So I watched this musical documentary and loved it.
It follows the life and works of the poet Arunagirinathar and has lovely compositions of Thiruppugazh verses set to music. Singer Pradeep Kumar's diction is quite something 💓💓💓💓 The part in the documentary where his teacher sings a verse, and Pradeep Kumar identifies the raga had me going 'Wowww'. I made a mental note to resume Carnatic music classes when I get the chance.
I shared the documentary with a friend, who shared some amazing blogs on Tamil poetry.
Now, all these things left me feeling very enriched, but also awash with a profound Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) on all the books I probably won't get to read, all the intricacies of music I don't know, all the quirky sayings/expressions I don't know because of all the languages I don't know, all the academic disciplines that are simply beyond me, all the places there are to visit. And bizarrely, all the knowledge that got lost along the way because of libraries being destroyed, all of Jane Austen's letters that Cassandra burnt, all the things that will exist a hundred years from now, which I won't be around to experience.
Reading this article (https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html) only exacerbated the feeling.
There is simply too much to know/learn/experience and too little time.
This Naaladiyaar (Four-lined verse) accurately captures the sentiment:
Translation:
Knowledge is infinite; but numbered are the days of the seeker.
Factor in illness and trouble, the days are even fewer.
So choose wisely what you seek,
Like the swan parses milk from water.
While these verses do nothing to quell my FOMO, they offer sage advice: that we can indeed choose how we ration the time we do have at our disposal.
It follows the life and works of the poet Arunagirinathar and has lovely compositions of Thiruppugazh verses set to music. Singer Pradeep Kumar's diction is quite something 💓💓💓💓 The part in the documentary where his teacher sings a verse, and Pradeep Kumar identifies the raga had me going 'Wowww'. I made a mental note to resume Carnatic music classes when I get the chance.
I shared the documentary with a friend, who shared some amazing blogs on Tamil poetry.
Now, all these things left me feeling very enriched, but also awash with a profound Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) on all the books I probably won't get to read, all the intricacies of music I don't know, all the quirky sayings/expressions I don't know because of all the languages I don't know, all the academic disciplines that are simply beyond me, all the places there are to visit. And bizarrely, all the knowledge that got lost along the way because of libraries being destroyed, all of Jane Austen's letters that Cassandra burnt, all the things that will exist a hundred years from now, which I won't be around to experience.
Reading this article (https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-tail-end.html) only exacerbated the feeling.
There is simply too much to know/learn/experience and too little time.
This Naaladiyaar (Four-lined verse) accurately captures the sentiment:
கல்வி கரையில; கற்பவர் நாள் சில;
à®®ெல்ல நினைக்கின் பிணி பல; - தெள்ளிதின்
ஆராய்ந் தமைவுடைய கற்பவே நீà®°ொà®´ியப்
பாலுண் குà®°ுகின் தெà®°ிந்து.
Translation:
Knowledge is infinite; but numbered are the days of the seeker.
Factor in illness and trouble, the days are even fewer.
So choose wisely what you seek,
Like the swan parses milk from water.
While these verses do nothing to quell my FOMO, they offer sage advice: that we can indeed choose how we ration the time we do have at our disposal.
