Lakshman/others,

could you kindly provide the lyrics for Bharathi's Sollavallayo kiliye? The song is mentioned elsewhere in the forum, but I couldn't find the lyrics.

thank you

rasikapriya

solla vallAyO. rAgA: behAg/kiravANi/rAgamAlikA.

P: solla vallAyO kiLiyE solla nI vallAyO
A: valla vEl murugan tanai ingu vandu kalandu magizhndu kulAvenru
C1: tillai ambalattE naTanam seyyum amarar pirAn avan
selvat-tirumaghanai ingu vandu sErndu kalandu magizhndiDuvAi enru
2: allik-kuLattarugE oru nAL andip-pozhudinilE angOr
mullai seDi adanpAr seida vinai muTrum marandiDak-kaTradennE enru
3: pAlai vanattiDaiyE tanai kaip-paTri naDakkaiyilE tan kai
vElin mishaiyANai vaittu sonna vindai mozhigaLai cintai seivAi enru

Lakshman

THANK YOU

rasikapriya

I thought it was tani-kaip-paTri nadakkaiyile ? Maybe Thanigai?

It is naDakkaiyilE - as we 'walked'

tanaik kaip paTri naDakkaiyilE=while one (he) walked holding my hand.
Forget the word tanai; it is poetically said (whilst he, of one's hand holding, walked alongside).

Ahhh ok. Thank you.

would someone be so kind as to provide the meaning of the song?
I have the audio for it and was hoping to understand if it would make a song suitable for dance

thank you
rasikapriya

Here you go rasikapriya:

This composition represents a conversation between the lovelorn nAyikA and her parrot (kiLi) where she seems to coaching it to ask some questions the way she wants them to be posed (enru – thus).

P: solla vallAyO kiLiyE solla nI vallAyO

Oh parrot (kiLiyE) would you (nI) find it impossible (vallAyO) to say these words (Solla) to my beloved?

A: valla vEl murugan tanai ingu vandu kalandu magizhndu kulAvenru

Can you not carry this (enru) message to my Lord muruga (murugan tanai), the wielder of the powerful (valla) spear (vEl)? "Please come (vandu) here (ingu) and meet (kalandu) me so that we may enjoy (magizhndu) and delight (kulA) in each other's company"

C1: tillai ambalattE naTanam seyyum amarar pirAn avan
selvat-tirumaganai ingu vandu sErndu kalandu magizhndiDuvAi enru

Please tell the precious (Selva) and divine (tiru) son (maganai) of the great lord (pirAn) of the gods (amarar) who (avan) dances (naTanam Seyyum) in the temple (ambalam) of cidambaram (tillai) that (enru) he will enjoy (magizhndiDuvAi) himself if he were to come (vandu) here (ingu) and meet (SErndu) me.

2: allik-kuLattarugE oru nAL andip-pozhudinilE angOr
mullai seDi adanpAr seida vinai muTrum marandiDak-kaTradennE enru

Oh Parrot! Would it be impossible for you to ask him how he has taught himself (kaTradu ennE) to completely (muTrum) forget (marandiDa) the dalliance (Seida vinai) he conducted with me beyond (pAr) a (angu Or) jasmine (mullai) shrub (ceDi) near (arugE) the lily (alli) pond (kuLam) one (oru) day (nAL) when it was dusk (andi pozhudinilE)?

3: pAlai vanattiDaiyE tanai kaip-paTri naDakkaiyilE tan kai
vElin mishaiyANai vaittu sonna vindai mozhigaLai cintai seivAi enru

Would you find it impossible (vallAyO) to ask him to think (cintai SeivAi) about the amazing (vindai) words (mozhigaLai) he uttered (sonna) as he swore an oath (ANai) of allegiance to me with his hand (kai) kept (vaittu) on top (miSai) of his (tan) spear (vElin) in the middle (iDaiyE) of a desert (pAlai vanattu) as we walked (naDakkaiyilE) holding (paTri) hands (tanai kai)?

Ravi

many thanks for the meaning. The song is truly beautiful - I like the image of a nayika whispering to the parrot , it is quite poetic

thank you

You are welcome!

As I understand, it sending a parrot as a as messenger - called kiLi viDum dUtu/tUdu is quite the done thing in romantic imagery. The other messengers are swans (annam) and even a cloud (mEgham) - the latter was epitomised by kALidAsa in his mEghsandES.

Rasikapriya,
Though it is a simple little love song (Bharati's poetry is incomparable), it is a lovely song. I know of your dedication to the art of dance and of the care you take to understand the songs you dance to. Some day, you may even aspire to do PAnjAli Sabadam, who knows?!

Ravi: Excellent translation!

Ravi, Arasi: I am not familiar with the word vallAyO. First I thought it may be a variation on 'solla villayO' but that is a different meaning altogether ( though sort of fits the overall context but with a different take ). I got another vibe along the lines of 'strength' from where I can see the bridge to Ravi's translation ( "don't you have the strength" to "is it Impossible for you" ). But at this point I am going by gut feel, Where or how else can you use 'vallAyO'? Is it a word in fairly common usage? Thanks.

VK,

VallAyO, has origin from vallamai [noun] (to mean capacity), of course not being much used. vallarasu, vallavan are some words in use to mean Powerful Govt & Powerful person respectively.

Vallinam means hard (ka, cha, Da, ta, pa, Ra)

Solla vallAyo means - Are you not able to say ...

'kiLi mozhi' .. kOkilathukAha

Some popular sayings(pazhamozhigaL)
'vallavanukkum vallavan'
'vallvanukku pullum Ayudam'(vallAthavanukko avan AyudamE sEdaram-this is my addition(sonda sarakku))!

VK,

I went with my gut feeling too - vallAyO - if felt it was too much to ask a parrot if it lacked the strength/courage! So from 'are you not able to' (like 108tALa explained) I settled for 'do you find it impossible to'!

Punarvasu,

Wasn't vallavanukku vallavan a particularly revolting film?

I'm sorry, I dont know about this film.

I think "vallAyo" is the "sen-thamizh"(literary) form of "muDiyuma?" Just as we use "Can you" and "Will you" interchangeably in spoken english, though they mean different things (ability vs willingness), here too i think the poet means "Will you please?"
My 2 cs

Rajani,
You said what I wanted to say.
Is it possible at all? Would you please? More layers of meaning: I know it
is possible, but friend, would you please oblige?
Now, both the parrot and spring cuckoo are happy

Thanks everyone. That is great. I get the drift.

Is the root of this word then common with the other words that mean "physical strength"?

Here, "strength" does not seem to used as in "physical strength/capacity" but more as a softer "wherewithal". From there, using the "can you" "will you" equivalence that Rajani pointed out, I can get to "muDiyumA" and to the other flavors/layers that Arasi pointed out. But now we have gone a long way from the root which has a strong connotation in physical strength, that is what leads me to ask if the root for this is somewhere else or same as other "strength" words. Anyway, if that is what it is, so it shall be.

OK, for a bit of fun. In this case it is a rhetorical question to the poor bewildered parrot but how will you answer ( muDiyum or muDiyAdu ) using variations of vallAyO. "Yes <transformed vallAyO>" or "No <transformed vallAyO>".

everyone/all
thank you for your posts elucidating the meaning of VallAyO in the song context.

Ravi
do you recall any dance song where the messenger is a cloud?

arasi
my interest for sahitya was kindled by the discovery of forum such as this one and could have never grown into a serious interest if it weren't for the dedicated people who regularly contribute in the forum. But in what sense should I aspire to panjali sabadam?

thank you all

Rasikapriya,

I do not know of a single song, but the entire poem mEghdUt is about this imagery. If I come across a (one) song, I will let you know.

Ravi

Rasikapriya,
You are a dancer. Ravi would tell you what a rich lode of Bharati's poetry pAnjAli sabadam is, for a dance drama. A difficult task, I admit. But it made me wonder, knowing of your dedication, if you would take it up as a challenge (and I am partial to those who pay a lot of attention to the words!). So, I suggested it to you.
I have no idea if someone has done it in dance already, but with simple attire but with a lot of fire, this venture can forget about a lavish production and focus on the intensity of emotions...

Rasikapriya, I found there are ten verses by Andal, in her "nAchiyAr tirumozhi", where she sends the clouds as messenger to the lord of Tirupati. Starts with "viN nIla mElAppu virittARpOl mEgangAL"

VK,
When Mrs. VK asks you on the phone: could you please pick up some veNDaikkAi on your way from work, she can ask it any which way, and you would gladly do so. Supposing you are tied up at work, and she asks you to pick up something you are least interested in, and don't care to take a detour to pick it up (it is going to be very late), how would Mrs. VK phrase it? nInga (nI) varumbOdu please, ...vAngi vara muDiyumA? muDiyumtAnE? muDiyumnu nenekkiREn, illayA?
So, someone who is capable of it. Will you do it, please?