Abdur Raoof, legal expert, talks about his experience of Malayalam translation of Jaihoon’s poems, UDYANAM MADUTHORU VANAMPADI.

I recently read a book named ?UDYAANAM MADUTHORU VAANAMPAADI?, the Malayalam version of the book ?Henna for the Heart?. The whole collection is about love. When I read the book I could conclude that each poem is inspired by love.

When one is going through the first chapter called ?Ente Umma Ente Swargam? (My Mother, My Paradise), he or she can understand the affection and love of mother to a child and vice versa. There is a saying that ?Paradise is under the feet of Mother?, which shows how our mother has endured a lot to reach us in the present position. We can feel the compassion and warmth of mother in this chapter, especially for those who live far from their mother and relatives. The poet has presented the relation of mother and a son very emotionally in his first chapter of the book

The remaining chapters are not independent from the portrayal of other aspects of true love. Each poem depicts the desire and pain of those who need love and those who lost love. Friendship is also given a new meaning in this book by associating it with the love of God. Though we have many poems written about friends and friendship, Jaihoon has painted it very differently.

This poem has been written from an Islamic point of view. In older days most of the Islamic fictions meant Mappila songs (in the case of Kerala Muslims) and some stories related to Mappilas. But Jaihoon has made a new version of Islamic fiction, like praising the Lord for His blessings given to the human beings and praising Prophet Muhammad (SA) through his poetry using modern metaphors.

Then name itself is attractive ?UDYANAM MADUTHORU VANAMPADI?. It means a nightingale is really fed up with its garden. So a feeling of sorrow of a nightingale appears here. That means the poet himself is a nightingale and he is fed up with the deeds happening in the world.

I hope all of you will really enjoy reading this book ?UDYANAM MADUTHORU VAANAMPAADI?. Those who love poems and stories and those who have love in their heart should definitely give it a read.

Posted : Dec 4, 2007