Debut Post - Chandrikayil Aliyunnu

It's been quite some time since I created this blog. One fine day, I felt that I just had to start this - but somehow, the maiden post never really kicked off. I tweaked how the blog looks (numerous times). Every time I sat to write, I kept postponing it. I wondered which song to start off with. I wondered what format the posts should take. But looks like today is the day - and I begin this, just as spontaneously as I created this blog.

So....I am no great singer myself, but music means a lot to me. I have, of course grown up on a staple diet of film music, be it Malayalam or Hindi. And I have to thank my Dad for that. He made sure that we (my sister and me) were exposed to music, right since childhood. We were born and brought up in Dubai, and good Indian entertainment was hard to come by in those days.No, I'm not revealing my age here; just so that you know, it was when Dubai wasn't as much a mini- India (or mini-Kerala?!) it is today. So, what he'd do was buy Video Cassettes of Malayalam songs. It was quite popular back then - collections of songs from movies released then. And we still have those back here, in various stages of dilapidation; have to convert them to CDs before all's lost... but I digress.

So as I was saying, we caught up on the goodness of Malayalam songs and movies in our apartment back at Dubai, with the songs unfolding on our mini-screen. The very mention of this brings back memories of my childhood as I watched and re-watched those cassettes in my spare time. And that's how we soaked in the beauty of Malayalam music and movies. As for Hindi songs, my Dad was an ardent fan of Hindi movies and music too. Also thanks to Zee TV and Annu Kapoor's Anthakshari (an iconic show, I tell you - nothing matches that show yet... my all-time favourite), we heard a lot of the old classic Hindi songs. And I love and respect that show because it was the only show where I saw lyrics being given as much importance as the music. I've seen a lot of people neglect the lyrics - but for me, that's anathema! How on earth can you neglect the beautiful thoughts and imagery that a song contains? But that might be an altogether separate rant/post - so let me save it for later!

I remember Dad once taking us to a music store in Dubai to get us some audio tapes and CDs (it was quite making an entry, and was pretty expensive back then). And we saw the shopkeeper's jaw drop when we were spewing out our list of old Hindi songs, and demanding Mohd. Rafi and Kishore Kumar collections. We were barely 9 years of age, and he was surprised to even know that we knew those songs!

Okay, so enough of me bragging. In short, that's how my love for film music began.

So.... why this blog? What's it going to have?
I am not sure of any format yet. I am just going to choose a song I like, per post. And share my memories with it - like: where did I hear it first? Why is it special to me? What do I like about it - the lyrics, the rendition or the picturization?... and so on. So basically, it's going to my personal association with the song; or quite simply a song will be here 'coz I like it! I am hoping that as the blog evolves, it will also find a personality of it's own. Till then, I'll be experimenting.

And  since I can't thank my Dad enough for having triggered my interest for film music, I am going to begin this blog with one of my Dad's favourites!

The song is 'Chandrikayil aliyunnu chandrakaantham'. Now I am not entirely sure if this is his favourite, or one among his favourites. But of the rare times that I've heard him sing (rather hum), he used to sing the opening lines of this song. So any time I hear this song, it reminds me of my Dad. Or rather, it's one of the songs I associate with him.

So here's a video of the song I could find on YouTube.

Credits -
Movie: Bharyamar Sookshikkuka (1968)
Song: Chandrikayil Aliyunnu
Lyrics: Sreekumaran Thampi
Music: Dakshinamurthi
Singers: K J Yesudas, P Leela

And if you feel like singing along, here are the lyrics:

Chandrikayil aliyunnu chandrakaantham
Nin chiriyil aliyunnen jeeva-raagam
Neela-vaanil aliyunnu daaha megham
Nin mizhiyil aliyunnen jeeva megham


Thaarakayo neela thaamarayo nin
Thaarani kannil kathir chorinju
Varna-mohamo poya janmapunyamo nin
Maanasathil prema-madhu pakarnnu


Madhavamo nava hemanthamo nin
Mani-kkavil malaraay vidartthiyenkil
Thanka-chippiyil ninte thenalar chundil oru
Sangeetha binduvaay njaan unarnnuvenkil