This song is from the film Pickpocket, which I was made to understand was a mediocre film. I have not seen the film and I do not know the story.

The lyrics are by Pappanamkodu Lakshmanan. I do not know much about his writings. However, the lines in the song are superb for their poetic quality. In fact, the poem is simply a string of poetic words.

The quaint ambience of romantic love as acted out by Prem Nazir and Vidhubhala is most mesmerising. The scenic beauty of the surroundings is picturesque. The bristling breeze in the background is also a charming celebration for the eyes.

The words are loaded with the powerful three-dimensional depth of Sanskrit words (currently found abundantly in Malayalam texts)(both are feudal languages). It might not be easy to transfer the spacious substance and sense of these words into the planar word-codes of English. Each word in its rightful location does become a singular, stirring sensation inside the discerning mind.

Let me try to decipher the reverberating tone in the lines into English. The attempt is an annotation, and not a word-to-word translation:

1.

In the tuneful night-time hours (കാവ്യയാമിനിയിൽ),

in the gushing flow of sweet showers of ardour,

is it the intoxicating silvery night-air (which unfolds the sparkling strings of twinkling dreams),

or is it the goddess of gentle love (who arranges the fragrant-bed),

or is it my lover (who is from the sides of the lovely Gangetic stream of hugging fondness)?

2.

Is it a shower of honeyed-yearnings,

or a sprinkle (in one’s mind) of moist parijatha flowers,

or is it the hallowed music that stirs-up in the aching din of gentle mating,

or is it the tuneful tender songs on hungering-love (sung by divine damsels) (ദേവകന്യകള്‍ പാടിയാടും പ്രേമകാകളിയോ)?

3.

Is it the draping gusto of the night-hours (യാമങ്ങൾ പകരുന്നോരുന്മപാദമോ),

or is it the sheen of erotic arousal in the feminine eye (പൂമിഴിയൽ തുടിക്കുന്ന രതിഭാവമോ),

or is it the gripping mood of fulfilment in the wedding hour,

or is it the oral melodies pouring out of dreams?

4.

Or is it the bustling pleated-tunes of rapturous princesses in eager ecstasy?