Enna Samaiyalo – Tamil Song

Ilaiyaraaja (The Maestro) has once again proved himself has a great composer and lyricist in this song. If you are a Tamilian or know little bit of Tamil, I am positive you can enjoy this song…where Swaram (music ) and Aksharam (words)  rhythmically sound very close to each other and also mean to the core context (food)! Its almost like deciphering a cooking process jokingly, vocally, musically and verbally.

Swaraksharam in the Song

• appa varum neram, sa da ma ga sa da ma ga sa da ma ga da ma da maa (Swaram)
• Swaram with lot of meanings in various combinations:
  

1. saa + tha + ma + ga = saathagam – (practicing phonetics)
2. sa + tha + maa + ga = sathamaaga -  (favorable)
3. saa + tham + aaga  = saathamaaga – (to get the rice cooked)
4. tha + ma + tha + ma + am = thamathamam – (is getting delayed)

• kalyaani, raagam polave (like the raag, kalyani) Seiven Biriyani (I will make Biriyani)
• When these simple words are dissected, each syllable-combination carries a food meaning – adding essence to the song.

1. kal 
2. aani
   
3. Kalyaani
   
4. kavani 
5. thangai nee 
6. kalyani
   

• raagam vasantha (name of the raag, vasantha), naanum rusithu paarka rasantha (can you hand over me some rasam to taste)
• If you take a closer look, these are phonetically similar sentences with jumbled letters and yet meaningful.
  

• gari-gari-gari-gari (swaram), kari-kai-kalum enge? karivepilaiyum enge? (Aksharam )
• Here, the sound plus lyrics are phonetically so close and also mean about the ingredients in cooking.
  

1. maa-maa-ma-mma,  majal podiyum enge?  (Where is the turmeric powder?) masala podi enge? (Where are those curry powders?)
   
2. tha-pa-tha-pa-tha , parupu irukudha? (Do we have lentils?)
   
3. tha-ni-tha-ni-tha-ni, Dhaniyaa iruka? (Do we have cilantro?)
   

Dedication

This Song is dedicated to my brother, Pari Gandhi…a child prodigy and a great carnatic vocal singer, just like my mother…a gifted singer. Each time, I listen to this song…it brings back those nostalgic memories, how Pari and Mommy used to sing mellifluously and tease each other musically-phonetically! Of course, back in those days…there was several such occasions, where we held songs-related counter-competitions. As you might have already guessed, they both excelled in it. Genetically lucky enough to inherit some of those maternal side genes.