telugu translation - om namaha

ever since i came upon this idea of translating hindi film songs, i wanted to translate a telugu song into english. i think that telugu is the sweetest and most melodious language in the world - that may be because its my mother-tongue. telugu is also known as the italian of the east (which i personally find somewhat stupid), but the fact remains that in telugu every word ends in a vowel.
but there was a slight problem - since i grew up in delhi, i never learnt to read and write telugu and my spoken telugu is more or less limited to - i'm hungry, give me food - kind of household stuff. so the chances of me translating a telugu song by myself are very very remote. so i was helped in this endeavor by my good friend satt.

anyways the first song which came to my mind when i decided to translate a telugu song was "om namaha" from the movie "geetanjali". this was made in i think 1989 by one of the best indian directors - mani ratnam. now mani ratnam normally makes movies in tamil which are then dubbed into telugu, but on request of his telugu fans he made this love story in telugu directly. this movie was the biggest hit of those times and still remains a classic in telugu cinema. and also not to forget that the music was composed by illayaraja, who in my opinion is the greatest composer ever born. his music for geetanjali is one of the best ever - with each track an evergreen gem.
the story of geetanjali is about a young man who is leading a normal happy-go-lucky life; he meets with an accident and finds that he doesn't have much time left on earth. he leaves everyone and goes to a hill-station to spend some time alone. there he meets this girl, who is also terminally ill. he learns from her that the misery of death should not take away the happiness in life. soon they fall in love with each other. now for the first time in her life she really wants to live, and all the while she doesn't know that he is also very close to death.

so this song is one of my all-time favorites. in the picturization, all through the song the couple are engaged in a lip-to-lip kiss (which was quite bold for movies in those times) - not like the frantic smooching in hollywood movies, just a simple touching of lips. if i remember correctly, they are standing in a dimly lit church, with the early morning sunlight filtering through the high windows. and the camera moves around them in circles while this song plays in the background.

so here goes the translation: (of course this hardly manages to capture the same essence/feeling which comes out in the original telugu lyrics)

salutations to the music flowing in the eyes [m]
salutations to the waves stirring in the heart [m]
salutations to the rhythms dancing on the lips [f]
salutations to the sweet memories in our minds [f]

in the moment when my heart wept on realizing your heart's longing [m]
in the moment when these cold bodies became one and melted in the embrace [f]

as these arisen desires are carried by the winds [m]
as a beautiful song plays on the flute of our lives [f]
as distances disappear and the world seems very near [m]
as time stands still and we reach out to touch the sky [f]
as the sun rises slowly and the moon asks for a place to rest [m]
salutations to the song of love which is awakened by the sounds of sweet kisses [f]

oh lonely traveller come let us be together [f]
if you be the precious eye i'll turn into the eyelid [m]
as you are the east and as i am the spreading dawn [f]
as the song is woven and the love is expressed in words [m]
as the loving lips become one and the overflowing ambrosia becomes ours [f]
salutations to the loving couple born who are honored guests of the universe [m]

salutations to the music flowing in the eyes [f]
salutations to the waves stirring in the heart [f]
salutations to the rhythms dancing on the lips [m]
salutations to the sweet memories in our minds [m]

in the moment when my heart wept on realizing your heart's longing [f]
in the moment when these cold bodies became one and melted in the embrace [m]