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Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Sengaade

From Paradesi · 2013

Lyricist
Vairamuthu
Singer
Madhu Balakrishnan
Music director
G. V. Prakash Kumar
Movie name
Paradesi
Movie release year
2013
Lyrics added on
24 Oct 2018

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Hoo ooo hoo ooo
Hoo ooo hoo ooo ooo….
O sengaadae
Sirukaradae poi varavaa
O.. kaadugalae
Kalligalae poi varavaa
Sudu sudu kaadu vittu
Pogira ponanga pola
Sana sana sanangalellaam
Pogudhu paadhai mela
Ullooril kaakkaa kuruvi
Irai thedudhae …ooo….
Pasiyodu manusa koottam veliyerudhae
Poththakkalliyum mulluthachadhum
Poththu ozhugumae paalu
Kaalangaalamaa azhudhu theethuttom
Kannil illaiyae neeru
Vaattum panjathil kokku kaala pol
Vaththi pochchaiyaa vaazhvu
Koottam koottamaa vaazha pogirom
Kooda varugudhae saavu
O sengaadae
Sirukaradae poi varavaa
O.. kaadugalae
Kalligalae poi varavaa
Vilaiyaadha kaatta vittu
Vilaiyaanda veettai vittu
Vellandhiyaa veguli janam
Veliyerudhae oo……
Vaazhvodu kondu vidumo
Saavodu kondu vidumo
Pogum dhesai sollaamalae
Vazhi neeludhae
Uyirodu vaazhvadhu kooda
Siru thunbamae hoo
Vayirodu vaazhvadhu thaanae
Perundhunbamae
Pollaadha vidhiyum azhaikka
Poromae panjam pozhaikka
Yaar meelvadho
Yaar vaazhvadho
Yaar kandadhu
Paalam paalamaa
Vedichu kedakkudhae
Paaduvpattavan boomi
Vedicha boomiyil
Podhaikka paakkudhae
Kedu kettavan saami
Puliyang kottaiya
Avichu thunnuthaan
Pozhachu kedakkudhu meni
Panjam pozhaikkavum
Pasiya theerkkavum
Pacha boomiya kaami
O sengaadae
Sirukaradae poi varavaa
O.. kaadugalae
Kalligalae poi varavaa
Hoo ooo ooo hoo ooo oo
Kaalodu sarala kizhikka
Kannodu puzhudhi adikka
Oor thaandiyae oor thediyae
Oor pogudhae
Karuvelangaadu kadandhu
Kalloothu medum kadandhu
Oor seralaam usur serumaa
Vazhiyillaiyae
Kangaani pecha nambi
Sanam pogudhae hoo
O…. nandugala koottikondu
Nari pogudhae
Udal mattum mudhaleedaaga
Oru nooru sanam poraaga
Uyir meelumo udal meelumo
Yaar kandadhu
Poththakkalliyum mulluthachadhum
Poththu ozhugumae paalu
Kaalangaalamaa azhudhu theethuttom
Kannil illaiyae neeru
Vaattum panjathil kokku kaala pol
Vaththi pochchaiyaa vaazhvu
Koottam koottamaa vaazha pogirom
Kooda varugudhae saavu
O sengaadae
Sirukaradae poi varavaa
O.. kaadugalae
Kalligalae poi varavaa
Sudu sudu kaadu vittu
Pogira ponanga pola
Sana sana sanangalellaam
Pogudhu paadhai mela
Ullooril kaakkaa kuruvi
Irai thedudhae …ooo….
Pasiyodu manusa koottam veliyerudhae
Oooo….ooo.o..oooo…ooo..
Ooooooo…ooo…ooo…
Poththakkalliyum mulluthachadhum
Poththu ozhugumae paalu
Kaalangaalamaa azhudhu theethuttom
Kannil illaiyae neeru
Vaattum panjathil kokku kaala pol
Vaththi pochchaiyaa vaazhvu
Koottam koottamaa vaazha pogirom
Kooda varugudhae saavu
Oooo….ooo.o..oooo…ooo..
Ooooooo…ooo.
Hoo oooh hoo oooh
Hoo oooh hoo oooh oooh...
O land of red soil,
O rocky mounds, farewell!
O forests,
O cactus bushes, farewell!
As if leaving the burning cremation grounds,
like walking corpses,
throngs and throngs of people
are trudging down the road.
In this village, crows and sparrows
search for food... oooh...
while crowds of starving people leave their homes.
When a cactus is pricked by a thorn,
milky sap gushes out.
We have wept for ages and drained our tears,
there is no water left in our eyes.
In this cruel famine, like a crane's thin leg,
our life has withered and dried up.
We march in crowds hoping to live,
yet death walks right beside us.
O land of red soil,
O rocky mounds, farewell!
O forests,
O cactus bushes, farewell!
Leaving the open fields where we played,
leaving the homes where we grew up,
these innocent, simple folk
are moving away into exile... ooh...
Will it lead us to life,
or will it lead us to death?
Without telling us where it goes,
the road stretches endlessly.
To merely go on living
is only a small sorrow, hoo...
but living with a hungry stomach
is the greatest misery.
As cruel fate beckons us,
we go forth to survive the famine.
Who will make it back?
Who will survive?
Who knows?
In deep, broken slabs,
parched and cracked open,
lies the toiling man's land.
Into this cracked earth,
He seems eager to bury us—
that merciless, wicked God!
Only by boiling tamarind seeds
and eating them
have our bodies barely stayed alive.
To survive this famine
and quiet our hunger,
show us some green, fertile land!
O land of red soil,
O rocky mounds, farewell!
O forests,
O cactus bushes, farewell!
Hoo oooh oooh hoo oooh ooh
With gravel tearing into our feet,
with dust blowing into our eyes,
leaving lands behind, searching for a place,
the whole village marches on.
Crossing the wild thorny woods,
crossing the dry, stony river mounds,
our feet may reach a town, but will our breath remain?
There seems no way.
Believing the Kangani's (labour recruiter's) words,
the poor folk march on, hoo...
O, herding all the crabs along,
the sly fox leads the way.
With only their bare bodies as their wealth,
a hundred souls are walking away.
Will our lives return? Will our bodies return?
Who knows?
When a cactus is pricked by a thorn,
milky sap gushes out.
We have wept for ages and drained our tears,
there is no water left in our eyes.
In this cruel famine, like a crane's thin leg,
our life has withered and dried up.
We march in crowds hoping to live,
yet death walks right beside us.
O land of red soil,
O rocky mounds, farewell!
O forests,
O cactus bushes, farewell!
As if leaving the burning cremation grounds,
like walking corpses,
throngs and throngs of people
are trudging down the road.
In this village, crows and sparrows
search for food... oooh...
while crowds of starving people leave their homes.
Oooh... oooh... o... oooh... oooh...
Ooooh... oooh... oooh...
When a cactus is pricked by a thorn,
milky sap gushes out.
We have wept for ages and drained our tears,
there is no water left in our eyes.
In this cruel famine, like a crane's thin leg,
our life has withered and dried up.
We march in crowds hoping to live,
yet death walks right beside us.
Oooh... oooh... o... oooh... oooh...
Ooooh... oooh.
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Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

The song 'Sengaadae' from Bala's film 'Paradesi' (2013), written by Vairamuthu and composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, is a heart-wrenching lament of rural villagers forced to abandon their native scorched lands due to severe drought and famine. They leave behind their homes, fields, and dry landscapes under the false promises of a supervisor (Kangani) who entices them into bonded labor in tea plantations. The lyrics capture their deep grief, bodily suffering, uncertainty of survival, and the tragic irony of marching toward death while seeking a livelihood.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Simile (Uwamai)

Pogira ponanga pola

Compares the starving villagers leaving their village to walking corpses ('Pogira ponanga pola').

Metaphor (Uruvagandhu / Metaphor)

O.... nandugala koottikondu Nari pogudhae

Compares the deceptive supervisor (Kangani) leading the innocent villagers to a fox leading crabs to their doom ('Nandugala koottikondu nari pogudhae').

Simile (Uwamai)

Vaattum panjathil kokku kaala pol Vaththi pochchaiyaa vaazhvu

Compares life drying up during famine to the thin, emaciated legs of a stork ('Kokku kaala pol vaththi pochchaiyaa vaazhvu').

Personification / Apostrophe

O sengaadae Sirukaradae poi varavaa

The singer addresses the red soil ('Sengaadae') and cactus plants ('Kalligalae') directly, taking leave from the inanimate land.

Monoreyme / Alliteration (Edhugai)

Uyirodu vaazhvadhu kooda / Vayirodu vaazhvadhu thaanae

Repetition of second-letter rhyming patterns across paired lines, such as 'Uyirodu' and 'Vayirodu'.

Did you know?

Trivia

The film 'Paradesi' is based on Paul Harris Daniel's 1969 English novel 'Red Tea' and the real historical events of the 1930s during British rule in India, where impoverished villagers in Tamil Nadu were tricked into slave labor on tea estates. Lyricist Vairamuthu earned critical acclaim for using authentic regional dialects and vivid rural imagery to depict severe famine and forced migration.

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