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Isaimozhi
Jadhikkoru Needhi album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Andru Bharathi Sonna

From Jadhikkoru Needhi · 1981

Lyricist
Pulamaipithan
Singer
T. M. Soundararajan
Music director
Shankar Ganesh
Movie name
Jadhikkoru Needhi
Movie release year
1981
Lyrics added on
31 Jan 2022

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Bharatha bhoomi pazhamperum bhoomi
Neerathan pudhalvar inninaivagattraatheer….
Andru bharathi sonna vaarththaigalellaam
Pazhasaa pochchu verungathaiyaachchu
Nee pirantha mannil indru unakke idamillai
Intha nilamaithaan innum maaraatho
Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho
Andru bharathi sonna vaarththaigalellaam
Pazhasaa pochchu verungathaiyaachchu
Nee pirantha mannil indru unakke idamillai
Intha nilamaithaan innum maaraatho
Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho
Pasiththavan kudisaiyilae pazhanganchi kidaiyaathu
Padaiththavan maaligaiyil paalum sorum kuraiyaathu
Pasiththavan kudisaiyilae pazhanganchi kidaiyaathu
Padaiththavan maaligaiyil paalum sorum kuraiyaathu
Ilaiththavan yaezhai endraal iruppavan tharamaattaan
Ilaiththavan yaezhai endraal iruppavan tharamaattaan
Thenaaru paayum angae pala vayirugal kaayum ingae
Andru bharathi sonna vaarththaigalellaam
Pazhasaa pochchu verungathaiyaachchu
Nee pirantha mannil indru unakke idamillai
Intha nilamaithaan innum maaraatho
Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho
Katta oru nalla thuni kadaiyil vaanga vazhiyaedhu
Pattu sattai sirikkirathu paavi manam kodhikkirathu
Katta oru nalla thuni kadaiyil vaanga vazhiyaedhu
Pattu sattai sirikkirathu paavi manam kodhikkirathu
Kottu mazhai veyyilukkellaam kooraiyilae vaasalundu
Kottu mazhai veyyilukkellaam kooraiyilae vaasalundu
Ottiya udambu adhilae eththanai thazhumbu
Andru bharathi sonna vaarththaigalellaam
Pazhasaa pochchu verungathaiyaachchu
Nee pirantha mannil indru unakke idamillai
Intha nilamaithaan innum maaraatho
Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho
Yaezhai vidum kanneeril erimalaigal uruvaanaal
Yaechchu vaazhum koottamellaam engu sendru ilaippaarum
Yaezhai vidum kanneeril erimalaigal uruvaanaal
Yaechchu vaazhum koottamellaam engu sendru ilaippaarum
Kozhi kooda kazhugaai maarum
Kodhiththezhunthaal thaangaathu
Kozhi kooda kazhugaai maarum
Kodhiththezhunthaal thaangaathu
Saadhu mirandaal oru sariththiram thondrum
Andru bharathi sonna vaarththaigalellaam
Pazhasaa pochchu verungathaiyaachchu
Nee pirantha mannil indru unakke idamillai
Intha nilamaithaan innum maaraatho
Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho
Intha nilamaithaan innum maaraatho
Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho….
The land of Bharath is a great ancient land,
You are its children, never forget this truth...
All the words Bharati spoke back then
have grown old and turned into empty stories.
On the very soil where you were born, today there is no place for you.
Will this condition never change?
Will a morning star not rise here?
All the words Bharati spoke back then
have grown old and turned into empty stories.
On the very soil where you were born, today there is no place for you.
Will this condition never change?
Will a morning star not rise here?
In the starving man's hut, there is not even leftover porridge.
In the wealthy man's mansion, milk and rice never run out.
In the starving man's hut, there is not even leftover porridge.
In the wealthy man's mansion, milk and rice never run out.
If a suffering man is poor, those who have will give him nothing.
If a suffering man is poor, those who have will give him nothing.
Rivers of honey flow over there, while many bellies starve over here.
All the words Bharati spoke back then
have grown old and turned into empty stories.
On the very soil where you were born, today there is no place for you.
Will this condition never change?
Will a morning star not rise here?
How can one afford to buy decent clothes from a shop?
The silk shirt mocks, while the poor man's heart boils with pain.
How can one afford to buy decent clothes from a shop?
The silk shirt mocks, while the poor man's heart boils with pain.
For pouring rain and scorching sun, the broken roof is an open door.
For pouring rain and scorching sun, the broken roof is an open door.
On this skinny body, oh how many scars!
All the words Bharati spoke back then
have grown old and turned into empty stories.
On the very soil where you were born, today there is no place for you.
Will this condition never change?
Will a morning star not rise here?
If volcanoes were born from the tears shed by the poor,
where will the crowd that lives by exploitation find rest?
If volcanoes were born from the tears shed by the poor,
where will the crowd that lives by exploitation find rest?
Even a chicken can turn into a hawk;
if it rises in rage, nothing can withstand it.
Even a chicken can turn into a hawk;
if it rises in rage, nothing can withstand it.
When the gentle rebel, history will be made!
All the words Bharati spoke back then
have grown old and turned into empty stories.
On the very soil where you were born, today there is no place for you.
Will this condition never change?
Will a morning star not rise here?
Will this condition never change?
Will a morning star not rise here...?
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Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This social commentary song laments how the high ideals and visions of national poet Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi have been reduced to mere words in post-independence India. Despite the nation's rich heritage, severe economic inequality, poverty, and social oppression plague the working class and poor, leaving them with no place to thrive in their own birthplace.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Edhugai (Second Letter Rhyme)

Pasiththavan kudisaiyilae pazhanganchi kidaiyaathu / Padaiththavan maaligaiyil paalum sorum kuraiyaathu

The second letters of 'Pasiththavan' and 'Padaiththavan' share the 'di/si' soft consonantal rhyming pattern across complementary lines.

Personification

Pattu sattai sirikkirathu paavi manam kodhikkirathu

The lyricist endows an inanimate object—a silk shirt—with human emotions ('laughs'), contrasting it against the boiling heart of the impoverished person.

Metaphor & Symbolism

Oru vidivelli ingae thondraatho

'Vidivelli' (Morning Star) is used as a metaphor for a savior or the dawn of social revolution and liberation.

Antithesis (Contrast)

Thenaaru paayum angae pala vayirugal kaayum ingae

Direct contrast drawn between the abundance in rich mansions and absolute deprivation in poor huts.

Proverbial Allusion

Saadhu mirandaal oru sariththiram thondrum

Adapts the traditional Tamil proverb 'Saadhu mirandaal kaadu kolladhu' into 'Saadhu mirandaal oru sariththiram thondrum' to forewarn social revolution.

Did you know?

Trivia

The opening lines directly quote Mahakavi Subramania Bharathi's famous patriotic song 'Bharatha Bhoomi Pazhamperum Bhoomi'. Lyricist Pulamaipithan cleverly contrasts Bharathiyar's hopeful nationalist idealism with the harsh social realities and class struggles in the movie 'Jadhikkoru Needhi' (1981).

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