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July 20, 2009

Dearest friend of mine...(Ennamma thozhi)



Oh! What shall I do, dearest friend of mine?
I am missing my little doll...

Sweet memories
of braiding her hair,
of adorning it with flowers,
of dressing her in satin frocks...

I found you, my dear doll,
the month of Ippasi, fresh from a dip in the Cauvery...

Won't you close your eyes, my dear doll,
when I sing sweet lullabies?
Forever in mind, even when you are gone...
I hear gentle music when you talk to your precious flowers...

Oh! How I wish for a life with no end;
If I had another life to live, how different it would be!
Her face, the enchanting moon; her body, a shimmering river;
Little fingers like soft blades of grass...

Waiting till the day fades,
along with the charm on her face
as her yearning eyes keep searching for those of her beloved's...

This song was hard to translate. L~ sent this song and I liked it the first time I heard it -- simple and melodious. I struggled to understand what the original lyrics meant though (even with mom's help) -- especially the part about another lifetime and a wish to never face death (Why the sudden wish? So she won't lose her doll the next lifetime? But, won't she have to die to face another life?). I sort of left the similes and metaphors intentionally vague so it might refer to the doll or to the little girl herself...

Here is the original (Song - Ennamma Thozhi, Singer - RJ Sulabha, Movie - Kalaipani):

Ennamma thozhi bommaya kaanom
Naa enna seiya poren

Thala vari pinni, pookkal vaithu
Pudhu chattai pottu vittu..

Ippasi masam kaveri snanam…
Bommaya vaangi vandhen

Thaalattu naan pada kanmooda mattayo
Maraindha podhum… manadhil ennum …
Malarodu pesum mazhalai geetham ..

Maranam ella varam kettu…
Maru jenman ondrirundhal maari vidum…
Mugam madhiyo udal nadhiyo…
Melliya kai viralgal pulveliyo….

Kaalai pozhudhellam kaathirukkum
Ival vizhi kaanamal kalai izhakkum…
Ennamma thozhi…

4 comments:

Lavs said...

I have been searching this song for a long time..heard it twice on radio but they never announced the film name..thank you for the translation too!

duh said...

i think i still didn't get the lyrics

RS said...

Lavs - uw! Liked the video of the song -- cute.

duh - yeah, I tried to interpret it but it's sort of confusing, lends itself to several interpretations.

Anonymous said...

Hi RS
You posted this in 2009. It's 2022 now. I was searching for the translation of the song thozi from the newly released movie hey sinamika starring dulquer salman, Aditi Rao. Couldn't find the translation of the desired song but ended up here. Many times i search for some ghazal translations and end up on blogs written in the 2009s or 13s . I have always and always wanted to email these people, because back in those years we didn't have internet atleast the very younger me wasn't aware of such things and now upon entering my 20s whenever i read these blogs i imagine young people (teenagers or young adults) sitting in a cafe writing their thoughts about their fav ghazal, songs, paying for hourly usage of very slow internet (i read you were in us so things might be different there). I just find all of you people really really cool. Seeing these blogs provokes a sense of nostalgia for sth i haven't lived. Knowing that these people now might be adults perhaps married and with kids living on their lives just makes me so happy.

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