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Poetry Section #9

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µVMâøÆàÉJßW /karppuuradiipaththil/- written & col. for "in the camphor lamp." µVMâø¢ /karppuuram/ means "camphor," and ÆàÉJßW /diipaththil/ means "in the lamp" and comes from ÆàÉ¢ /diipam/ (which means "lamp." Lamps are a traditional decoration for any celebration or special occasion in Kerala. Listen!

²{ßçMÞæÜ /oLippOle/- written (& col.?) for "like light." ²{ß /oLi/ in this case means "light," but a more common word for "light" (in both poems and normal conversation!) is  dɵÞÖ¢ /prakaaSam/. _çÉÞæÜ /-pOle/ is a suffix that means "like" or "as." Listen!

ºáxᢠ/chutum/- poetic word for "will walk around." Comes from the verb ºáxáµ /chutuka/, a slightly poetic word usually meaning "to walk around" or "to surround" but also "to be in trouble"! Listen!

ÈùáÎâ /narrumaNam/- written (& col.?) for "fresh fragrance." Èùá /narru/, like ÉáJX from Poetry Section #1, means "fresh," although I am not sure whether it is a colloquial word. Îâ /maNam/ is a written & col. word for "fragrance" or "good smell." Listen!

æºÞøßçÏâ /choriyENam/- poetic word for "must flow down." æºÞøßÏáµ /choriyuka/ (meaning "to flow down/scatter/shower") is another one of those words that start with º- that you find mainly in poems and movie songs! Listen!

æÉÞX /pon/- written & col. for "golden"; an adjective, possibly used more often than English "golden," to imply that something is very good and/or very nice. From the noun æÉÞKí /ponn/, which means "gold" but is more common in poetry than in casual conversation. Listen!

ÄOáøáÕßX /thamburuvin/- poetic word for "of the thamburu." A thamburu (ÄOáøá) is a string instrument often played to produce the background sound in Carnatic (i.e. South Indian classical) music. Nowadays, it seems, the ÄOáøá is often pre-recorded and then played on a small radio-like mechanism. Listen!

dÖáÄßçMÞæÜ /SruthipOle/- written & col. for "like the Sruthi." Sruthi (dÖáÄß) is a term used in Carnatic music that refers to the sound that a ÄOáøá is supposed to make for the background sound!  Listen!

ÈzµZ /nanmakaL/- poetic word meaning "good things." Èz /nanma/ is a poetic word that generally means "good" (OK, more specifically, it can mean: "virtue, goodness, well-being, prosperity!"). The more common word for this (or a common word with a similar meaning!) is ·áâ /guNam/. Its plural is ·áÃBZ /guNangngaL/. Listen!

ÈßKßW /ninnil/- written & col. for "in you." The "you" here is specifically the familiar singular "you," Èà /nii/. Listen!

ÈßùçÏâ /nirrayENam/- written & col. for "should spread." ÈßùÏáµ /nirrayuka/ means not only "to spread," but also "to be full/completed/enough." Listen!

So now we have the translation to yet another verse! No sweat!! (Well, OK, maybe a little harder than the last time...)

Like the light inside,

You will walk around the camphor lamp, 

    and a fresh smell must flow down.

Like the golden thamburu's sruthi,

Virtues should spread within you. 

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