She:
Me? Singing a song?
Did you ask me to sing?
It is strange that you could utter such words!
He:
Your heart is as sweet as raga Boopala!
Your attitude well matches with Druva tala!
Your very patience is literature!
Whatever you sing is music and music at its best!
Don’t you know?
She:
My household is my music, and our kitchen is my literature!
Caring for these children is my music practice!
Is this is not enough?
You wish to listen to my song?
He:
While you move the cradle
putting our children to sleep,
the lullabies that you articulate are real music!
Don’t you know that it is music? No music can match that singing!
I tell you for sure! Why do you have doubts?
No music can match your singing!
She:
When you become angry when offered half-cooked rice!
Which raga is suitable to express your anger?
Which notes fit into that raga?
You are my Thyagayya, aren’t you?
And the right person to tell me about your anger raga!
He:
Rice particles make a wild dance while they are boiled when you make recipes!
Who taught you to make rice particles to dance that way?
Which Bharatha taught you that school of dancing?
How do you identify the softness of cooked rice through intuition?
This write-up based is on the song “Neena Paadana Paata …” from the Telugu movie Guppedu Manasu (1979) featuring Sarat Babu, Sujatha, and Saritha. This song was written by Acharya Athreya and set to music by M. S.Viswanathan. The song was rendered by Vani Jairam and S.P. Balasubrhmanyam. This movie was directed by K.Balachander.
