This is another feeble attempt to translate a beautiful and brilliant song/poetry by Prof. Madhusoodhanan Nair from the movie Daivathinte Vikrithikal (Gods mischief’s) based on a story of the same title by M. Mukundan. The post title ‘Shenanigans of Divinity’ seemed a suitable alternate expression for the movie name.
From the deep slumbers of darkness you wake me to the colors of life
You gave a sky for my wings, and on a branch in your soul, you gave me a nest.
Wherever but here could you smell so sweet; in every little flower, in the softest breeze?
Where also can I find you as this river; which brims with every drop of my life as I melt in?
Wherever but here can I find this sky that blooms when you spread as a petal of dreams?
When the little nightingale cries; when the narrow stream stops her lullaby
Where mercy is lost, when time trembles,
I bind my heart in yours; and it is in you that I seek refuge
Can’t part from your heart, May paradise call…
Cant part from your soul, let heaven seek...
To melt in the depth of your soul…as I perish, is my paradise
To remain in you... is eternal truth
The protagonist in the movie, Father Alphonse (played brilliantly by the versatile and charming actor Raghuvaran), is a French native and a successful magician living in Mayyazhi (French Mahe) in Kerala. The French colonial influence ends and the settlers leave for their homeland.
As the siren for the last ship to France sounds, his wife Maggie (Srividhya) tries to persuade Alphonse to leave for France France
The end of colonial rule also marks a new dawn for an oppressed, unjust and yet vibrant society that burgeons with madness. While Father Alphonse and his family stay back in Mayyazhi, failure and poverty bejewel their life as they try in vain to be part of a reclassified society which disowns them with derision, much to the dismay of Father Alphonse. In his angst he develops a deep sense of resentment towards his self and refuses to accept the reality, which in his case, is that he is no longer the successful, much admired French man in Mayyazhi, but an impecunious vagrant who is no longer required in this society. He seeks refuge in alcohol and leads a secluded life confining himself to his world of magic which he holds dear to life.
The song is about his unrequited love for the beautiful sea cost of Mayyazhi; the love for which he had to forsake every reason, every virtue of happiness and all that he ever was.
Someone with a better understanding of both languages should do a better translation of this song.