CHENNAI: Kalakkatha sandana maram vegu vega poothirikka, poo parikkan pokilamo vimanathe paakkilamo… (A rough translation: Shall we go and pluck flowers from the sandalwood tree that has bloomed in the east...).
Tribal folk singer from Attappadi in Palakad district of Kerala, Nanjiyamma, has won the national award for the song she wrote and sang for the film, Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), directed by late KR Sachidanandan. The movie bagged several awards when the national film awards were declared on Friday.
When Nanjiyamma sang the ‘Kalakkatha’ song, she helped her tribal village bordering Kerala and Tamil Nadu regain its lost musical identity.
The singer was married off at the age of 15. Her husband Nanjiyappan always encouraged her to make use of her talents.
In her early sixties now, the animated Nanjiamma enthusiastically pursues her passion of singing folk songs.
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She might be popular now, but she continues to take her cattle for grazing everyday and leads an unassuming life.
After her win on Friday, she sounded buoyant.
"My son told me about the national award declaration. We all watched the award announcement on TV", she exclaimed during a telephonic conversation with TNIE.
"In our country, let all the people achieve success in life," Nanjiamma was overheard telling her son when she was informed that Attappadi is now hogging the limelight at the national level.
Nanjiyamma, along with another tribal artist S Pazhaniswami, 42, who also acted in Ayyappanum Koshiyum, actively participate in folk music programmes organised in and around Attappadi village.