There was a time, when Tamil film songs were more interesting to me than Carnatic music, especially when A.R. Rahman was the rage of the day for making Indian songs sound as contemporary as western pop. One of the turning points for me was probably the song Alaipayuthey. I was rather intrigued when told it's a classical piece. Still, at first I was simply thinking, yes the tune sounds nice, and yes I can tell it's a classical piece with the drone and the bells in the background, but so what? Then the tune just grew and grew on me, and I began to feel how the melody just winds and turns, rises and falls, coming at you like one wave after another. It's like you can listen to all that nu-metal and surf rock stuff but it won't take you on a rollercoaster ride like this music. Never mind the techno and drum and bass stuff that just sounds monotonous and sterile after a while. I was then convinced, if there's one thing that A.R. Rahman did right here, it's that he did a very simple arrangement, basically just a driving beat like a remix that stays faithful to the original otherwise. Why add on unnecessarily when something is already so great?

It was more recently that I actually learnt about the composer of the song, Oothukkadu Venkatasubbaiyer, who lived through the first half of the 18th century, predating the Trinity of Carnatic music. I had found by chance a recording by Sudha Ragunathan of Oothukkadu songs. Apart from Alaipaayuthe Kannaa in Kanada raga, the most famous song there is Thaaye Yasodha in Thodi raga, in which the gopis tell Krishna's mother Yasodha of his michievous tricks. Both songs are well-known in the Bharata Natyam repertoire. Krishna is said to be Oothukkadu's chosen deity and source of inspiration. Despite being a prolific composer, Oothukkadu was some kind of recluse, he signed off his name in the lyrics only in few works.

There remains a lot in the works of Othukkadu that I have to discover and learn to appreciate. But I suppose Alaipaayuthe will always occupy a special space in my heart. It's a song that I can listen to and hum to at all times, whether I'm feeling happy or sad, or simply confused. Alaipaayuthe... en manam alaipaayuthe...