Song Name: The Life of Ram (Tamil)
Movie Name: 96 (2018)
Singer(s): Pradeep Kumar
Lyrics Writer(s): Karthik Netha
Music Director(s): Govind Vasantha
Video Director(s): C. Prem Kumar
Actor(s): Vijay Sethupathi, Trisha

Record Label: Think Music
Musicians – Govind Vasantha
Lyricists – Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry



I never really question anything. Not the path I take, not the destination the path leads to. It’s like a river that just… flows. From the origin on a Glacier to the point where it touches the Ocean, in a Delta, it just flows. So do I. Whatever I see, anything that is around me, I just watch. I never seek anything out of what I see, I just look at it and be content with it/amused at it.
Does it really matter if I am a statue that stands tall for eternity or if I am a dream that’s just ephemeral? Does it matter in any way if you would know who I am? But all I chose and want to be is this “unknown” and “uncertain” thing that stays forever. I wanna remain as a question that has no answer. Because I never want to be erased out of existence from the History of Being by being just an “answer” to some “question”. I would rather be the latter, a “question” that always remains, forever.

I beg you not to ask me why I am all alone, for I can say that I have had the pleasure of having numerous “Life Time Experiences”, more than what any average Human would have in one’s lifetime. All these memorable moments in my Life do not make me alone. I am not alone, I have my memories with me. If at all I was alone, then what is that force that kept me alive, kept me pushing to explore the Nature even further, all through these years? That force has taken me by my hand and has taken me around the World! And any place I ever go, I have always been “asked for” (as in, taken care of. Maybe by the people of the place he visited/cared by the animals he might have interacted with. He is basically proving that he never really felt alone anywhere – almost philosophically saying that no Human is ever alone on this Planet Earth).
I am re-born every morning, as if the Time itself gave birth to me. A new born Human! And every day, I keep writing my story. A never ending tale, I am. Everyday is a new chapter for me, literally.

I am like the gusty winds blowing by, those which never stop at anything. I keep moving from one place to another, for my legs do not tire nor do they stop anywhere. And do these winds belong to anyplace in particular, no, right? So am I. Just keep flowing in any direction and touching the lives that cross my path.

I am the king of my World, the World I created around myself. And this is the World that no one else is allowed to enter. I, me and myself – along with my shadow (he playfully warns). 😉

I may not be able to experience the same cozy and safe feeling of being with my Mother anymore, a feeling that I have been longing since many years. But worry not, I have everyone’s favorite: The Moon with me. Though far away to even reach, the Moon’s cold luminescence is soothing enough for me to slip into my dreams as it sings me lullaby every night (He is trying to build an allegory here, where his longing for his Mother is same as that of the distance between the Earth and Moon and yet, they both are with him all the same, singing him to sleep).

This song should basically give us, the viewers, the idea why and what Ram does in the film the way he does them. The questions why he chose to remain single, not have a companion, etc. are answered here.

This is one of those rare occasions where Sastry gaaru narrates the song through the protagonist’s perspective, like a 2nd Person POV. Hence, I personally feel his hands were tied from going with his trademark cryptically-worded song with deep philosophy. Here, he hardly touches upon philosophy, which is a rarity. Nevertheless, the song is really great. Most of the credit goes to Govind Vasantha, the Music Director.

So, most of the lyrical portion is pretty much straight forward, yet I tried to add in my two cents wherever I could. 🙂