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Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Kaatrin Mozhi

'Mozhi'(language), the film where the song 'Kaatrin Mozhi' appears, is about a woman who has the misfortune of being both deaf and dumb. However, she compensates amply by being fiercely independent. How the hero(Prithvi Raj) convinces the misogamist to marry him, forms the crux of the story.

There are few songs which have stirred me up like this one did. This song is a case where fabulous music, a lovely voice and stirring lyrics come together. 'Kaatrin mozhi...' ('the language of the wind...' ), as it begins, says that you don't need to know any language save that of nature, to interact with anyone. The song does make lots of sense, unlike many others from Kollywood. I've put up the lyrics of the song below. I have also attempted to translate it to English.

katrinnn mozhi...oliyya? isaiyya?
poovinnn mozhi....nirama? manamaa?
kadalin mozhi...alaiya? nuraiya?
kaadhal mozhi...vizhiyya? idhazha?
iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illai
katrinnn mozhiyee...oliya? isaiyya?
poovinnn mozhi....nirama? manama?


((The language of the wind.. is it it's sound or music?
The language of the flower.. is it it's color or fragrance?
The language of the ocean.. is it it's waves or foam?
The language of love.. is it the eyes or the lips?
Understand the languages of nature,
Man's languages are unnecessary,
Understand the heart's languages,
No language is necessary for man...
The language of the wind.. ))



kaatru veesum bothu...thisaigal kidaiyathu
kaadhal paesum bothu...mozhigal kidaiyathu
paesum vaarthai pola...mounam puriyathu
kanngal paesum vaarthai....kadavul ariyathu
ulavi theeriyum kaatrukku....uruvam theetta mudiyathu
kaadhal paesum mozhi-ellam... satha koothil adanggathu
iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illai
katrinnn mozhiyee...

((When the wind blows, there aren't any directions..
When love speaks, there aren't any languages..
One can't understand silence (like one understands) spoken words,
(God?) won't know the words spoken by the eyes...
The wind, who roams and wanders cannot be given a shape..
The language of love does not lie in the domain of sound(voice/words)..
Understand the languages of nature,
Man's languages are unnecessary,
Understand the heart's languages,
No language is needed for man...
(Repeat)The language of the wind.. ))

vaanam paesum paechu...thulliyai veliyagum
vaanavillin paechu...neeramai veliyagum
unmai oomai anaal...kanneer mozhiyagum
pennmei ummei anaal...naanum mozhiyagum
osai thoongum jaamathilll...kuchi meengal mozhiyagum
asai thoongum ithaiyathil...asaiva kooda mozhiyagum
iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illai


(The sky's speech(language) emerges as droplets..
The rainbow's speech(language) emerges as color..
When truth becomes silent, one speaks (language) tears..
When (a woman's) feminity becomes silent, (her) shyness will emerge..
(The time) When all sound sleeps, tiny(?) fishes talk(language)..
In (one's) heart where desire sleeps, slight movements too become a language..
Understand the languages of nature,
Man's languages are unnecessary,
Understand the heart's languages,
No language is needed for man...
(Repeat)The language of the wind.. ))

katrinnn mozhiyee...oliyya? isaiyya?
poovinnn mozhi....neerumma? mannumma?
kadalinnn mozhi...alaiyya? nuraiyya?
kaadhalll mozhi...vizhiyya? izdhala?
iyarkeyin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharin mozhigal thevai-illai
ithaiyathin mozhigal purinthu vidu
manitharikku mozhiye thevai-illai
katrinnn mozhiyee...

((The language of the wind.. is it it's sound or music?
The language of the flower.. is it it's color or fragrance?
The language of the ocean.. is it it's waves or foam?
The language of love.. is it the eyes or the lips?
Understand the languages of nature,
Man's languages are unnecessary,
Understand the heart's languages,
No language is needed for man...
The language of the wind.. ))


(P.S.1.. I've used the terms talk, speech and language interchangeably according to context. They all are translated from the same word, mozhi.. )

(P.S2.. This may be considered as a disclaimer as well.. I'm no expert in Tamil, but I believe I've done a decent job. Comments and corrections are welcome. I'll incorporate corrections regularly. )

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow!! Good one dude.. Nice translation. That was a wonderful song.. and one of the many many incredible lyrics that Vairamuthu has given.
One regret though -
'pennmei ummei anaal...naanum mozhiyagum' - translation for this isn't gr8. Everything else is fine. Good work da! :)

Krishnan said...

what is the translation for that line? do suggest it.. i actually struggled with this one quite a bit..

Kingsly said...

Dei.. really excellent job da..
Am excited to see my favorite mozhi song being translated into Rani's mozhi(Queen's Lang)...

Unknown said...

Hey, that was nice...especially for us who loves Tamil, but can't understand full...I would like the song 'munpe vaa en anpe vaa' translated like this..

Anonymous said...

hi krishnan

I am a telugu guy and i love a good song whatever the language be.You have done some brilliant work in translating this song which is my favourite . keep the good work going. bye krishnan.

pkranthy@gmail.com

Krishnan said...

@kranti: Thank you Kranti for your appreciation!

Anonymous said...

Hi Krishnan,

I am a lover of music - language no bar :) This one has become an earworm of late.

I do not understand a lot of Tamil, this translation was a blessing as I could only get the meanings of a few words here and there and was struggling hopelessly to get the exact meaning of the entire song :(

I am now in greater appreciation of the lovely lovely song not only for the music but also the meaning...all thanks to you!

Thanks a ton!! Keep it going :)

Unknown said...

Though i am not tamilian and know little tamil , i liked this movie and song very much.. thnkx for sharing the lyrics and translation :)

Lighthouse said...

osai thoongum jaamathilll...kuchi meengal mozhiyagum

kutchi meengal or utchi meengal ?
My friend said that is "stars" not tiny fishes.(idon't know tamil)

and "(God?) won't know the words spoken by the eyes..."
I dont think the poet really means that. Even if he does it is not true.
What is there that kadavul doesn't know ?

him007 said...

awsome!!!!

actually am a malayalam guy.

this is a song which reveals the beuty and power of tamil.

Y such songs are not happen in malayalam????

little bit of sad about that.


Your work was excellent.

keep the good work..

Bhavana said...

i juz happend to pass by this movie's video and ended up watching the whole movie... itz excellent.. i'm nt a tamilian basically.. so i had the luck of watching the mov wid subtitles.. bt they hadnt translatd the song... now aftr reading ur version, i'm quite speechless :) itz juz brilliant!!! thanx a lot :)

Anonymous said...

What's the language of breeze, sound or music?
What's the language of a flower, color or fragrance?
What's the language of sea, waves or foam?
What's the language of love, eyes or lips?
If you can understand the languages of nature, human languages are not needed anymore
If you can understand the languages of heart, human languages are not needed anymore


For a blowing breeze, there are no definite directions
For love, there is no definite language
Understanding one's silence is more difficult than understanding one's speech(words)
It is even more difficult to understand the language of eyes, even if you are God
Just like you cannot define a structure for breeze, you cannot define the language of love
If you can understand the languages of nature, human languages are not needed anymore
If you can understand the languages of heart, human languages are not needed anymore

Speech(language) of sky emerge as rain drops
Speech(language) of rainbow emerge as colors
when a truth cannot be revealed, tears becomes its language
when womanliness prevents from being expressive, shyness becomes its language
In the silence of mid-night, stars become the language
In the heart of hidden desires, even minute movements express a language
If you can understand the languages of nature, human languages are not needed anymore
If you can understand the languages of heart, human languages are not needed anymore

(Repeat)
What's the language of breeze, music or sound?
Whats's the language of flower, color or fragrance?
What's the language of ocean, waves or foam?
What's the language of love, eyes or lips?
If you can understand the languages of nature, human languages are not needed anymore
If you can understand the languages of heart, human languages are not needed anymore

Anonymous said...

Thanks. Like Aruna above...I can understand conversational Tamil decently but in songs, I can only catch words and phrases without a completeness to my understanding. Keeping the translation by my side and listening to the song over and over gave a lot of clarity!! :-)

I love the movie and its songs. Thanks for the translation.

S said...

Reg the line:
"pennmei ummei anaal...naanum mozhiyagum"
- Is it possible that the guy is trying to say something like - if she is silent, I too will transform in to her voice? May be he is expressing his thoughts about the lady there??

Indu said...

hai. i am a malayali and dont know tamil much. But still i could enjoy the lyrics of the song with the guesses i have made. this translation helped me enoy the song even more. thanks a lot.
'stars' rather than 'fishes'may be the correct translation as it fits into the lines correctly. but special appreciation for you to put a '?' in the places where you are not sure of.