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Kai Veesamma Kai Veesu album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Kai Veesamma Indha Ulagatha

From Kai Veesamma Kai Veesu · 1989

Lyricist
Vaali
Singer
Ilayaraja
Music director
Ilayaraja
Movie name
Kai Veesamma Kai Veesu
Movie release year
1989
Lyrics added on
30 Jul 2020

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Kai veesamma
Indha ulagatha paarthu kai veesu
Kai veesamma
Mooda pazhakkatha neeyum kai veesu
Penn deivam thannai thaanae thaazhthi
Mannil veezhvadhoo
Un jenmam oru adimai pola innum vaazhvadho
Kai veesamma
Indha ulagatha paarthu kai veesu
Kai veesamma
Mooda pazhakkatha neeyum kai veesu
Azhaga paathu aasai kondu
Arugil vandhu pesuvaan
Ponnu maniyum nee thaan endru
Poiyai alli veesuvaan
Maalai poda vendinaal
Kaadha thooram ooduvaan
Thaayar thandhai meedhilae
Pazhiyai thookki poduvaan
Amman pondra pennai kooda
Azhagillennu kooruvaan
Aayirangal alli thandhaal
Adharkku maalai poduvaan
Amman pondra pennai kooda
Azhagillennu kooruvaan
Aayirangal alli thandhaal
Adharkku maalai poduvaan
Panangaasai koduthu vaangum vaazhkai
Vyaabaaram thaan podi poo
Kai veesamma
Indha ulagatha paarthu kai veesu
Kai veesamma
Mooda pazhakkatha neeyum kai veesu
Vandhu vandhu paarthu pona
Mappilaigal ethanaiyoo
Nondhu nondhu maaindhu pona
Kanni pengal ethanaiyoo
Maalai konda podhilum
Vaadum pengal kodi thaan
Mamiyin kodumai thaangaamal
Thaayin veettai thaedi thaan
Odi pona pengal ingu
Ondru alla aayiram
Pugundha veetil vazhi illamal
Theeyil vendha thaayiram
Odi pona pengal ingu
Ondru alla aayiram
Pugundha veetil vazhi illamal
Theeyil vendha thaayiram
Ada panathaal serndhu panathaal piriyum
Sandhai thaan indha ulagam thaan
Kai veesamma
Indha ulagatha paarthu kai veesu
Kai veesamma
Mooda pazhakkatha neeyum kai veesu
Pen deivam thannai thaanae thaazhthi
Mannil veezhvadhoo
Un jenmam oru adimai pola innum vaazhvadho
Kai veesamma
Indha ulagatha paarthu kai veesu
Kai veesamma
Mooda pazhakkatha neeyum kai veesu
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Look at this world and swing your hands!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Cast aside those blind old customs!
Should a goddess lower herself
and fall ruined to the dust?
Should you spend your whole life living like a slave?
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Look at this world and swing your hands!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Cast aside those blind old customs!
Attracted by your beauty and filled with desire,
he will come close and speak sweet words.
Saying you are his gold and his precious gem,
he will shower you with heaps of lies.
If you ask him to marry you with a garland,
he will turn and run miles away.
Onto his own mother and father,
he will shift all the blame.
Even a woman as pure as a goddess,
he will dismiss, saying she is not pretty.
Yet if thousands in cash are handed to him,
he will gladly garland that money!
Even a woman as pure as a goddess,
he will dismiss, saying she is not pretty.
Yet if thousands in cash are handed to him,
he will gladly garland that money!
A life bought and sold with money
is nothing but business, young girl!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Look at this world and swing your hands!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Cast aside those blind old customs!
How many prospective grooms have come,
inspected brides, and walked away?
How many young women, aching in sorrow,
have broken down and withered away?
Even after receiving the wedding garland,
millions of women still weep in distress.
Unable to bear the cruelty of their mothers-in-law,
seeking the comfort of their mothers' homes,
the women who ran away
are not just a few, but thousands!
Left with no hope in their marital homes,
thousands have perished in flames!
The women who ran away
are not just a few, but thousands!
Left with no hope in their marital homes,
thousands have perished in flames!
Ah, brought together by money and torn apart by money,
this world is nothing but a marketplace!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Look at this world and swing your hands!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Cast aside those blind old customs!
Should a goddess lower herself
and fall ruined to the dust?
Should you spend your whole life living like a slave?
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Look at this world and swing your hands!
Swing your hands and walk proud, girl!
Cast aside those blind old customs!
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Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This song is a social reform anthem that urges women to rise against patriarchal oppression, dowry demands, and outdated traditions. Lyricist Vaali brilliantly takes 'Kai Veesamma Kai Veesu', a popular traditional Tamil nursery rhyme typically taught to toddlers, and turns it into a powerful rally cry for women's empowerment and liberation. The lyrics scathingly critique how society treats marriage as a transactional business, where young women are judged superficially and subjected to dowry harassment, abusive in-laws, and even bride burning. By addressing the woman as a divine force ('Penn deivam'), the song urges her to stop living like a slave, break free from blind customs, and face the world with self-respect and courage.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Subversion / Parody of Traditional Rhyme

“Mooda pazhakkatha neeyum kai veesu”

The song adapts the structural framing of the traditional Tamil lullaby/nursery rhyme 'Kai veesamma kai veesu' (which teaches children basic hand gestures) to deliver a modern social critique against dowry and patriarchy.

Simile (Upamai)

“Un jenmam oru adimai pola innum vaazhvadho”

Compares a woman's subjugated state to that of a slave to highlight systemic oppression.

Metaphor (Uruvagaim)

“Sandhai thaan indha ulagam thaan”

Metaphorically compares the world and its transactional human relationships to a commercial market driven by money.

Repetition (Adukkuthodar)

“Vandhu vandhu paarthu pona”

Doubling of words to emphasize repeated rejection and intense suffering.

Did you know?

Trivia

Lyricist Vaali was well known for creatively adapting traditional nursery rhymes and folk motifs into sharp social commentary songs in Tamil cinema. By twisting a song meant for young girls into an anti-dowry movement anthem, he highlighted how social conditioning begins early in life.

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From the same album

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Yeruthe Sruthi Yeruthe1989
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Kai Veesamma Kai VeesuRomantic
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Kai Veesamma Kai VeesuDevotional

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