jalanipak:

Kampung yang Tenggelam, by Indonesian band Belkastrelka. 

Today’s Music Video From Somewhere In Asia, which is awesome because of reasons and also because of wayang kulit.

jalanipak:

Kara Chan, by Kyrgyz singer Kanykei. 

In which I have a pointless Tumblr for pointless music videos from across Asia. It’s very exciting! Also, this one is great and pushs all of my angry female vocalist buttons.

Ismail Kadare, ‘Edhe kur kujtesa’/’Même quand mon souvenir’

[A poem I have especially adored; in order, the original Albanian, the author’s own French version, and a very rough English version I drafted based on the French due to difficulty finding one.] 

Edhe kur kujtesa ime e lodhur,
Ashtu si ato tramvajet e pasmesnatës
Vetëm në stacionet kryesore do të ndalojë,
Unë ty s’do të harroj.

Do të kujtoj
Mbrëmjen e heshtur, të pafund të syve të tu,
Dënesën e mbytur, rrëzuar mbi supin tim
Si një dëborë të pashkundshme.

Ndarja erdhi,
Po iki larg prej teje.
Asgjë e jashtëzakonshme,
Veç ndonjë natë
Gishtat e dikujt do pleksen në flokët e tu
Me të largëtit gishtat e mi, me kilometra të gjatë.

-

Même quand mon souvenir affaibli,
pareil aux trams d’après minuit,
ne s’arrêtera plus qu’aux principaux arrêts,
jamais je ne t’oublierai.

Je garderai en mémoire
le crépuscule immense et silencieux de ton regard,
et ce gémissement étouffé contre mon épaule
comme les flocons d’une neige un peu folle.

C’est l’heure de se séparer.
Je vais m’en aller loin de toi.
Rien là qui puisse étonner.
Pourtant, une autre nuit, les doigts
d’un autre dans tes cheveux viendront
s’entrelacer aux miens, mes doigts
de milliers de kilomètres de long.

-

Even when my memory falters,
like the trams after midnight
who no longer visit any but the major stops,
I will never forget you. 

I will remember
the endless and silent twilight of your eyes,
your muted sob light against my shoulder
like a flake of snow. 

It’s time to be separated. 
I will go far from you,
to where nothing is surprising. 
But, some other night, the fingers
of another in your hair will find themselves
intertwined with mine, my fingers
millions of kilometres long.

This really abruptly shifts tone at 0:55, and in a good way. Also, I’m not remotely sorry about spamming these. 

View high resolution

(Source: 3b-ghny, via rosieroti)

In which I discover the Malaysian Tamil music scene. Aw yeah.

hicockalorum:

Phugtal Monastery in Ladakh, northern India

roswitha:

kaash:

roswitha:

shakthisree gopalan — nenjukulle (by kadalthefilm)

crush. here’s a helpful guide to the lyrics in tamil, english transliteration, and rough english translation. can’t wait to hear the song on the actual soundtrack, though, this oversmooth unplugged arrangement isn’t my favourite kind of rahman.

After listening to the song:

me: isn’t it amazing?!?!?!?!?!?!

amma: so where does she say elephant?

me:…..

me: *outrage*

me: *scans page for lyrics*

me: “aanai puli ellam adakkum adhigaram!!”

appa: she’s saying “aana”

me: oh.

appa: totally not the same as elephant.

(ok he didn’t say “totally”)

me: BUT THE SONG!!!!

me: Rubber valaivikellam satham ida vai illaiye!!!

me: Kodai kambi pola manam kuththi nikkuthe!!

appa: *amused*

appa: yes yes.

appa: but her pronunciation is awful.

me: she is tam!!

me: her name is Shakthishree GOPALAN.

appa: Appo Tamizhai kolai pannitta!

me: *sadness and multiple replays of the song to make up for my parents’ lack of enthusiasm*

*also because it’s so amazing*

sidenote: isn’t “Orangiruchu” totally a Malayali thing? I’ve never heard the orangi-conjugation used in Tamil. She says “thoongiruchu” in the next line, which is how I’ve always heard people conjugate “sleep” formally in Tamil.

And isn’t “aana” Malayalam for elephant, or am I totally wrong?

Then again, I dunno much so.

yes! aana is elephant and urakkam is sleep in malayalam. i am amazed to learn that “aana” is not elephant in tamil? but my idea of tamil arrives from palakkad, not pollachi, so you know. (i think gopalan is from cochin, too.)

the lyrics, of course, are the work of vairamuthu ramaswamy, native of vadugapatti and veteran of the madras film industry. maybe all those malayalis working in kollywood have had an influence.

pretty, pretty voice and song, but I am def. very, very confused by her pronunciation! must be the whole living-in-distant-malluland thing. (wouldn’t expect ‘aana’ for elephant — ‘aanai’ if anything. but then my opinions on Tamil can be taken with a grain of ‘wtf you live in North India Karnataka (that is the barbaric north though)’ salt.)

(via rosieroti)