Guest Blog 6 – Anand Chandrasekharan
One can hardly forget the haunting voice of Rani Mukherjee and the piano as the Bengali lyrics of Akashe Jyotsna (Moonlight in the Sky) are recited in Hey Ram just before the song Nee Paartha Paaravikku unfolds. The poem is written by Jibonanda Dass. I pestered a Bengali friend to translate it for me when I first heard the song (and he did a pretty good job of it!), only to find a good English translation online:
Akashe Jyotsna
Moonlight in the sky
On the Forest Trail the Scent of the Leopard
My Heart is like Deer
In the Silence of this night, which way am I going?
The silvery shadow of leaves on my body
No more deer anywhere
As far as I go I see the moon bent like a sickle
Cutting the last golden deer-grain
Then sinking slowly
Into the darkness of all the sleep
In the eyes of a 100 does.
The analogy of the deer (the heart) wandering about in the forest trail, and the moonlight (love?) shining wherever she wanders paints a very vivid picture in the listener’s mind. The mention of the sickle and cutting of the grain also evokes abstract memories a la Kahlil Gibran’s Prophet. Is it just the capturing of a random walk in the mind of the singer, or is there is a deeper meaning?
kirukkal.com 
11 responses to “Footprints…”
Wonderful piece… well written and good perspective.
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Wonderful piece… well written and good perspective.
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great piece dude…
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great piece dude…
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There does lie a deeper meaning..I could envision it to be the insecure feelings of a lonely(no deers) orphaned girl standing among the rubbles somewhere in a desolated place like Iraq,hiding herself away from the leopard like rapists and leading her life desperately looking for a passionate glimmer of hope – the ‘doe’s!
-Raapi
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There does lie a deeper meaning..I could envision it to be the insecure feelings of a lonely(no deers) orphaned girl standing among the rubbles somewhere in a desolated place like Iraq,hiding herself away from the leopard like rapists and leading her life desperately looking for a passionate glimmer of hope – the ‘doe’s!
-Raapi
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there must be an inner meaning
the analogy is she(Rani) in the movie is like a deer alone without Kamal under the fear of dark that is the fight between hindus and muslims and the leopard’s are the voices of people shouting and running on the streets of calcutta to kill the hindus and rap the hindu women
Smile
sureshkumar
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there must be an inner meaning
the analogy is she(Rani) in the movie is like a deer alone without Kamal under the fear of dark that is the fight between hindus and muslims and the leopard’s are the voices of people shouting and running on the streets of calcutta to kill the hindus and rap the hindu women
Smile
sureshkumar
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Thanks Anand, for the translation.Donno what the author wanted to depict. But i perceive it like this.
My version of the song is ‘This song is sung by a girl alone ( without her lover beside) , so clearly depicts ( pasalai ) and sung amidst of
riots , so naturally she is longing for her lover which in turn means security, warmth’. So the poem depicts her fear and longingness for a secure mood both in her personal life as well as from the riot.
In the film she would have read kamal’s dad’s letter, so she expresses her mind state longing for kamal’s reply .
The situation is very common in literature, a girl alone in moonlit sky, then she compares her atmosphere to a forest filled with leopards, so her loneliness and the danger she is in, is depicted here. She also says that her heartbeat races like a deer out of fear. Then she reveals, that her destination is not yet defined, means she doesnt know whatz in store for her. ( both her personal life with kamal as well as the danger riotic situation she is in)Please note the word Silvery shadow – a very good usage to show the optimistic nature of the young girl, when leaves cast striped shadows on her body, she looks at the brighter part of the body unshadowed , so she mentions silvery shadow – shows her trust for better future ( both in personal life as well as riot) .She says that she has no company- no deer anywhere. Meaning no trustful person around to comfort her.
The other line shows her epitome of pain- she sees the moon as sickle- meaning many days has passed -yet no joy for her. As long as she waits,
the situation is becoming worse, she means the aproach of ‘nomoon day’ when the moon appears like a sickle snatching away every hope from her
. And the last line reveals that her insecure situation is known to the does around.
So the entire poem fits well when she recites the same to kamal to show how she missed him and began that wonderful song.
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self-satisfaction is an propellant ( internal factor) for man to strive.
self-satisfaction – sudar
money,fame,recognition – thiri
if u r happy abt ur present content- may it be ur intellectual stuff, wealth, fame r whatever it may be, u r a blessed person.
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self-satisfaction is an propellant ( internal factor) for man to strive.
self-satisfaction – sudar
money,fame,recognition – thiri
if u r happy abt ur present content- may it be ur intellectual stuff, wealth, fame r whatever it may be, u r a blessed person.
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