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Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Senga Soola Kaara

From Vaagai Sooda Vaa · 2011

Lyricist
Vairamuthu
Singer
Anitha Karthikeyan
Music director
M. Ghibran
Movie name
Vaagai Sooda Vaa
Movie release year
2011
Lyrics added on
11 Jul 2018

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Hmmm …mmm….mmm…
Hmmm …mmm….mmm…
Senga soola kaara
Senga soola kaara
Kanja kallu venthu poochu vaada
Senga soola kaara..
Senga soola kaara..
Kanja kallu venthu poochu vaada..
Megam koodi iruti poochu vaadaa..
Sutta sutta mannu kallachu
Natta natta kallu veedachu
Nachu nachu patta namma
Pozappu thaan pacha manna poochu
Vitha vitha kallu ennachu
Vinna vinna thottu ninnaachu
Mannu kuzhi poola namma parampara
Pallam aagi poochu
Aiyanaaru saamy
Azuthu theerthu paarthom
Sooranaketta saamy
Sootha thaana kettom
Kaalavaasal kangu poda
Kali mulla vetti vaada
Senga soola kaara..
Senga soola kaara..
Kanja kallu venthu poochu vaada..
Megam koodi iruti poochu vaadaa..
Mannu mannu mattum sooraga
Makka makka vazunthu varaaga
Male :Mazhai vara pogudhu
Mazhai vara pogudhu
Female :Mazha mazha vanthu
Mannu karaigaiyil
Makka enga poga
Ittha kali mannu vegaathu
Enga thala mura maarathu
Manna kindi vazhum mannu puzuvukku
Veedu vaasal yethu …..
Aiyanaaru saamy
Kanna thiranthu paaru
Enga sanam vazha
Onna vita yaaru
Ethirkaalam unakkaga
Ettu ettu vachu vaada
Thanthaanae nanae
Thanthananae nanae
Verva thanni veetukulla
Velakku yethum vaada
Verva thanni veetukulla
Velakku yethum vaada…….
Mmm… mmm… mmm…
Mmm… mmm… mmm…
O brick kiln worker,
O brick kiln worker,
The clay bricks are baked and ready, come along!
O brick kiln worker...
O brick kiln worker...
The clay bricks are baked and ready, come along...
Clouds have gathered and darkness has fallen, come along...
The clay baked in the fire turned into strong bricks,
The bricks laid one by one turned into homes.
Crushed by endless hardship,
Our own lives have crumbled like wet mud.
What became of all the bricks we sold?
They rose high, touching the skies.
Yet like an excavated mud pit, our generations
Have sunk into a deep trench.
O Lord Ayyanar (guardian deity),
We wept our eyes out before you.
O heartless deity,
Did we ever ask for anything unfair?
To stoke the glowing embers of the kiln,
Chop the thorny bushes and come along!
O brick kiln worker...
O brick kiln worker...
The clay bricks are baked and ready, come along...
Clouds have gathered and darkness has fallen, come along...
While the mud itself turns into solid brick,
And people all around prosper and live well,
Male: Rain is on its way,
Rain is on its way!
Female: When the rain pours down
And dissolves the raw clay,
Where will our people go?
This stubborn clay will never bake,
Our generations' fate will never change.
For the earthworm digging through the soil,
Where is a home or a hearth?
O Lord Ayyanar,
Open your eyes and look at us.
For our folk to survive,
Who is there besides you?
The future waits for you,
Take broad strides and come forward!
Thanthane naane
Thanthanane naane
Inside our humble home, our sweat
Will light the lamp of life, come on!
Inside our humble home, our sweat
Will light the lamp of life, come on!
Chorus
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

Senga Soola Kaara from the film Vaagai Sooda Vaa is a deeply moving folk song depicting the grueling life and plight of bonded laborers working at a brick kiln in rural Tamil Nadu. The song presents a sharp contrast: while the clay bricks baked by the workers go on to build tall, sky-reaching homes for others, the workers' own lives remain fragile, impoverished, and stuck in deep misery like raw, unbaked mud easily dissolved by rain.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor (Uvamaani)

Pozappu thaan pacha manna poochu

Comparing human life and livelihood to unbaked, raw mud ('pacha manna poochu') which easily dissolves in hardship, and comparing the laborers to earthworms ('mannu puzuvukku').

Irony (Maranisai)

Vinna vinna thottu ninnaachu / Mannu kuzhi poola namma parampara / Pallam aagi poochu

The contrast between the bricks building sky-touching mansions for others while the workers who make them sink deeper into pits of poverty.

Repetition / Alliteration (Adukkuthodar / Edugai)

Sutta sutta mannu kallachu / Natta natta kallu veedachu

Rhythmic repetition of Tamil words for poetic rhythm and emphasis (Sutta sutta, Natta natta, Nachu nachu, Vitha vitha, Vinna vinna).

Did you know?

Trivia

Vaagai Sooda Vaa (2011) marked the film debut of acclaimed music composer M. Ghibran. Set in 1960s rural Tamil Nadu, the song sensitively captures the reality of child labor and bonded brick kiln workers, earning wide critical acclaim for Vairamuthu's poetic lyrics and the authentic folk score.

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