Prashantha Lal's favorite song

What more is needed where there is  rock-rib ,  tender heart and words in-genuine?
Prashantha Lal de Alwis. Pic source : Internet

Sing one must, even if one does not have the right pitch or one does not know the right note. The words will take you a long way, bathed by rain drop, over road, stone, monument, ripple water and everything. Song is a moment of joy. Most of the time. Song is memory. I have found.  I remember the early mornings years so long. I cannot exactly name the days. Every morning was a song –time. The radio played. I sang. There are songs that have pained. Love lost and yearning. And the next moment sorrow –cut a dream or hope.

Aththamma use to sing. Even before the radio had started singing for me every morning.  After lunch most of the time was spent on bed or at a door step, both of us seated and singing. They are the earliest memories of Aththamma, a love much more aggregate to the sum of it. She was full of song and story.

A song can put us into different moods. It has a way of flooding emotions back to us. When beats go high or when the phases between words are less, they make us dance. Or at least make us tap our feet. It happens unthinkingly. A slow rhythm might be boring. It all depends on how you absorb a song. We all hear the music we like as something special , as something that defies the mundane , take us ‘out of ourselves’ and put us some elsewhere.

In musicology, it is presumed that music also has a social function. Thus music expresses one’s identity. It encompasses arousal- related functions too, like calming down, encourage a community to come together or make awareness as to how one should live, productively.

Of all, there’s a song Aththamma sang when I was small. A favorite.

කාකයෝ පියාඹති

කුරුළු නාද දී

තාම  ඇයි  නිදීමතේ

නැගීටිමු  ඉතින්

My child,

Why still asleep?

Even the crows fly, chirping all over

So wake up.

It’s not that complicated. A few words. So simple. But textually powerful.  These words woke me up once to find the right motivation. And they do still. Thanks to Aththamma I still sing them to myself and sing to others. They are cherished and will be cherished for years to come.

Nandamalini sang a great deal of songs, appealed thousands of hearts. Pawana and Sathyaye geethaya were such. A call for a return of civilization, a return to our identity. Political or otherwise. And among all these politics there are songs she has voiced for  children, born and yet to born. Like ‘ahasin basin – sanda madalin basin ’. So tender and inspiring.

අහසින් බසින් සඳ මඬලින් බසින්

මිනිසුන් මැද පුතුනේ මිහි මඬලේ ඉඳින්

කඳුළු සුසුම් විඳ මුවහත් වෙමින්

රට වෙනුවෙන් දැය වෙනුවෙන් නොසැලී ඉඳින්

සුපසන් නොවේ ලොව නුඹ මේ උපන්

නුවණින් වැඩී ලොව සුපසන් කරන්

විරුවන් ලෙසින් රුදු රණ බිම් මැදින්

නුඹගේ ගමන් මග ඉදිවේ බලන්

Land from the sky, from the moon up above

Live on earth, in the midst of the men

Groom yourself my son, with tear and sigh

Stand ever so firm, for your land and your race.

This world ain’t made of goodness -

My son,

Go brave, like soldier in violent battlefield

To life’s preferred destinations

Grow wise, and spread rightness.

It was Wednesday. 2015 May 13. A hot day. Mr. Prashantha had just begun browsing through the Evidence Law. He has a way of switching from lessons to day- to day things. And to lessons again. With him lectures are never a boring thing. He certainly knows to keep us alive. Quite eloquent, open and a story teller, not in bad sense. Indeed, he knows things. He stopped for a moment. Went all the way back to the time he taught a group of pilots. A President’s Counsel now. Consul for Seychelles. Teacher .Corporate Director. He walks and has walked .Like us. But in different feet in a different world. He is made of wisdom. He thinks life is softer than fear. He believes there is life more than to breathing. He started singing. C.T Fernando. The song:   Awadiwanna Awadiwanna.

දුක සැප  දෙක පෙරලි පෙරලි යයි

යන කාලය නැත නවතින්නේ

ඊයේ වගේද අද ටිකක් සුබයි

අදට වඩා හෙට හොද වෙන්නේ

This song , though old some might call it is epic. It is as epic as any other beautiful thing. It will make you feel that life is easy. Very magnetic and playful, rhythmically. The song has a mystic driving energy .What strikes the most for me is’ ඊයේ වගේද අද ටිකක් සුබයි - අදට වඩා හෙට හොද වෙන්නේ’ ( Today is as  good as it was yesterday , but tomorrow will be even better), thus suggesting that everything is going to be fine. Be positive! Yes.  It takes all the way to famous Merlin Monroe who thinks good things fall apart so better things fall together. Things go wrong but there is a time when they’ll be right too. So empowering.

අවදිවන්න අවදිවන්න

දීප්තිමත් දිනකි උදාවෙලා තියෙන්නේ

සිතනවාට වඩා සොදුරු

විනෝද බර ලෝකෙක අපි

ජීවත්වන්නේ

Singer, thus pleads everyone to wake up and see the bliss of life. It’s a bright and joyful day. Than you think.

Why some songs are  so effective?

Whether the song is your favorite or not, they can pump you up. The trick lies in music .Or words. I tend to believe. They elicit positive emotions. Stirs up the spirit of optimism. Energize you. And get you into that ‘I can do anything’ notion.

I don’t recall what happened when Mr. Prashantha sang. All I remember is that some mimicked him. Some clapped. Some had wide smiles. He said, 'It is my favorite song. Amazingly motivating’. There was no need for a ‘yes’. We already knew. It did certainly boost us too.

There was something extra to his lesson on ‘confessions for evidence’ that day. ‘We should try new things as we live on. Do something that is out of your way. Take life easy .We win. We lose. That’s the beauty of life. Just be active and keep doing things.’ He stopped. Gasped for a while. I think a breath escaped my heart. I was humbled.