Film Song In Tamil Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

This evening I am listening to songs in Tamil
As usual, they are film lyrics from old movies
Which were popular fifty to sixty years ago.
They are stored in iTunes on my Dell laptop:
I am hearing “ilamai kaalam, inimai aahum”
Meaning in Tamil, 'Youth season is sweetness”.
From a film called ‘Mangaiyar Thilagam’

Do you know Tamil has its own rich literature,
Script and grammar, rich & ancient as Sanskrit?

I look back to my youth decades ago,
And find that now in old age, I think
That my youth was sweet and great,
But I don’t recall too many moments
In my youth when I felt like that;
On the contrary, I remember having
Large number of problems as now,
And without the present resources!

Wisdom consists of enjoying what you have,
It really does not matter what you have,
Or what you don’t have: what counts is
How you possess them, and treat them.
If you live in the present, in the herenow,
And also are aware of the plus points of that,
Then you are young, old, sweet and blessed
All together. And, there is no other way.

Like my father in his eighth decade told me:
“When young I did not realize that mere use
Of faculties is the greatest blessing one can have:
But when many wake up to realize that, we find
That our faculties are no longer ours to use;
We require glasses, hearing aid, false teeth,
Walking-stick, son to take you to a hospital.”
I made a note never to forget that advice of his.