Vayalar : Genius Indisputable

I do not know how many geniuses are there in Malayalam. Yet, there is one name that I would call a genius. I do not have the requisite academic qualification or scholarship to speak with authority, or to discard the claims of others; yet, if there were one person who I would vote to bestow this title, it would be Vayalar RamaVarma. Having not read much in Malayalam poetry, my claims may only be treated as the ramblings of a passionate worshiper, who has not had the chance to sample other gods. It was not heavy scholarly words, nor affectations of deeper knowledge that caught my attention, and later my affection. It was the simplicity of the words that could capture an entire human mood in a few sentences that really made him remarkable.

I have not read any of Vayalars poetry; what I have come to be familiar with are just his film songs. They have affected me immensely. As no other thing in Malayalam.  For some reason, I have discerned a rare sense of intellectual honesty, and a personal level of integrity, in his words. I get the feeling that his words have come naturally, and not as a result of some premeditated literary workshop activity. As if his feelings were reflected in the words that flowed.

Be it on revolution, devotion, love, passion, physical attraction, philosophy, human frailty or on any other theme, a sense that his words were coming from his inner soul pervades. He could take themes from immense sources, to paraphrase the emotions of his songs. It seems that he was at home in themes from the Hindu epics, Puranas, Vedas, history, legends, folklore, political thought, and even in themes from the sciences.

One remarkable thing about his songs, which was really revealing, was his familiarity with immense names of Kerala villages, small town, and by lanes of cities. In many of his songs, these names come in association with some fascinating themes connected to these places. Beyond all this, there is an unusual level of information about temples, kavus, and tribal, mountain, and other local gods, that lingers on in many of his songs.Along with all this, exists his songs on Christian devotion, and also his songs that can be categorised as Mappilla or Muslim (Malabar).

I would really love to discourse on each of these items that I have mentioned here. I would love to seek out his various lines that stand out in many of his film songs, and does linger on, on the lips of many a person who loves old Malayalam film songs.

There is a song that was simply inspired-

Chakravarthini ninakku njanende shilpa gopuram thrunnu
Pushpapadukam purathuvaykkune nakgnapadayae akathuvaru

In this poetry, there is the word .salabanjika.
Salabanjikakal kaikalil kusumathala menthi varavelkkum.

I did not understand what is a .salabanjika.. I did ask many of my acquaintances about it. None could enlighten me. Possibly because none of them were from the Malayalam literary background. Once I was reading a small story from an Indian fable.