- Lyricist
- Udumalai Narayanakavi
- Singer
- M. L. Vasanthakumari
- Music director
- C. S. Jayaraman
- Movie name
- Ratha Kanneer
- Movie release year
- 1954
- Lyrics added on
- 3 Feb 2025
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This song is sung from the perspective of a loving wife waiting anxiously for her husband to return home after a long, exhausting shift at the cotton mill. She pleads directly to the factory siren, urging it to sound and signal the end of the work shift, noting that the clock has already struck five and the evening sun has set in the west. Her eyes have grown tired of gazing down the street in anticipation.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Apostrophe (Personification)
“Aalaiyin sangae nee oodhaayo”
The singer addresses the inanimate factory siren directly as 'nee' (you) as if it were a living entity capable of hearing her plea.
Hyperbole (Urvai)
“Vinnai pilakkum”
The siren's sound is poetically described as loud enough to split or pierce the sky ('Vinnai pilakkum').
Metaphor (Uruvakam)
“Velli mulaikku mattum kadhal thaen pozhiyum”
The joy of intimate marital love is metaphorically depicted as pouring honey ('kadhal thaen pozhiyum').
Anaphora / Repetition
“Kaalai Mudhal avar nenjam kothikkavae”
Repetition of key lines throughout the stanza reinforces the heroine's deep yearning and sense of time passing.
Did you know?
Trivia
Featured in the seminal 1954 Tamil film 'Ratha Kanneer' starring M. R. Radha, this song was composed by C. S. Jayaraman and penned by the reformist poet Udumalai Narayanakavi. Sung by Carnatic virtuoso M. L. Vasanthakumari, the song subtly highlights the grueling hours and physical toll faced by industrial textile workers of that era, contrasting harsh mill work with domestic warmth.
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