Tuesday, June 7, 2016

வானவில்; Translated version in English: Rainbow

(Photo by Ravishankar Palanivelu, while driving
on I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson)















வாவில் 

விரிந்த விந்தையை விவரிக்க வரியில்லை 
வில்லிங்கே, அம்பையோ ஏகலவனையோ காணவில்லை 

நங்கையின் வளைவுகளில் நயந்து நலிவது போல் 
இங்கேயும் வளைந்த அழகில் தானே சரிந்தேன் 


ஒரு சூரியன்ஏழு வண்ணம்ஆனால் தூரிகை எங்கே?
தருவாயா எனக்குஇரவில் எழுப்பி காட்டுகிறேன்

நீர்த்திரை போட்டு எதையோ மறைத்தது முட்டாள் மேகம் 
ஒளிக்கதிரோ துளியையும் துளைத்து உன்னை வெளியிட்டதே 

வண்ணபாலம் வர்ணஜாலம் அழகு தான் 
ஆனாலும் நிமிர்ந்து நின்று இருந்தால் மதித்திருப்பேன் 

இப்போழுது தானே பிறந்தாய், அதற்குள் 
எப்படி வீழ்ந்தது உனக்கு கூன்?

கூனிலிருந்து நிமிரிந்ததால் மனித ஜாதி கண்டது பரிணாமம் 
காலகாலமாய் வளைந்தே நீ மரித்ததால் எஞ்சியது பரிதாபம் 

நிமிடமாய் மறைந்து போக போகும் 
நிரந்தரமற்ற வானவில்லிலும் ஓர் சேதி உண்டு 

சூரியனேயே எதிர்த்து நின்றன நீர்துளிகூட்டம் 
சேர்வதால் வரும் பலனை பார்த்தாயா?

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Translation of the above poem by my friend Kirubakaran Pakkirisamy

Rainbow

Down the horizon I see a beautiful bow
The arrow is missing  and the archer is lying low

I have seen quite a buxom beauties in my youth
Never have I fallen for a curve so smooth

A sun, seven colors and a magic brush
Had I one such brush a rainbow at night shall flourish

A cloud so silly trying to hide you with just vapor
A light that pierces a million drops to reveal you proper

A beautiful bridge and a colorful dance for all  
Never bow your head to any lord for you stand tall 

A day old youth hunched like an old man
Its a mystery to resolve if one really can

Evolution made the man stand upright
You stoop so low and never got on the curve quite

You live for a momentary minute
But teach us all a lesson so sweet

Nobody dare challenge the mighty sun

But even a water drop can if they are together a million

© Ravishankar Palanivelu, June 16, 2015, Tucson, USA (ravipalanivelu@gmail.com)

2 comments:

  1. Nice kavidhaigal mama! 👍

    Just noticed few things - I see some paradoxes here.. you are praising rainbow in first few lines and disparaging throughout the rest..

    why such hatred lines about rainbow which made you to write this kavidhai😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vinoth, thank you. I love that you asked a probing question, which was not asked so far, even though I deliberately included in it in this poem.

      1. I wanted to show that there is no such thing as 100% beauty or 100% perfect in the world. குறை இன்றி எதுவும் இல்லை, even in a short lived thing like a rainbow. I wanted to look at it from multiple angles.

      2. An impact from a poem is higher if it surprises the reader or makes them think about an aspect they may not have expected or thought about.

      3. Only 4, 5, 6 are negative. So a majority are espousing positive aspects.

      4. Even then, all 3 are about the same point, that a rainbow is bent. 4, shows my philosophy that no should be subservient; 5, is purely to show off an irony, based on what we as humans know - கூன் happens only in old age; 6, is an inspiration from my biology background, mocking that unlike primates evolving to give us human species, the rainbow never evolved despite showing up this way for all these years.

      5. Still, I end the poem by writing that even a rainbow with these flaws can give us, supposedly highly evolved humans, a message: there is strength in unity.

      Thank you again for allowing me to go behind my thoughts.

      Delete