the Moonlight. The gentle breeze, the moonlight and the trees which swayed rhythmically in the breeze had all the young lovers in the village afflicted with a sweet sickness in their veins. And after a while, they made their way back, to where they had first met.
They stood face to face amidst the leaves of the giant banyan. He motioned her towards him, and she found herself obliging, as if in a trance. As he placed his hands on her shoulder, she felt her limbs weaken with the overwhelming emotion, fell feeble-limbed, and lay next to him. As she closed her eyes, he held her close and pressed his lips against hers.
Then the fiery Wind and the lovely Moonlight made love to each other.
Ah, what a sight it was!
Long legged palms swayed like flails, fanning the amorous couple. The leaves of trees rustled softly, providing the musical accompaniment. The stars twinkled — closing their eyes, too shy to watch them; but unable to resist the temptation, opening their eyes again.
Spent, the Wind and the Moonlight slept together. Bodies entwined. The Wind slept harder than the Moonlight, exhausted from his exploits during the day.
When the Wind woke up, the sun had already risen in the east. He got up, and looked around for his beloved, the Moonlight. But the sun had begun to shine, red and bright now; and the Moonlight was nowhere to be found. The Wind blew, searching for her, along the banks of the river, and at all places where they had been together the night before. But search as he might, he could never get a glimpse of her.
To everyone’s surprise, the village received rare, unseasonal spells of rain during the day. Brilliant rainbows decorated the horizon. The stuttering river started to gush ahead smoothly. The sandy embankments which stood out, ugly on its course were submerged under the flowing water. Little green shrubs sprouted out of nowhere. The smell of moist earth pervaded the nostrils. There was rejoicing all around as the folks ventured out of their houses to savor the long-awaited downpour.
But no one realized where the rains came from. Nor did they ever notice him. The Wind.Wandering round the village , looking in vain for the Moonlight all through that lovely day; disconsolate and lovelorn, his tears sprinkling down as bouts of rain upon the village.
Tags: A.T.Ummer, Bichu Tirumala, Malayalam, Movies, oldies, Songs, Vaakapoomaram, Yesudas
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Dude, you are exceptional. Other than one and I mean only one repeated use of imagery, you have given me hair raising moments.
Rahul, the song you translated was very good and made me smile in joy at the magic of words and love.
The follow up you did, to give body to the summer wind, the disciples following him in a funneling churn, the desire to sleep and rest, the masculinity of the wind, the feminine imagery of the moon, their amatory lovemaking with accompaniments of palms creating music for them, and their separation were beautiful. BEAUTIFUL!!!! But the ending is still giving me chills and tears.
Awesome Rahul. Bloody Bloody good. And I am saddened that my paltry control of the English language renders me ill equipped to praise this piece adequately! Staggeringly stunning!!
@rrvj: Bro,flattered! And “to give body” is exactly what I wanted to do..very happy that another person understood it exactly the way i wanted..
Great to know u liked the ending too..the ‘rain coming down as tears’ part I made it up myself..and was a bit apprehensive about it..
Am slightly more reassured now..
Thanks again..
Hi Rahul
I really enjoyed both the song and the subsequent story, even though i dont know malayalam..:)
beautiful word paintings!! Enjoyed every inch of it!! Great work, keep writing.
awesome man…
asan oru nalla kalakaran thanne!!!
a special thanks.
i had never heard this song until this article.
thanks once gain
i checked the song out in you tube and found it.
the link is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dq2FiQ7kaA
@pradeep/neethu: nice to hear u enjoyed it..Will try to translate more songs in the future..
@ram v – Thanks mate for the nice words..
hehe, the song is actually from Anubhavam..it’s quite a famous song.. If u remember it always used to come in smrithilayam in Doordarshan..
It was a bit of surprise and a lot of tension, that came to my mind when my friend touched one of my all time fav’te songs. But after all those astound moments, I’d say am privileged to be called his friend. It was such a bold effort by him, which ended up creating a marvellous result. Somebody may think am exagerating a bit, but those who have known the essence of this song will not be. Each and every line of it depicts how high the story teller’s imagination is going. Great work !!!
The climax attracted my attention to a great extend. It made me think in a bit different perspective, something which deviates from Love, central theme of the story. The rain which was actually the tears of wind is giving a great lesson. “There was rejoicing all around as the folks ventured out of their houses to savor the long-awaited downpour”. See how somebodie’s unintentional act is creating happiness to an entire village. Each and everything happening in this world will be a value addition, one way or other. Thats how almighty is planning it all.
Anyway, a great effort which never went in vain…. Go on friend….