- Lyricist
- Vaali
- Singer
- T. M. Soundararajan
- Music director
- M. S. Vishwanathan
- Movie name
- Vaa Kanna Vaa
- Movie release year
- 1982
- Lyrics added on
- 18 Mar 2023
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
The song 'Oru Kaalaththilae' from *Vaa Kanna Vaa* (1982) is a deeply moving lamentation sung by an elderly man reminiscing about a happier past filled with family love and warmth. He fondly remembers how his home once reverberated with the innocent laughter and scribblings of a beloved child. That era felt like a kingdom where love ruled supreme, giving him wisdom, vitality, and emotional completeness. In contrast, the present brings the painful agony of separation and extreme solitude. He describes his current state as feeling like a 'zero' after losing his kingdom of affection, and compares his and his wife's plight to being stranded in a leaky boat caught in a whirlpool of attachment. Delivered with immense emotional weight by T. M. Soundararajan, the song captures the heartbreaking reality of old age, loneliness, and nostalgia for lost relationships.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Simile (Upamai)
“Oodhum kuzhalena kaadhil inichchathaiyyaa”
Compares the child's tender babble ('mazhalai') directly to the sweet music played on a flute ('oodhum kuzhal').
Metaphor (Uruvagam)
“Anbu rajjiyam irunthathu”
Metaphorically describes the happy household full of affection as a 'kingdom of love' ('anbu rajjiyam').
Metaphor (Uruvagam)
“Ippa oottai padakena paasa suzhalilae”
Compares the vulnerable state of the elderly couple to a leaky boat ('oottai padagu') tossed around in a whirlpool of emotional attachment ('paasa suzhal').
Muran (Antithesis / Contrast)
“Antha rajjiyaththai aanada rajavin pinnaal / Poojjiyam irunthathu”
Contrasts the status of being a 'King' ('raja') ruling a kingdom of love with becoming a 'Zero' ('poojjiyam') in isolation.
Personification
“Veedu sirichchathaiyyaa”
Gives the non-living house the human attribute of smiling ('veedu sirichchathaiyyaa') when the child was present.
Did you know?
Trivia
'Oru Kaalaththilae' is a classic emotional track composed by M. S. Viswanathan for the 1982 Tamil movie *Vaa Kanna Vaa*, starring Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan and Sujatha. The lyrics were penned by Vaali, and the legendary T. M. Soundararajan (TMS) voiced the track for Sivaji Ganesan. TMS's vocal expressive range perfectly matched Sivaji's iconic dramatic performance on screen, making it one of the memorable sentimental songs about aging and familial longing in Tamil cinema.
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