Flaunt it never?

Nitchiya Tamboolam (1962)

Met up with a friend after 30 over years. I did not have much to talk about then, did not have the opportunity to, but now, somehow we clicked on common grounds. After honing his survival skills with the courtesy of the School of Hard Knocks of Life, he has a leaning towards philosophy. We had talked a good one hour before we realised that we had others to meet up at the gathering.

When we spoke about films and philosophy, he was quick to add, "Why go so far as to look for philosophy in movies when you have tonnes of them in every Tamil movie!"

True. Just look at this happy tune from 1962. It shows a group of carefree youngsters, including the pudgy Sivaji Ganesan who is trying to portray a young punk, are seen singing merrily humming a tune and playing their harmonica and guitar, driving down a country road. Despite the temporary setback in the punctured tyre, they repair their damage and carry on their merriment with a little bit of help from their friends.

Roughly, the lyrics go like this...

God created it and gave it to me,
"live the life, boy!" He told me
and sent me down. 

The world is in my hand,
money jingling in my pocket,
come to think of it, I am King.
Entertainment, romance, you'll find it here, friend. 

One who worries about the past is silly,
One who worries about the future is stupid.
One to ignores what come may is a good fan.
That person is this person and this person is that person,
there is no today and no tomorrow,
there is no night or day,
there is no youth, old age or end. 

It is absurd to save your money and hide it,
The money that God created is public domain,
Whatever money comes to me, I spend and enjoy it around, it's my duty,
It may me proud, it's my right!
When you have lots of money,
and you can see others jump around in joy, laughing with you
you will find a special kind of joy....

This goes against the grain of what I was taught in my childhood - be humble; save money, save for a rainy day; don't flaunt; life has it ups and downs, do not think that good times would last forever; friend will laugh with you when you are rich and laugh at you when poor; do not mock the poor. Of course, in that movie, the character is trying to portray the persona of rich man's kid spoilt by excesses of life. He seems to think he is god-sent to enjoy life, not to worry about the future as life would take care of itself. Everything is a cycle - good times and bad; so why bother? When life hits rock bottom, it can only go one way; that is up!

But then, over-indulgence and living in opulence have always been taught to us to be wrong virtues. A simple way of life and the path of moderation is said to be a sure way of attaining eternal happiness. Do they really?

Be thrifty, be like the ant, save for a rainy day. The economists, however, advise us to spend like there is no tomorrow, to spur the economy. The older adage advises us to spend within your means; a life free of debts is a happy one. The modern man immerses in credit to aim high; aim for the moon, they say, if you fail, at least you fall amongst the stars. The only problem is that the stars are light years away if compared to our lunar friend!

My mother used to curse her father for having spent the whole family heirloom within a single generation. Perhaps, he had the same mindset as that of the hero in the song. Live for today as you do not know whether you would live tomorrow. Perhaps, the generation next need a little push with economic help as people in the modern post-colonial world do not have goodwill and blessing for their meal and education. They had to sing for their meals!


The last stanza in the song probably shows the socialist/ communist stance of the lyricist. The verses in Tamil could also mean 'it is a joy to see people run after the money that I throw'! He is probably looking and laughing at our antics of the poor dancing to rich man's tunes for money and how the rich manipulate the poor with their wealth! That is the special kind of joy he is talking about!

In the snippet, as if in a symbolic manner, shows us travelling through time yearning for joy and happiness. The car, our journey, hits a rough patch, a puncture. We all help each other to get us going again, continuing with things that make us happy, until the next glitch. Happiness is all that we seek. When we attain that, we want more. We do not know where and when to stop. Perhaps, we should be an Epicurean to find pleasures in the simple things in life. Like Mugli and his jungle friends who only dwell in bare (bear) necessities to survive and have fun!

http://tamilsongslyrics123.com/detlyrics/447