Skip to content
Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Pombalaya Lesa

From Viralukketha Veekkam · 1999

Lyricist
Kalidasan
Singers
K. S. Chithra, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
Music director
Deva
Movie name
Viralukketha Veekkam
Movie release year
1999
Lyrics added on
1 Sept 2021

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Pombalaiya lesaa
Nenaikkaathae rasaa
Entha rasamum perunkaayaam illaama ponaa
Manakkaathae lesaa
Pombalaiya lesaa
Nenaikkaathae rasaa
Entha rasamum perunkaayaam illaama ponaa
Manakkaathae lesaa
Bhoomi oru pombalaththaan
Pooppathellaam penninamthaan
Maanagar maduraiyilae somanai sokkanendru
Maaththiyava meenatchithaan
Female :Sabash….
Pombalaiya lesaa
Nenaikkaathae rasaa
Entha rasamum perunkaayaam illaama ponaa
Manakkaathae lesaa
Ada uppu puli kaaram moonum
Onnil onnu saeralaennaa
Koottu rushikaathaiyyaa
Enga kitta potti nadakkaathaiyyaa
Adi aduppangara kili nee
Office-kku ponaa pothum meesa molaikkaathadi
Engala minja mudiyaathadi
Female :What nonsense
Ada tennish balil steppy graapper
Running race-yil PT Usha world women thaanaiyaa
Innamum old kadhai yaenaiyaa
Adi vinnai thotta penn endraalum
Thannai thotta kanavanin padukkai nee podanum
Pombala paninjathuthaan nadakkanum
Kutta kutta kuninja kaalam ippo pochchu
Aahaan kutta kutta kuninja kaalam ippo pochchu
Sattapadi aanum pennum sarisamam aachche
Male :Puttipaalil kuzhanthaikku thaaipaasam pochae
Aambalaiya….
Female :Aiyya….
Male :Aambalaiya….
Lesaa nenaikkaathae rosaa
Female :Poyaa sarithaan poyaa
Male :Aambalaiya lesaa nenaikkaathae rosaa
Adi rasaththil karaiyaamal perungaayamthaan
Manakkaathae lesaa
Adi antha kaalam thottu endrum
Aanillaama ponnu illa aadhaamthaan mudhaladi
Avanukku yaevaalu edupidi
Female :Ada etha kaalam aanaalaenna
Engalaalaethaanae intha santhathi porakkuthu
Angaththaan sangathi irukkuthu
Adi potta kozhi neethaan thenam
Pottum poovum vachchu paakkum thaali naan thanthathu
Adhaalthaan thguthi unakku vanthathu
Female :Ada kettu pogum aambalaiya
Katti kaakkum engalaalthaan kudumbamae vanthathu
Korangum manushan neen endrathu
Female :Super di….
Sakthi aval illaiyinnaa
Sivan verum koodu
Yae….sakthi aval illaiyinnaa
Sivan verum koodu
Male :Sivan udal illaiyinnaa
Sakthikedhu veedu
Female :Vetti veeram innum enna
Velai onnu thaedu
Pombalaiya lesaa
Nenaikkaathae rasaa
Entha rasamum perunkaayaam illaama ponaa
Manakkaathae lesaa
Bhoomi oru pombalaththaan
Pooppathellaam penninamthaan
Maanagar maduraiyilae somanai sokkanendru
Maaththiyava meenatchithaan
Don't take a woman lightly,
Don't you dare think so, my king!
Without asafoetida, no rasam
Will ever smell fragrant!
Don't take a woman lightly,
Don't you dare think so, my king!
Without asafoetida, no rasam
Will ever smell fragrant!
Even the Earth is a woman,
Every blossom belongs to womankind!
In the great city of Madurai,
It was Meenakshi who transformed Lord Shiva into Sokkan!
Female: Bravo!...
Don't take a woman lightly,
Don't you dare think so, my king!
Without asafoetida, no rasam
Will ever smell fragrant!
Look, if salt, tamarind, and spice—these three—
Don't blend together as one,
The curry won't taste good, mister!
You cannot compete with us, mister!
Hey kitchen parrot,
Just going to an office won't sprout a mustache on you!
You can never surpass us men!
Female: What nonsense!
In tennis, Steffi Graf,
And in track races, P. T. Usha—aren't they world-famous women, mister?
Why are you still bringing up old stories, mister?
Even if a woman reaches the sky,
She must still make the bed for the husband who married her!
A woman must always remain humble and submissive!
The days of bowing down whenever pushed are gone!
Aha, the days of bowing down whenever pushed are gone!
By law, men and women have become equal now!
Male: But with bottle milk, a baby loses a mother's true love!
A man...
Female: Oh really?...
Male: A man...
Don't take him lightly, my rose!
Female: Oh please, just go away!
Male: Don't take a man lightly, my rose!
Look, without dissolving into the rasam, asafoetida
Won't smell fragrant at all!
Look, since the dawn of time,
There is no woman without a man; Adam was first!
And Eve was just his helper!
Female: Hey, no matter what era it is,
It is only through us that new generations are born!
That is where the real power lies!
You are just a hen;
The thali (sacred wedding thread) you wear with a bindi and flowers was given by me!
Only because of that did you gain any status!
Female: Hey, by guiding wayward men,
It is we women who held the family together!
And made a civilized human out of a monkey!
Female: Superb, girl!...
Without Shakthi (divine female power),
Shiva is merely an empty shell!
Hey, without Shakthi,
Shiva is merely an empty shell!
Male: Without the body of Shiva,
Where would Shakthi find a home?
Female: Why all this useless swagger?
Go find a job instead!
Don't take a woman lightly,
Don't you dare think so, my king!
Without asafoetida, no rasam
Will ever smell fragrant!
Even the Earth is a woman,
Every blossom belongs to womankind!
In the great city of Madurai,
It was Meenakshi who transformed Lord Shiva into Sokkan!
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Male
Male
Female
Female
Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

The song 'Pombalaiya Lesaa' from 'Viralukketha Veekkam' (1999) is a lighthearted yet sharp debate-style duet (Patti Mandram) exploring gender dynamics, female empowerment, and traditional male chauvinism. The female characters argue that women are indispensable to life, family, and society, drawing analogies from daily culinary culture (like asafoetida enhancing soup) to cosmic powers like Sakthi and Goddess Meenakshi. In response, the male characters attempt to assert patriarchal dominance through traditional norms, claiming legal equality has diluted core family values.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Analogy (Uvamai)

Entha rasamum perunkaayaam illaama ponaa / Manakkaathae lesaa

Comparing a woman's essential role in a household to asafoetida (perunkaayam) without which rasam lacks aroma.

Metaphor (Uruvam)

Bhoomi oru pombalaththaan / Pooppathellaam penninamthaan

Personifying the Earth as female and equating nature's abundance to womanhood.

Edhugai (Second-letter Rhyme)

Kutta kutta kuninja kaalam ippo pochchu / Sattapadi aanum pennum sarisamam aachche

Matching second consonants across lines ('kutta' and 'satta') to create rhythmic symmetry.

Monai (Alliteration)

Pottum poovum vachchu paakkum thaali

Repetition of initial consonant 'p' sound across words in the line.

Did you know?

Trivia

'Viralukketha Veekkam' (1999), directed by V. Sekhar with music composed by Deva, features this iconic gender-rivalry track. The song reflects late 90s Tamil cinema's popular trope of comedic debate songs highlighting social transitions in women's rights and working roles.

Keep listening

Songs with a similar feeling

From the same album

More songs from Viralukketha Veekkam

View album

Spot an issue?

Help us improve the lyrics or English translation.