Pachai Nirame ('O the Color Green') from the movie Alaipayuthey ('The Waves Are Breaking'), 2000
Oh my companion! oh my friend!
Love has, love has, love has a color in it …
Oh my companion, oh my friend,
My love, my love, you too have color to you …
O the color green, the color green,
O green which sparks my desire,
The smile of the grass, too, is green;
It will give me the permission [I seek].
O green, o the color green,
The green of the newness of the leaf;
Your nerves, too, are green,
And will give me the permission [I seek].
The beak of a parrot, seen through a branch,
The betel-tinged tongue of a teenage girl,
A brand-brand-new blood-hued rose,
The newborn child's earth-untouched feet…
All reds are your anger,
All reds are your anger.
Evening-sky-spreading yellow,
Yellow which blossomed in the tinder of fire!
Yellow that sparkles a gold earring,
Yellow that bathed in the goldenrain flower,
Yellow, yellow, yellow …
The emerald-yellow of the evening moon;
All these live in your breast.
The color of the waveless deep,
The color of a cloudless sky,
The color that lives in the peacock's throat,
The color that bloomed inside the water-lily,
The color poured into the violet flower
All together sparkle in your eyes,
All together sparkle in your eyes …
O color of the night, color of the night,
O color of the whole stormy season,
O color seen in a crow's wing,
O color of the eye-black that writes womanhood,
O color of the cuckoo that sings in the morning,
All mixed together, o color of your hair.
O the color white, O color white …
O color of the rain-sprouting leucas aspera …
O white, O white,
O color of half the eye,
O color of the rain-sprouting leucas flower,
O the color of your heart.
O the color of your heart, o the color of your heart …
