Skip to content
Isaimozhi
Oru Kuppai Kadhai album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Kuppai Vandiyil

From Oru Kuppai Kadhai · 2015

Lyricist
Sulaiman Fazil
Singer
Saisharan
Music director
Deepan Chakravarthy
Movie name
Oru Kuppai Kadhai
Movie release year
2015
Lyrics added on
17 Apr 2018

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Kuppai vandiyil selgirom payanam
Allum kaigalil illaiyae salanam
Saalai orangal
Kuviyum kuppai koolangal
Engalin vaazhkai
Engal ullangal
Suththam oorai athu pola
Seivom naangal
Ada adada adada
Drainage danger paarkkaamal
Saakkadayil sewage alla
Uyirai tharuvomae
Indha boomiyin kuppai manithan
Kadavul innum allalaiyae
Manithan podum plastic kuppaiyai
Indha boomi thaangalaiyae
Everestil garbage-u
Iyarkai aaguthae damage-u
Anukkazhiva kootturaan
Adha ketta thitturaan
Nagara nachukkaatrinaal
Andha ozone thiraiya
Ozhichukatta paarkiraan
Kuppai vandiyil selgirom payanam
Allum kaigalil illaiyae salanam
Saalai orangal
Kuviyum kuppai koolangal
Engalin vaazhkai
Engalin vaazhkai
Engal ullangal
Suththam oorai athu pola
Seivom naangal
Seivom naangal
Ada adada adada
Drainage danger paarkkaamal
Saakkadayil sewage alla
Uyirai tharuvomae
Indha boomiyin kuppai manithan
Kadavul innum allalaiyae
Manithan podum plastic kuppaiyai
Indha boomi thaangalaiyae
Thaangalaiyae thaangalaiyae
Nana nanananaaa
Nana naana naa nana naanaa
We journey on a garbage truck,
our hands scoop up waste without hesitation.
Along the roadsides,
patterns of garbage pile up.
Our lives,
our hearts are pure;
and just like that,
we keep this town clean.
Oh, oh look at that!
Without fearing the danger in the drains,
to scoop sewage from the gutters,
we even risk our lives!
Man is the garbage of this earth,
yet God hasn't cleared him away!
The plastic waste that humans dump,
this earth can no longer bear!
There is garbage even on Everest,
and nature is getting ruined!
He piles up nuclear waste,
and lashes out if you ask about it!
With poisonous city air,
the ozone layer above...
he is trying to wipe it out completely!
We journey on a garbage truck,
our hands scoop up waste without hesitation.
Along the roadsides,
patterns of garbage pile up.
Our lives,
our lives,
our hearts are pure;
and just like that,
we keep this town clean.
Yes, we keep it clean!
Oh, oh look at that!
Without fearing the danger in the drains,
to scoop sewage from the gutters,
we even risk our lives!
Man is the garbage of this earth,
yet God hasn't cleared him away!
The plastic waste that humans dump,
this earth can no longer bear!
It cannot bear it, cannot bear it!
Naana nananananaa
Naana naanaa naa naana naanaa
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This song highlights the selfless labor and hardship of sanitation workers who clean streets and sewer drains without hesitation, risking their health and lives daily. It uses the concept of garbage as a metaphor to criticize human greed, environmental degradation, plastic pollution, and nuclear waste that threaten the entire planet.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor

Indha boomiyin kuppai manithan / Kadavul innum allalaiyae

Compares corrupt or destructive human beings to garbage on Earth that God has not yet cleaned away.

Rhyme / Tanglish Coupling

Everestil garbage-u / Iyarkai aaguthae damage-u

Uses end-rhyme blending English loan words into Tamil poetic meters (Garbage-u / Damage-u).

Alliteration (Monai)

Saakkadayil sewage alla / Suththam oorai athu pola

Repetition of the initial 'S' sound across consecutive lines.

Did you know?

Trivia

The film 'Oru Kuppai Kadhai' (2018) tells the story of a Chennai-based municipal sanitation worker. Although credited to composer Joshua Sridhar for the overall soundtrack, the song focuses heavily on environmental awareness and social realism regarding waste management.

Keep listening

Songs with a similar feeling

From the same album

More songs from Oru Kuppai Kadhai

View album

Spot an issue?

Help us improve the lyrics or English translation.