- Lyricist
- Nagayya
- Singer
- Nagayya
- Music director
- C. N. Pandurangan
- Movie name
- Gumastha
- Movie release year
- 1953
- Lyrics added on
- 23 Jun 2025
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This song from 'Gumastha' (1953) is a deeply emotional, philosophical exchange exploring themes of existential grief, poverty, karma, and mortality. One perspective questions a man running away in despair, reminding him that no human can escape their fate (karma) and that all humans are merely mud dolls destined to return to the earth. The other perspective represents a broken soul suffering under the unbearable weight of poverty, for whom life has lost its meaning and death seems like the only ultimate relief. The emotional arc moves from desperate flight and existential questioning to a grim realization of life's painful realities. It highlights the stark contrast between philosophical acceptance of fate and the lived agony of the destitute.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Simile (Uwamai)
“Mathi mayangi kurudanai polae”
Compares the bewildered mind of a person driven mad by hardship to a blind person losing their way, using the explicit comparison word 'polae' (like).
Metaphor (Uruvagakani)
“Varumai irulaal vazhi thadumaari”
Metaphorically equates poverty to a blinding 'darkness' that causes one to stumble on life's path.
Metaphor (Uruvagakani)
“Mannil pirantha manitha bommai”
Refers to human beings as 'mud dolls' (manitha bommai), symbolizing fragility and impermanence.
Rhetorical Question
“Oozhvinai payanai vendrathaaradaa”
Asks who has ever defeated the consequences of karma, driving home the point that fate is inescapable.
Monai (Initial Alliteration)
“Naalum kizhaimaiyum / Nalam pera ulagil”
Repetition of the initial sound 'Na' across lines 15 and 16, creating rhythmic harmony.
Did you know?
Trivia
This philosophical song from the 1953 movie 'Gumastha' (meaning 'Clerk') features Chittor V. Nagayya in multiple creative roles—as singer, lyricist, and actor. Nagayya was famous for playing poignant, tragedy-laden roles and rendering soul-stirring devotional and dramatic songs during the golden era of early South Indian cinema.
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