The Golden Era of Dr.IR and Dr.SPB

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#320 பாக்கு வெத்தல போட்டேன் பத்தல, பொண்ணு பாத்ததாலே
(மை டியர் மார்த்தாண்டன் , 1990)

pAkku veththala pOttEn paththala of MDM

thiraippadal, rakkamma, tamilxprez blogspot - all these sites wrongly report this song to be sung by Mano & Janaki (possibly one person's error copied by others ; or the CD has this kind of nonsense credits ). A song very clearly by SPB & the (hated 'dagudu-dugudu' singing) kuzhuvinar. A song reasonably popular those days and a big personal favourite to me, to this day! Lot of loud playback time at the bachelor home for this song as well as all the MDM songs (except the 'azhagu nilavu sirikka maRandhadhE').

Despite listening it to this so many times, I don't remember discussing about the meaning of the first two lines - with anyone at any point of time Now that I'm making an exclusive post about this song, just dwelt upon it a few minutes and it didn't make any sense to me at all. Why would the pAkku veththala becomes insufficient to this fellow simbly because he found a girl? (Does veththala pAkku happen to be so much intoxicating on a normal basis - me no experience so can't tell)...

In any case, it is worthwhile to have a mini discussion about this 'parisam pOduthal' thingy here While the simplified translation of this could be 'betrothel / engagement', I don't think parisam pOduthal and betrothel are exactly the same things.

Why? Well, before I explain with my very first experience of attending a 'parisam pOduthal', let me quote some linguistic kAlachchuvadu article here which seems to indicate the same :

தமிழிலிருந்தும் ஓரிரு உதாரணங்களைப் பார்க்கலாம். 'பரிசம் போடுதல்', 'சீர்வரிசை' ஆகிய சொற்களை ஆங்கிலத்தில் மொழிபெயர்த்துவிட முடியாது. காரணம், இந்தச் சொற்கள் பண்பாட்டின் வெளிப்பாடுகள். அடிக்குறிப்புப் போடாமல் ஆங்கிலத்தில் இச்சொற்களைப் புரியவைக்க முடியாது. காரணம், பண்பாடுகளில் காணப்படும் வேறுபாடுகள்.

Now, my very first attending of a 'parisam pOduthal' was that of my 6th grade classmate's elder sis & their dad was my dad's classmate, lived in a farm which was about 5 miles from where we lived. We all went to the function, had lunch and then the adults started the 'parisam pOduthal'.

It was not straight equivalent of 'nichchaya thAmboolam' where everything had been agreed upon and the function becoming a mere formality. That way, it's not 'engagement' or 'betrothel'. Neither it is a 'peN pArkkal' which is totally preliminary.

It's a little "crude form" of nichchyadhArththam - in Kerala they call it 'oRappikkal' (means, "making sure"). It's not just a 'sign-up' ceremony but ALSO a detailed discussion of all 'kodukkal-vAngals-nittie-gritties'

That first function that I attended was quite nasty, lasted 3 hours or so - with the "useless fellows" (as per me & my classmate) discussing over 'eththanai pavun pOduveenga - orE poNNu thAnE' etc