My “now” song: Allahvai naam thozhudaal

Posted on by sudhagee

Do you ever have a song, an idea, a story line, or an image stuck in your head? And it just refuses to go away? For some time at least? I have this with music — it could be a song, an instrumental piece, a jingle, a background score, etc. That particular piece of music becomes my “now’” song, and the “nowness”  (pardon my English here) could be for any length of time.

My current “now” song: Allahvai naam thozhudaal, a composition by Nagoor Hanifa and sung by T.M. Krishna.

Surprisingly, it was Twitter which introduced me to this gem, and I still can’t get over that. I was home on sick leave from work that weekday in October with a fever and body ache. Restless and unable sleep, I logged into my Twitter account to do ‘time pass’.

The first thing I saw was this tweet of T.M. Krishna of whom I’m a huge fan. I needed no encouragement to click on the link in the tweet, which was a recording of an intriguingly named song.

I knew I was in for a special experience when T.M. Krishna began with a brief and beautiful alaap in one of my favourite ragas, Bihag. The violin interlude was just as beautiful and by the time the song began, I was settled in bed, fever and body ache forgotten, my mind tuned to the nuances and melody of the song.

Allahvai naam thozhudaal is a Tamil song and is basically about the comfort that one feels when kneeling before/praying to/ worshipping God or Allah, about taking His words to our hearts and spreading His message and remembering Him. Though I didn’t understand the lyrics fully, I got the emotion the song was trying to convey.

I listened to the song almost on a loop that day, and if anybody has any doubts about the healing powers of music, let me tell you that by that evening, I was fine. I was back at work the next day. Since that day, I have been listening to Allahvai naam… at least once or twice a day, everyday.

Some songs are beyond mere description and just need to be listened to again and again. Allahvai naam… is one of them.

What have you been listening to these days and what is your “now” song? Do tell.

PS: While I know Tamil, this song was beyond my understanding and I took the help of the Banu in understanding the lyrics. Thank you, Asha:)

For more of my “now” songs and my other writings on music, do click here.

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14 thoughts on “My “now” song: Allahvai naam thozhudaal”

  2. I grew up on this one and other devotional songs of Nagur Haneefa, the singer of the original song. It is among my favourite bhajans. The TMK version is good but I prefer the original 🙂 Haneefa, like Rafi, could bring the emotions and love for God in the listener without making any effort. Do listen to his songs. I am giving the link to this one in Haneefa’s voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVHxLnz03yQ

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    1. Zephyr, I had never heard of this song or Nagur Haneefa, till that day in October. My loss entirely. I’m catching up on his songs and poetry now, including Allahvai naam…

      This is the second time I’m hearing a bhajan in praise of Allah; the first was one sung by Yesudas.

      The first time for anything is special and so it was with TMK’s rendition of Allahvai naam… and it will always remain my favourite. Bihaag is irresistable 🙂

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  3. Such a lovely song, Sudha! I heard it for the first time that day when you shared it on twitter, but didnt really get all the words. Listened to it once again today along with my mother in law, who translated it for me, and enjoyed it all the more! and she really loved it too!
    and zephyr, thanks for the link to the song. we enjoyed listening to that one as well!

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    1. First, let me recover from the fact that you have commented on a music post. 😛

      As I mentioned in the post, while I didn’t understand every single word, I did get the gist as I found out later when my friend Asha translated the song for me. Then it got even more special. 🙂

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  5. By the way my now song is this Slavonic March in B-Flat Minor, Op. 31 by Tchaikovsky. I was listening to something that T is trying to learn by Bela Bartok, which led to Liszt and eventually to this.

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