A rangOli story - Part XI

Even though this happened to be my first pregnancy and delivery, I have seen many babies and new mothers among my relatives and friends and therefore I was able to adjust to my new situation better than mallI. chikkammA used to come often, at first in a stealthy fashion, but more openly later on. She also used to give us homemade medicine good for nourishing mothers. Though we were sleepless we always tried to lull our babies to sleep. During this time we tried to exchange lullabies. mallI possessed a golden voice and she used to sing some English lullabies. One of them was quite haunting. She used to sing it with such a feeling. I could not follow the words in the song well. I asked her to write it down for me and here is a stanza from it.

Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby

She told me that the Beatles sang it and she liked it because it was also linked to a movement at having a peaceful earth. I was always under the impression that Beatles meant only shouting. On the other hand this looked really calm and soothing. I used to sing songs like tUgire ranganna tUgire krishNanna (let us lull rangA to sleep, let us lull krishNa to sleep), jO jO SrIkrishNa paramAnandA. mallI asked me to sing songs for her girl. I do not know lullaby songs for girls except one jO jO indire lakumi jayantE (Sleep, indirA, lakshmI, jayantI). May be, most of the musicians composed songs only for gods like Krishna and Rama, but not to goddesses. I don’t know. Then mallI hit upon the idea of writing our own song. The ideas were all hers. I supplied the words only. The final product sounded so Indian that every one of us was surprised, but very happy. Thus was born our own lullaby which we could sing to both our newborn children.

nannedeya koLadalli tAvareyu nInu
tAvareya kaNmucchi kanasinali malagu
(You are the lotus in my heart-lake
Close your lotus eyes and enter the dream world)

tiMgaLina
beLadiMgaLina
beLaku dAragaLa tere ninna
toTTilina
hoMbaTTegaLa
hAsigeya suttalide chinna
amRutava hIrutta hUnageya challi
tAvareya kaNmucchi kanasinali malagu
(A screen made of threads of moonlight
adorns the cradle
that has a bed covered by a cloth of gold
Sipping the nectar and smiling like a flower
Close your lotus eyes and enter the dream world)

tAregaLu
suranArigaLu
chaMdiranu hADuvaru sogasAgi
SAradeyu
bhavatAriNiyu
iMdireyu nODuvaru hagaliruLu
ammanige aanaMda appanige chaMda
tAvareya kaNmucchi kanasinali malagu
(The moon, the stars and the celestial women are singing nicely
The three mothers lakshmI, sarasvatI and pArvati
are always taking care of you
You are the source of joy and beauty to your parents
Close your lotus eyes and enter the dream world)

Thus passed the early days in the lives of Sarada and Ravi. Soon the papers and the tickets for their travel back to America arrived. A day or two before the actual journey, mallI opened her heart to me. It left such a permanent and unforgettable impression on me.

... to be continued

Links to the songs:
tUgire ranganna - http://www.acidplanet.com/components/embedfile.asp?asset=1157183&T=9803

jO jO kRshNa - http://www.esnips.com/doc/0f09b93b-957e-432e-bf82-1840958aa6f7/jo-jo-shri-krishna

jO jO indire - http://www.kannadaaudio.com/Songs/Children/home/JoJoLaali.php

Golden slumbers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e_j66mgTDE