Manathaalum Ninaivaalum...

Kannadaasan wrote those lyrics for a popular song in Tamil movie "Paalum Pazhamum". A friend of mine recently asked what is the differece between Manathaalum and Ninaivaalum? Why did Kannadaasan mention the two separately? Aren't they the same? I wanted to tell him "azhagana song ellam anubavikkanum, aaraya koodathu"! :-) But see some merit to his question. So here goes my understanding.

I think Kannadaasan refers to the heart and mind respectively in those words. I guess we can imagine those two as separate logical partitions of the single physical structure, the brain. It should not be confused with the left and right hemispheres of the brain which are physical partitions. Somehow, we have come to associate the "logical heart" (manam), with the physical heart when we refer to it.

We associate 'feeling' to the heart and 'thinking' to the mind although both originate from brain. The feelings such as love, empathy, emotions such as joy, jealousy, etc are deemed "heart felt". On the other hand caring for others, thoughts, imagination, plans, etc are conceived to originate from our minds. Going back to the Reason and Passion post, passion emerges from the heart while the mind reasons out.

"Manathaalum ninaivaalum thaayaga vendum" is a fantastic phrase that expresses the wish of a wife who wants to "love" and "care" for her husband like a mother. Lucky guy I say :-) Perhaps there is a better explanation to those beautiful lines. I have to go listen to that song now. Love to hear your thoughts.