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Lyrics & meaning

Paravaigala

From Ka Pae Ranasingam · 2020

Lyricist
Vairamuthu
Singer
Manikandan Perupadappu
Music director
Ghibran
Movie name
Ka Pae Ranasingam
Movie release year
2020
Lyrics added on
29 Jul 2020

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Hoo ooo hoo oooo
Hooo oooo hoo oo hoo oooo
Hoo oo oo
Hoo ooo oo
Paravaigala paravaigala
Pasiyedutha paravaigala
Paazhveliyil irai thedum
Palaivana paravaigala
Uravellam vayiru valakkavae
Uyirai vikka poningala
Ullooru aatta viththu thaan
Ottagatha maechigala
Kanneril sondham polambudhae
Kadal thaandi ketkum thaana
Paravaigala paravaigala
Pasiyedutha paravaigala
Paazhveliyil irai thedum
Palaivana paravaigala
Haaa… aaa…aa
Haa….aaa…aaa….haa…aa…aa..aaa…
Haaa… aaa…aa
Haaa… aaa…aa
Hoo ooo ooo ooo oo ooo
Hoo ooo ooo ooo oo ooo
Hoo oo oo oo hoo oo oo oo
Hooo ooo oo o ooo ooo
Nadhi illadha oorai vittu odi vandhiga
Mazhai illadha naadu thedi vaazha vandhiga
Paalum theanum odumendru paalai vandhiga
Eecha marathil veppan kaayae kaikka kandiga
Pondu pulla kaangkaama kannu yengudhae
Vandha velai theeraama vayasaagudhae
Tholaikatchiyil oor paarkaiyil uyir theiyudhae
Paravaigala paravaigala
Pasiyedutha paravaigala
Paazhveliyil irai thedum
Palaivana paravaigala
Uravellam vayiru valakkavae
Uyirai vikka poningala
Ullooru aatta viththu thaan
Ottagatha maechigala
Kanneril sondham polambudhae
Kadal thaandi ketkum thaana
Paravaigala paravaigala
Pasiyedutha paravaigala
Paazhveliyil irai thedum
Palaivana paravaigala
Sondha ooril sondha bandham
Sondhu nikkuthuga
Pona usuru vaaratheppo
Polambi nikkuthuga
Veettukaaran vaetti sattai
Neevi paakkuthuga
Pullai ellam bommaiyoda
Pesi paakkuthuga
Vazhndha bhoomi thorathalayae
Varumai thorathudhae
Kadal thanni pirikkalaiyae kasu pirikkudhae
Kaagam poguthu
Megam poguthu
Naanga povoma
Paravaigala paravaigala
Pasiyedutha paravaigala
Paazhveliyil irai thedum
Palaivana paravaigala
Uravellam vayiru valakkavae
Uyirai vikka poningala
Ullooru aatta viththu thaan
Ottagatha maechigala
Kanneril sondham polambudhae
Kadal thaandi ketkum thaana
Paravaigala paravaigala
Pasiyedutha paravaigala
Paazhveliyil irai thedum
Palaivana paravaigala
Ho oo ho oo
Ho oo ho o ho oo
Ho o o
Ho oo o
O birds, o birds,
o hungry birds,
searching for food in barren wastelands,
o birds of the desert!
Just to feed your families,
did you go to sell your very lives?
Did you sell your goats back home,
only to herd camels here?
In tears, your loved ones weep and mourn,
will their cries be heard across the sea?
O birds, o birds,
o hungry birds,
searching for food in barren wastelands,
o birds of the desert!
Haa... aa... aa...
Haa... aa... aa... haa... aa... aa... aa...
Haa... aa... aa...
Haa... aa... aa...
Ho oo... oo... oo... o... oo...
Hoo oo oo oo oo oo oo
Oo... oo... oo... o... oo...
Hoo oo oo oo oo oo oo
Leaving a land with no river, you ran away,
seeking a land with no rain, you came to survive.
Thinking milk and honey would flow, you came to the desert,
only to find bitter neem growing on date palms.
Unable to see wife and child, the eyes ache with longing,
aging away while the work you came for never ends.
Seeing home on television, the soul wastes away.
O birds, o birds,
o hungry birds,
searching for food in barren wastelands,
o birds of the desert...
Just to feed your families,
did you go to sell your very lives?
Did you sell your goats back home,
only to herd camels here?
In tears, your loved ones weep and mourn,
will their cries be heard across the sea?
O birds, o birds,
o hungry birds,
searching for food in barren wastelands,
o birds of the desert...
Back in the village, your loved ones
stand weary and heartbroken.
Asking when their departed soul will return,
they stand weeping in grief.
They gently stroke and hold
the husband's shirt and veshti (traditional wrap).
All the little children
try talking to their toys.
The land we lived on did not chase us away,
it is poverty that chases us away.
The sea waters did not part us; it is money that separates us.
The crows fly back,
the clouds drift back,
will we ever go back home?
O birds, o birds,
o hungry birds,
searching for food in barren wastelands,
o birds of the desert...
Just to feed your families,
did you go to sell your very lives?
Did you sell your goats back home,
only to herd camels here?
In tears, your loved ones weep and mourn,
will their cries be heard across the sea?
O birds, o birds,
o hungry birds,
searching for food in barren wastelands,
o birds of the desert...
Chorus
Male
Male
Male
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

'Paravaigala Paravaigala' from Ka Pae Ranasingam is a poignant anthem depicting the harsh reality and emotional plight of migrant laborers who leave their impoverished native villages in Tamil Nadu to work in the Middle Eastern desert nations. Metaphorically referring to these workers as hungry desert birds seeking prey in desolate sands, the song portrays their endless sacrifices, enduring harsh working conditions far from family just to ensure their loved ones back home have food and basic survival. The lyrics capture the double-edged tragedy: while the men age prematurely in foreign sands without seeing their growing children or spouses, their families back home mourn their absence, holding onto clothes and toys in sorrow. Vairamuthu highlights that poverty and economic disparity—not choice or lack of love for the homeland—drive these workers abroad, creating a poignant contrast between natural freedom (crows and clouds migrating back effortlessly) and human bondage driven by financial necessity.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor (Uruvagaimai)

Palaivana paravaigala

Migrant workers from dry rural regions travelling to Middle Eastern deserts for manual labor are metaphorically addressed as 'Desert Birds' (Palaivana paravaigala) searching for prey.

Mohnai (Initial Rhyme / Alliteration)

Paravaigala paravaigala / Pasiyedutha paravaigala

Repetition of the initial consonant sound 'Pa' across consecutive lines (Paravaigala, Pasiyedutha, Paazhveliyil, Palaivana).

Contrast / Irony (Pugazhchi/Igalchi)

Paalum theanum odumendru paalai vandhiga

Highlights the tragic irony of leaving a riverless village only to land in a completely rainless desert, expecting sweetness ('milk and honey') but reaping bitterness ('neem fruit on date palm').

Personification / Nature Parallelism

Kaagam poguthu / Megam poguthu / Naanga povoma

Compares the freedom of crows and clouds that fly back home at will against the human migrants trapped by legal and economic constraints.

Did you know?

Trivia

Composed by Ghibran with lyrics written by Vairamuthu and sung by Gold Devaraj, 'Paravaigala' serves as the thematic backbone of Ka Pae Ranasingam (2020), starring Vijay Sethupathi and Aishwarya Rajesh. The film deals directly with the bureaucratic and financial hurdles a poor rural woman faces to bring back the body of her husband who died while working as an expatriate worker in a Dubai desert estate.

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