- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Singers
- P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela
- Music director
- K. V. Mahadevan
- Movie name
- Saradha
- Movie release year
- 1962
- Lyrics added on
- 6 Oct 2019
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This classic song from Saradha (1962) is an exquisite expression of everlasting devotion and complementary love. Through a series of poetic metaphors, the couple declares that whatever form one takes, the other will naturally complement and protect them—just as an eyelid protects the eye, rain nourishes the crop, or meaning gives life to language. The lyricist emphasizes that their bond transcends single lifetimes and is as permanent as inscriptions carved on stone.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Parallelism / Anaphora (எதுகை - இயைபு தொடர்)
“Kannanaal naan imaiyaaven / Kaatraanaal naan kodiyaven”
Repeated conditional pairing of '...aanaal ...aaven' (If you become X, I shall become Y) across multiple stanzas to build rhythmic harmony and emphasize interdependence.
Metaphor (உருவகம்)
“Udalaanaal uyiraven”
Comparing the intimate relationship to essential complementary pairs like eye-eyelid, body-soul, bow-arrow, and question-answer.
Simile (உவமை அணி)
“Kallil vaditha sol polae”
Explicit comparison using 'polae' (like/as) comparing their permanent happiness to words etched in stone.
Did you know?
Trivia
Composed by K. V. Mahadevan with lyrics by Kannadasan, 'Kannanaal Naan Imaiyaaven' was sung by P. B. Sreenivas and P. Susheela. The film Saradha (1962) starred K. S. Gopalakrishnan and S. S. Rajendran, and this song remains one of Kannadasan's most celebrated romantic compositions using natural allegories.
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