'Felt his hand run through my body'; singer Gowry Lekshmi responds to 'Murivu' criticism

The name Gowry Lekshmi first appeared on film credits in 2012, when Mohanlal’s much-talked-about ‘Casanova’ was released. Gowri, a school student back then, wrote and composed a song which eventually got into the movie. The due credit for the brilliance reached the prodigious singer only a decade later. No more a novice, Gowri in 2024 sits as an established name in the industry with many chart-toppers.

And now, her album ‘Murivu’ is the talking matter on cyberspace with many people supporting and others abhorring the bland lyrics used. After many trolls and discussions on social media, Gowri decided to open up about the song while on an interview with an online channel. Gowri says that this album depicts the order she faced between the ages of eight and 13.

“I still remember the dress I wore while travelling on the bus. The bus was too crowded on that day and I was travelling from Vaikom to Thripunithura Hill Palace. I was standing and then I noticed the man standing behind me. He looked older than my father during that time.

He lifted my dress and I felt his hand running down my body. It was my first experience and I was unaware of what was happening. I immediately moved his hands and walked to the front of the vehicle. I never told the incident anyone but had the conviction that it was a deplorable act. This is what I wrote down on the lyrics of ‘Murivu’.

Another incident took place at the age of 13 at my relative’s house. It was where my cousins lived and I never felt the house would give me such wounds in life. One man in that house exposed his garish side to me and I stopped visiting that place. I feared revealing this to my parents so I told my friend about the happening. I had to endure all this, and it was not any superfluous wordings that I did in Murivu but the real sufferings I endured.