carnatic music

The Sparrow Song

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When we talk about birds, we cannot but talk about sparrows. The sparrow has been used as a metaphor for freedom. In one of his songs, Bharathiyar has written “be unbound and free, as this sparrow is”. The sparrow is a bird that would nest in our houses and people often do not disturb it. They would protect and maintain it till the time, the eggs are hatched, and the sparrow flies away with its chicks. It is our belief that the nesting of a sparrow in our house foretells joyous tidings.

In this song, I have used the notion of the sparrow to express my inner self and have also attempted to maintain the stress on the second syllable throughout this song. This is my “sparrow song”.

— Perumal Murugan

Pallavi

The sparrow takes off into the space
Sails into the expansive skies

Anupallavi

Kicks offs and soars
Its silken torso in orbit

Charanam

Away from the nest, it built with care
It grazes and grazes the soft white clouds
It grazes and grazes

Cuts off all the ties and
It kisses and kisses the blue sky
It kisses and kisses

Round and round, in all directions
It traverses and traverses, with all grace
It traverses and traverses

The Crow Song

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When I was able to learn about birds, I collated a book on birds. As I had spent my youth on farmland, I was aware of many birds but until then, I hadn’t observed any of them with care. This book project gave me an opportunity to learn about them in detail.

A bird I studied then was the crow. Not a day passes without us encountering a crow. It is omnipresent and very approachable. But in general, people do not have a good opinion about them. It is a bird that has learnt to co-exist with humans and helps us a lot too. Like the saying “familiarity breeds contempt”, we do not care much for crows and they are taken for granted due to their proximity.

When I was at Singapore, I had looked around for crows. There were many birds, but I couldn’t find a crow. I was surprised that there was a place that did not have crows! When I enquired, I was told that crows would be shot dead if seen. I was surprised to see a country that did not have crows and was reminded of a line from Kannadasan’s “Kaakkai Illa Cheemaiyile” (A place abroad, with no crows). I wrote this song with my memory from Singapore in mind. Earlier, I had written a song for children earlier about the crow. This song is an enhanced version of that.

— Perumal Murugan

Pallavi

Have you seen, Have you seen
A bird like the crow
Have you seen, Have you seen

Anupallavi

So approachable and so friendly
Soars all around with no worry

Charanam

It comes down to the places where we live
It comes down to those places
Displays closeness, it demonstrates friendship – with us
Displays closeness, it demonstrates friendship
Inky blackness are its wings

Slender neck, to see us, it swings
Caws and caws, it caws and caws – with the graceful
Song of the crow, the world, it calls

The Owl Song

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This is a song about the owl and is one of the few I have written about birds.

Owl is a companion for those who are awake at night. A nocturnal bird, it would be up and about in the night. There are people who consider the owl to be a bad omen as they think that the hoot of an owl brings bad news. The farmers, however, love the owl and consider it a friend — primarily because the owl’s main diet is rodents and thus helping farmers control its population. The farmers welcome owls near their farms.

The owl’s hoot sounds like a screech, and so there are many who are afraid of it. But if you observe carefully, the hoot can sound differently, depending on whether the owl is looking for its mate, if it is calling its owlets or if it has found food. At times, it would even sound like the laughter of a child.

I like the owl and would be happy if I could get a glimpse of one some night. I have always wanted to write a song about the owl, for when I hear its hoot, it feels as though the darkness of the night is talking to me. I have attempted to bring about this emotion in the following lines.

— Perumal Murugan

Pallavi

It is the sound of darkness
That hoot of the owl
Tune in and heed to it
For it is a many nuanced tongue

Anupallavi

Shattering the dense darkness
Smattering the solid silence, it
Speaks to you and allays you

Charanam

A pair of eyes that bore and stare
They bounce around like two balls
The beak parts open for a moment
To emit a scary raucous hoot
Just listen to it with an open mind
Hear the peals of a child’s glee
See the darkness dissolve away
And a grace that fills your heart

Bezwada Wilson & TM Krishna in conversation with Nilanjana Roy

Bezwada Wilson & TM Krishna in conversation with Nilanjana…

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This conversation with Bezwada Wilson and TM Krishna was part of the Indus Conversations series by Tulika Books, 11 December 2016. TM Krishna, a carnatic music vocalist and social commentator, and Bezwada Wilson, National Convenor of the Safai Karamchari Andolan, are recipients of the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Awards. TM Krishna was honoured for his work toward “social inclusiveness in culture”, and his sustained efforts to bring music and arts to the marginalised sections of society, particularly in the underdeveloped rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Bezwada Wilson has spent his life campaigning against manual scavenging. He founded the community based  Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) to fight for the eradication of manual scavenging.
The conversation of the two awardees with writer Nilanjana Roy probes a range of issues from the meaning of liberty and equality, and nationalism and freedom, to the experience of caste based discrimination, and the role of art in changing our perpectives of the world.