- Lyricist
- Muthulingam
- Singer
- Gangai Amaran
- Music director
- Gangai Amaran
- Movie name
- Ondru Engal Jadhiye
- Movie release year
- 1987
- Lyrics added on
- 27 Jan 2021
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This song vividly captures the daily routine, resilience, and spiritual faith of coastal fishermen. Starting in the early dawn, the fishermen venture out to sea praying for a bountiful catch to sustain their families. They revere the sea as a maternal goddess who nurtures and protects them, even as they acknowledge the fragile, unpredictable nature of their existence, which hangs in the wind like a kite. In the second movement, the lyrics contrast the fishermen's simple life with the political noise on land, asserting that regardless of who rules or holds wealth, their true fortune lies in their boats, hard work, unity, and unwavering hope.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Simile (Upamai)
“Petha thaaiya pola sooru oottuvaa”
Compares the Sea Goddess to a birth mother who feeds her children.
Simile (Upamai)
“Nammoda vazhkkai kaathadi polae”
Compares their precarious life adrift on the sea to a kite swaying in the wind.
Metaphor (Uruvagam)
“Nambikkai thaanda nammoda selvam”
Directly equates faith and confidence to real wealth/fortune.
Antiphonal Call and Response
“Utchi / Male :Marathula ellam / Chorus :Katchi”
Interactive folk song structure where the lead singer sets up lines and the chorus completes them.
Did you know?
Trivia
Composed and sung by Gangai Amaran with lyrics by Muthulingam for the 1987 film Ondru Engal Jadhiye, this song uses traditional coastal Tamil folk rhythms (Amba paattu) to authentically render the life and vernacular of Tamil Nadu's fishing community.
Keep listening
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