Without going to the Wittgensteinian notion of language and meanings, we all
agree that words differ in meanings for everybody. The misunderstandings that
we all have attests to that. Fortunately, the shades of meanings are not too
relevant, and where it is necessary, we employ all the mathematical tools
at our disposal to use it.
Of course, a poem has only so much meaning as the reader thinks it has. The
gestalt of the poem is more than the meanings of the constituent words. I am
saddened that people just give the meaning, without telling me why they like
the poem.
Let me conclude with a poem that I dearly like:
chooraTTuka karutaadee chiTukku, chiTukku vaana chukka.
Shall I tell you why I like that poem? It bring back memories of the rainy
season, the houses with bamboo roofs -- the rain toned down to a drizzle, the
water droplets reluctantly dripping and dropping, drippety drop, drippety drop
on to the floor down below -- people waiting under the roof to get back on to
their destination -- sipping coffee underneath that road-side cafe and may be
eating a plate of bajjis -- all the while looking at the rain and listening to
its rhythms -- All this and some more.
--rama