Mother's Day lullaby

When you think about Tamil songs on mother, there are numerous ones right from Thaai Illaamal Naan Illai (Adimai Penn; Music: KV Mahadevan) to Amma Amma (Velai Illaa Pattadhaari; Music: Anirudh). Not a surprise for an industry with the Amma sentiment. When you think about Mother songs composed by the Maestro, the ones that come immediately to the mind would be Amma Endrazhaikkaadha (Mannan), Chinna Thaai Aval (Thalapathy) etc.

But strangely this is the song that has been repeatedly ringing in my head today.

To put some context, the song is from the movie ‘Nandalala’ which is a remake of the Korean movie ‘Kikujiro’. It is about a travel of two kids - one mentally challenged in his 30s and one school-going 8-year old. The older one, played by the director Mysskin, had been left in a mental asylum in his childhood by his mother and she never paid him a visit over the years. All the frustration and longing for his mother builds up into anger and his only wish in life is to meet her and give one tight slap for what she had done to him. One fine day, he escapes from the asylum and goes in search of his mom.

Finally Mysskin finds his mom. With all the rage built up over the years, he rushes inside the house only to find his mother chained to a stone in the backyard. As it turns out, the poor mother was unable to overcome her guilt for what she had done to him and confines herself to a life of misery. At this point, the very purpose of Mysskin’s journey turns on its head and he breaks down and cries like a baby. Fate has it that this grown-up mentally disturbed kid now has to become a mother himself and take care of his mom. Tragic and poetic.

And there is an interesting anecdote on how the song was composed. When Mysskin narrated the entire situation to Raaja, the man just sat there with his harmonium for about 15 minutes. And, then he started singing the song WITH the following lyrics spontaneously,

Thaalaattu Ketka Naanum… Ethanai Naal Kaathirundhen

Thaai Unna Kaana Thaanae… Thavichu Naan Oadi Vandhen

Amma Unna Paathaa… Vaartha Varla Maele

Ippo Unna Paathaa… Pachcha Pulla Polae

Thaalaattu Paada Ingae Yaar Aariraaro

“I have been waiting for years to hear my lullaby

I have run across so many miles just to see you, my mother

When I see you my mom, there are no words to speak

I have seen you now and you are a baby yourself

Who should sing a lullaby for whom, now?”

Raaja’s mastery in blending the music with the story can be seen in his use of percussions in the song. After finding his mother in such a miserable state, Mysskin picks her up and carries her with him. And the beats capture this perfectly. The thaalam is akin to footsteps; there is no change in the tempo or anything but the song just travels slowly in the son’s footsteps. Did Mysskin tell him this specfically or the Master himself gave it to him on a platter, we don't know.

The fact that Raaja is an excellent and underrated lyricist is very evident from this song. He nails it especially in these lines

“Is love itself a pain?”

 and

“There were times when I was bound my chains

It is fair that you are bound by your own chains”

The first use of chains refers to how Mysskin was bound in the asylum; the second line refers that his mother was bound by the chains of love to her son. Metaphoraaja!

Everything about this song – the voice, the lyrics, the flute, the cello (?) and violins at the beginning of both the interludes - gives a sense of missing and longing and fills me up with this soothing feeling of pain. This is not the classic mother song like the ‘Amma Endrazhaikkaadha’ which is a son’s flowery ode to his divine mother. This is a lullaby; a lullaby from a son to his mother; a painful lullaby from Raaja for all the sons and daughters who are thousands of kilometres away from home.

Happy Mother’s Day to all those kids and their mothers :)

P.S.: Song lyrics with my translation in the first comment. The translation doesn’t do justice to the words.