- Lyricist
- Kannadasan
- Music director
- Ilayaraja
- Movie name
- Palootti Valartha Kili
- Movie release year
- 1976
- Lyrics added on
- 4 Feb 2023
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This poignant track from Palootti Valartha Kili (1976) cleverly weaves a traditional Tamil children's game rhyme ('Kola Kolaya Mundhirikka') into a deeply emotional appeal between siblings. A sister sings to her brother, Kanna, pleading with him to cast aside anger and misunderstandings that threaten to split their family apart. She reminds him of the maternal love and guidance provided by their guardian figure and laments how fate brought sorrow into their once-happy home. The lyrics highlight the sanctity of sibling ties as a divine gift. The sister urges reconciliation, emphasizing that separating into isolated lives destroys the essence of family, and asks her brother to join her in taking care of their elder like their own eyes.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Folk Refrain / Cultural Allusion
“Kolakolaya mundhrikka / Neraiya neraiya suthivaa”
Uses the traditional Tamil children's game chant 'Kola Kolaya Mundhirikka' to evoke innocence and contrast childhood unity with adult conflict.
Rhyme / Monorhyme (Iyaipoo)
“Kannodu kannu / Rendu onnoda onnu”
End-rhyming with matching phonetics ('kannu' and 'onnoda onnu') creates a playful yet rhythmic melodic cadence.
Antithesis / Juxtaposition
“Aanaaga nee pirantha velai / Un kobam valarndhadhaiyaa / Pennaaga naan pirandha paavam / En sogam valarndhadhaiyaa”
Contrasts the male role of anger with the female role of enduring sorrow, expressing gendered emotional responses to family strife.
Metaphor (Uvamai)
“Aiyaavai kannaaga naam paarppom”
Likens caring for a parent/elder figure to protecting one's own eyes ('kannaaga naam paarppom').
Did you know?
Trivia
The song's hook line 'Kola Kolaya Mundhirikka' originates from a centuries-old traditional Tamil circle game played by children (similar to Drop the Handkerchief). Lyricist Kannadasan skillfully adapted this playful nursery rhyme into a dramatic narrative song about sibling rivalry and reconciliation in Ilaiyaraaja's early musical period.
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