The Voice of Music
#2 “Punjaiyundu Nanjaiyundu” and “Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam”
As we move into yet another year, let’s take out time to discuss about a particular word that left a lot of people on social media either angry or clueless or polarised.
Every year there is one such word that riles up the collective consciousness of the social media warriors.
Last year and probably even the year before, it was the F-Word that got netizens embroiled in discussions that ranged from the necessary to the pointless, consequential to the trivial and important to the mundane.
This year, we slightly moved away from the F-Word to shift our focus on to a particular P-word.
PRIVILEGE
The debate between people failing to accept or realise their privilege and the ones who rightly or many a time just assume they have realised it is probably still raging on someone’s FB wall or Twitter timeline even as one is reading this long-winded sentence that is bereft of proper punctuation marks.
I’m not here to harp on the same and talk about my privilege or the lack of it.
I’m not here to shame the ones who are ignorant about the same or insult the ones who are not willing to behave just a tad bit more responsibly.
With the debate between the self-aware privileged and the ignorant privileged continues to be held across platforms, let’s for a brief moment, shift the goalposts.
Let’s talk about the group of people who fit into our general consensus of ones who don’t quite come under the broad category of the ‘privileged’ class.
Cinema has always been a mirror to the society of the times and it has been no different when dealing with the stark differences in privilege and opportunities among sections of our society.
Last week we saw Velaikkaran release all across the world to widespread critical acclaim and a very mixed response from the core audience of the star – Sivakarthikeyan.
Almost thirty years back there was a movie that released with a premise quite similar to the Mohan Raja-directed Christmas release.
In 1988, K. Balachander made Unnal Mudiyum Thambi starring Kamal Haasan among other stars.
The yesteryear flick dealt with Udayamoorthi, a youngster born into privilege and growing up in a conservative, orthodox family who takes it upon himself to reform the down-trodden people in his village and rid them of an addiction – Alcoholism
The premise of it and the “who are you to try to uplift” debate can be taken later.
In comparison, Velaikkaran deals with Arivu, a youngster not born into privilege and growing up in a very hostile and violent environment who takes it upon himself to change his people from their normalised way of life and in a way also rid the society of an addiction – Ignorant Consumerism
Let me be clear that this isn’t a movie review but more about that particular P-word.
So this is where I’d like to introduce a specific song from each movie to talk about privilege and its lack thereof.
“Punjaiyundu Nanjaiyundu(PN)” from Unnal Mudiyum Thambi and “Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam(KG)” from Velaikkaran.
“Punjaiyundu nanjaiyundu, pongu varum gangaiyundu
Panjam mattum innum ingu maaravilla, enga bharathathin sothu sanda theeravilla
Veedhikkoru katchi undu, jaadhikkoru sangam undu
needhi solla mattum ingu naadhi illa, janam nimmathiya vaazha oru naalumilla
Idhu naada illa verum kaada, Idhai ketka yaarum illai thozha”
The 1988 song sung by SPB and composed by Ilayaraja starts off on a very mild Mark Antonyesque style.
It begins with praises of the famed prosperity and flourish that is synonymous with the country and follows it up with a commentary on the rampant hunger, poverty and misplaced priorities.
There is also a not-so-subtle jibe at politics, caste and basic lack of humanity.
It talks about a very broad category of people who can definitely be slotted under ‘non-privileged’.
On the other hand, the 2017 song sung and composed by Anirudh begins with its hold firmly on a couple of problems.
“Karuthavanlaam Galeejam kelappi vuttanga, andha karutha maathu goyyale,
Uzhaichavanlaam nammaalu odhungi nikkadhe, vaa va therikka vidu goyyaale
Indha nagaram ippo dhaan maanagaraatchi, idhu maara muzhu kaaraname namma annachi
thagarakottaala thangirundhalaam, chennaiyoda annai namma kuppam thaane”
These lines blame certain external factors for painting the dark-skinned people from the city’s impoverished areas as a group of people who should be reviled or treated with disdain and disgust.
It immediately takes up the cudgels for the sections of a labour class in a metropolitan city who toil hard for its development but are left high and dry time and again when it comes to acknowledgement and respect.
Both these songs almost try to convey similar things but in the 29 years that has passed between them, there has been a tectonic shift in the approach.
While PN says,
“Vaanathai etti nikkum uyarndha maaligai, yaaringu katti veithu koduthadhu
Oorukku paadu pattu ilaitha kootamo, veedindri vaasalindri thavikudhu”
The same emotion is conveyed in Velaikkaran with the lyrics that goes
“Nettukkuttha nikkudhappa shopping mall-u, adha nikka vecha komban enga kuppam aalu
Sarru burru car-u inga odum paaru, andha salaiyellam kan muzhichu pottadhu yaaru
Taj Mahal kattinadhu koththanaaru, Shah Jahan kitta sonna kooda othupaaru”
Both these songs not only take pride in the ability of the down-trodden to labour hard but also lament on the lack of recognition and upliftment of the so called ‘others’ who are instrumental in the development of a city that conveniently overlooks their existence.
However, in this comparison between the songs set in two different eras, the interesting portion comes when we compare the following lines.
Kamal Haasan as Udayamoorthi in a crisp Khaki shirt with a bunch of kids from nearby ‘Kuppams’ (Slums) sings,
“Ethanai kaalam ippadi pogum, endroru kelvi naalai varum
Ullavai ellam yaarukum sondham, endringu maarum velai varum
Naalaiya kaalam nammodu, nichayamundu poraadu,
Vaanagamum vaiyagamum, engal kaikalil endraadu”
Udayamoorthi instills a sort of wishful thinking into the next generation and believes there will come a time where everyone will stand for equality and every citizen will be given equal opportunity to grow and resources will be shared among all.
He believes in a tomorrow that is right around the corner.
The fact that this ‘tomorrow’ never quite turned up for the neglected sections of our society is the reason why in 2017 there is a song like “Karuthavanlaam Galeejaam“
KG doesn’t waste time in such wishful thinking and does away with the belief that the ones not getting equal opportunities need to wait for the ones higher up the ladder to understand their position and grant them a better future.
There is more of a forceful approach in KG.
“Oorukku sondha kaaran, ooruku veliya ninnaan,
perukku chennaikaaran, edhedho sattam pannaan…
Karuthavanlaam galeejaam kelappi vuttaanga, andha karutha maathu goyyale,
uzhaichedhellaam nammaalu odhungi nikkadhe,
vaa va therikkavidu goyyaale”
Udayamoorthi in 1988 is an epitome of optimism and hopes that a better future for the people on the fringes is right around the corner and asks if,
“Seriyil thendral veesadha, yezhayai vandhu saeraadha
gangaiyum therke paayaadha, kaveriyodu seraadha,
paadu padum thozhargalin tholgalil maalai soodaadha”
Arivu in 2017 has understood that the wait for people in the upper echelons of the society to understand or even acknowledge the existence of the fringe is futile.
Udayamoorthi’s hope that the goodwill in people will facilitate a change in the society has given way to a “I deserve recognition and I will take what is rightfully mine” approach in Arivu.
So, one may ask what is the point of this whole exercise?
The debates surrounding the P-word is following an uncannily similar path to that of the F-word.
Large sections of the social media justice warriors have debated long enough about the real and exact meaning of feminism and slotting them into various sub-sects as and when it augurs well for their debate.
We are now seeing a similar trend happening with the understanding of ‘Privilege’.
Many of those who know it are accepting it and trying to provide ‘upliftment’ for the ones without — something like what Udayamoorthi did in Unnal Mudiyum Thambi.
However, it is important to understand and realise that the people without privilege are talking about it themselves.
Even in our cinema, the Arivus of Velaikkaran, Kabalis of well… Kabali, Kaalis of Madras and so on are themselves asking the important and pertinent questions.
Basically, the ones in the know and under the luxurious canopy of privilege need to take a step back and stay on the periphery.
The so-called peripherals are taking centrestage and with the privileged ones already there, it is just getting too crowded.
Of course, there are widespread sections where privilege is still considered to be a deserved hand-me-down. They had their chance at redemption or atleast being responsible, but decided to relinquish it. That’s their choice and our choices always have repercussions.
I am privileged and I know it and that’s why I believe it is ideal to let the ‘others’ fight their battles while I learn to be content being a support if and when needed.
Even the ones like me who acknowledge and accept our privilege and are socially responsible enough to feel the urge to be the voice for the ‘others’ need to realise the importance of keeping oneself away from the spotlight.
Now, the voice of the ‘others’ is getting louder through politics, cinema, music and other artforms. The voice was always there but it is just now that we have decided to hear it and we are hearing it loud and clear.
They are asking for their rightful place in the society. It is imperative for us to understand that this does not rob our privilege, but just gives them a bit of the same.
The idea of equality in a capitalist society is highly farcical in nature. But humanity doesn’t necessarily have to be one.
We can’t be their Udayamoorthi as and when we please and disappear from their radar once our social responsibility quota reaches its limit and we find some other topic to express our outrage.
It is a sustained battle and ones with the baggage of privilege are not exactly cut out to understand the machinations and lead the voice of reason of the ones pushed to the periphery.
We had our chance to be their Udayamoorthi but we, along with successive elected governments and bureaucrats, have failed them repeatedly with alarming consistency.
To paraphrase something said by one of the wisest women I’ve ever met,
“Being a part of a society that systematically oppresses other sections, acceptance of our flaws and exhibiting remorse or regret is important. What’s more important is our ability to face criticism when the oppressed are fighting their battles for themselves. Their words will be hurtful. Their accusations could be considered baseless because you weren’t directly responsible for their plight. But there is a reason why silence is golden. Listen, understand and support. Their suspicion and mistrust will hopefully go away once. But till then, be aware of your privilege, your position in the society, take a step back, let them be in the forefront of this battle against societal inequality imposed on them by fellow humans.”
Basically, Shut up pannalaanga…
Avinash Ramachandran 