You cannot stop the Spring !

 "Philosophy of Pablo Neruda -- You cannot stop the Spring!"

Thus read one of the lines in my MBA notes. Yeah, today afternoon I just wanted a white paper to write on and I grabbed the first book on the top of the heap in the cupboard and it happens to be MPBG + LCF + SI notebook (Management Paradigms from Bhagavadgita + Lessons from Corporate Failures + Strategy Implementation). This line is from the middle course. (I just checked it now, the full quote from Neruda reads, "You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming.")

But wait, only yesterday I was chewing on this song, "Tharali raadha thane vasantham, thana dariki raani vanaala kosam" and wanted to do this post on translating its lyrics to English. But somehow I postponed it to today and I now know why. Nah, I'm not gonna tell you why. You better understand why :D (And as a matter of fact, what you understand (from the post that follows) and what I now think I know, may be quite different...)

Anyway, back to the song. This song is from the movie "Rudraveena". Any Telugu movie buff would know what kind of landmark movies, films like "Rudraveena", "Swarnakamalam", "Shankaraabharanam" have been. Specifically, these movies revolved around dance/music yet reflected deeply on the societal psyche at many levels. That's K. Vishwanath's forte and he will be forever in the hearts of many Telugu movie fans for that. Now tell me, how many art movies did the Telugu audience come across, that kept them entertained and engaged? Probably handful. Yet these movies don't stand out due to quantity (I mean scarcity), they do due to sheer quality.

Again, back to the song. This song is pretty close to my heart (in fact some other songs too from this movie) and it's been on my playlist for a long time. I used to play it especially during my "Void" years to keep me going (along with the other songs I was talking about). The lyrics of this song are extremely beautiful, rather esoteric probably. So, I will try and give it a shot to translate the lyrics into English. Be assured, the beauty of the lyrics cannot be retained in any which way, for they are far more elegant in Telugu. I'm afraid I must say English (or rather I, in English) cannot do justice to those lyrics (by Sirivennela Seetharama Shastry). But anyway, here I go...

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Tharali raadha thane vasantham, thana dariki raani vanaala kosam? (Repeat)

Doesn't the Spring herself come down to the forests (woods) that don't (or rather can't) reach out to her? (Repeat)

Gaganaala dhaaka ala saagakunte, meghaala raagam ila cherukodhaa?

Even if the waves don't (can't) reach the skies, doesn't the lilt of the clouds (rain) reach the land?

Tharali raadha thane vasantham, thana dhariki raani vanaala kosam?

Doesn't the Spring herself come down to the forests that don't reach out to her?

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Vennela deepam kondharidhaa, adavini saitham velugu kadhaa?

Does the light of the full moon belong to just a few (elite)? Doesn't it lit up the forests too?

Ellelu leni challani gaali, andhari kosam andhunu kaadha?

Doesn't the cool wind that breezes without barriers, blow for everybody?

Prathi madhini lepe prabhaata raagam,

The morning raaga (sun) that wakes up everybody every mind,

Padhe padhe choope pradhaana maargam.

Time and again shows us the key path.

Edhee sontham kosam kaadhanu sandesham.

Nothing is supposed to be one's own, that's the message.

Panche guname pothe prapanchame shoonyam.

When the virtue of sharing vanishes, the world will be void.

Idhi theliyani manugada kadha, dishanerugani gamanamu kadha.

Without knowing this, the story of (human) progress (evolution) is just a directionless wandering (a journey without a direction/destination), right!

Tharali raadha thane vasantham, thana dhariki raani vanaala kosam?

Doesn't the Spring herself come down to the forests that don't reach out to her?

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Brathukuna leni sruthi kaladhaa, yedha sadi lonee laya ledhaa? (Repeat)

Is there a tune that doesn't exist in life? Isn't there a rhythm in (our very own) heartbeat? (Repeat)

Ee kala kainaa, ee kala kainaa, jeevitha rangam vedika kaadhaa?

For any art...for any dream...isn't the stage of life the platform?

Prajaadhanam kaani kalaa vilaasam, ye prayojanam leni vrudhaa vikaasam.

Any art extravaganza that doesn't serve the public (common good), is just a waste development with no use whatsoever.

Koose koyila pothe kaalam aagindhaa?

When the koyal that coos goes away (stops singing), does the time (season) stop too?

Paare eeree paade maro padham raadhaa?

Doesn't a new lyric (song) originate with the flowing river?

Muraliki gala swaramula kala, pedhavini vidi palakadhu kadha...

The flute that has the knack of producing tunes, cannot sound (create the same) devoid of lips, right?

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Tharali raadha thane vasantham, thana dhariki raani vanaala kosam?

Doesn't the Spring herself come down to the forests that don't reach out to her?

Gaganaala dhaaka ala saagakunte, meghaala raagam ila cherukodhaa?

Even if the waves don't reach the skies, doesn't the rain reach the land?

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There's this other song in this movie, "Chuttuupakkala chuudaraa chinna vaada!" that comes during the beginning titles. It calls out a guy stuck in his own world to see the world around him...the realities and vagaries of it.

There's another song, "Randi randi randi daya cheyandi...". It's basically an invitation by the (would-be) father-in-law to the protagonist into his house in a comic way saying they are very glad to have him at their house.

And there's another song "Cheppalani undhi" after the hero has a rift with his family (father) and gets separated from them. The would-be FIL (father of his love interest) enquires him what's really bothering/worrying him and that it may be easy upon him if he shares what's stirring his mind. The song ends with the hero singing "Nenu Saitham" (by Sree Sree). "Nenu Saitham" means "I too can! (despite being just one)". Call it cliched, eccentric, ambitious, but I needed this song during my "Void" years to be reminded that I too can (rather that what I was doing can) make a difference.  This song happens to be my favourite in the movie. It does get hysteric towards the end and reverberates within (only to a person who is suffering).

Some of the lines in that song that really really resonate with me translate to, "The tunes (vagaries) of the helpless people suffering are hovering me, allowing me no peace. These strings have to be repaired. This aberration has to be corrected. Rejecting the mainstream (tune), assuming I am my own boss, I will walk this path. I will NOT live in a dream. I won't seek the comfort of the dream."

"Nenu Saitham" itself has some lyrics which mean, "Until the Spring embraces the whole world permanently (as in stably, completely), I will NOT sing the old tune, I shall NOT leave the new tune."

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Let me now quickly build the story of the movie from all the details already shared. The hero belongs to an upper-caste family. The father, a renowned musician discriminates heavily the other sections of the society and views them as outcast (untouchability etc. are depicted in the movie). He believes music is only for the upper-class (read it brahminic class). The heroine, a classical dancer, is from that very outcast section (read it harijan class), raised by an educated father with liberal views. The values of the hero (who learns music from his father) do not align with his father's and the contradictions surface constantly. There comes a time when the hero leaves his family to live with the world outside in a normal way. The village has a lot of drunkards (due to the alcohol being produced in the vicinity) who don't take care of their families. They literally abandon their responsibilities.

At one point in the movie, when the protagonists are all set to marry, some issue erupts and the hero decides that he shall marry only after this alcohol issue is sorted out. Eventually, the problem is sorted and the hero is honored at the end for transforming the village into a model village. The father comes at the end and says in his speech that he is proud to be identified as the hero's father. Of course, there are many interesting nitty-gritties and anecdotes in the movie, but they make for a discussion over a coffee.

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By now, you would have figured it out... Though at the beginning, the intention of the post seems to be about Spring or maybe about translating the lyrics of the song...the real intention is to build the story from these songs.

PS to self: Blogging after a long time makes me realize I have lost (the memory of) many words.

Update (06-Jul): I have checked if there are any other sources of translation for this song and found the below two good resources:

* Source 1: This requires one already knows Telugu (Not a source of translation, but a source of extended meaning).

** Source 2: Was interesting to compare my translation with the one here.