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Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Thekkathi Pakkathu Kaathu

From Annai En Deivam · 1986

Lyricist
Vaali
Singers
Malaysia Vasudevan, S. P. Shailaja
Music director
Shankar Ganesh
Movie name
Annai En Deivam
Movie release year
1986
Lyrics added on
2 Jan 2022

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Thekkaththi pakkaththu kaaththu
Thottuththaan mottuththaan pooththu
Thallaattam podumpothu
Themmaangu paadumpothu
Allattaa killattaa saethth
Thekkaththi pakkaththu kaaththu
Thottuththaan mottuththaan pooththu
Thallaattam podumpothu
Themmaangu paadumpothu
Allaiyaa killaiyyaa saeththu
Naan pudichcha mayilae
Female :Aahhah
Male :Poo mudicha kuyilae
Female :Aahhah
Male :Vanthaalenna senthaamara
Thanneerilae neeraada
Naal muzhukka enakku
Male :Aah
Female :Un nenappu irukku
Male :Aahah
Female :Unnaalathaan raaththookkamae
Illaamththaan naan vaada
Vannakkodi ennappadi
Vanthirukkaen kaiyai pudi
Female :Mella thodu mella thodu
Aa maththathellaam sollikkodu
Male :Naan sengarumbu villeduththu
Ambugalai thoduppaen
Thekkaththi pakkaththu kaaththu
Thottuththaan mottuththaan pooththu
Male :Thallaattam podumpothu
Themmaangu paadumpothu
Allattaa killattaa saethth
Moongililae panithaan
Female :Aahhaa
Male :Thoongum sugam thanithaan
Female :Aahhaa
Male :Pulveliyil unnodu naan
Palli kolla koodaatha
Paai virukkum pozhuthu
Male :Aah
Female :Paatteduththu ezhuthu
Male :Aahah
Female :Kannaalanthaan kannaalaththaan
Chinna ponnu vaadaathaa
Panguniyil chiththiraiyil
Panthalukku vanthiduvaen
Female :Panthalkku vanthavudal
Aa paakkiyellam thanthiduvaen
Male :Un neththiyilae maththiyilae
Kungumaththa iduvaen
Thekkaththi aa thekkaththi pakkaththu kaaththu
Thottuththaan mottuththaan pooththu
Female :Thallaattam podumpothu
Male :Aah
Female :Themmaangu paadumpothu
Allaiyaa killaiyyaa saeththu
Male :Allattaa killattaa saethth
The breeze from the southern side,
Touched gently, and the bud bloomed into a flower.
When it sways and dances,
When it sings a sweet folk song,
Shall I gather you close and pinch you playfully?
The breeze from the southern side,
Touched gently, and the bud bloomed into a flower.
When it sways and dances,
When it sings a sweet folk song,
Won't you gather me close and pinch me playfully?
Oh, my lovely peacock whom I captured!
Female: Ah-ha!
Male: Oh cuckoo adorned with flowers!
Female: Ah-ha!
Male: Why don't you come like a red lotus
to bathe in the water?
All through the day,
Male: Ah!
Female: ...I have thoughts of only you.
Male: Ah-ha!
Female: It is only because of you that I lost my night's sleep,
and I wither in yearning.
Oh colorful flowering vine, why are you like this?
I have come to you, take my hand!
Female: Touch me gently, touch me gently,
Ah, and teach me everything else!
Male: I will take up a bow of sweet sugarcane,
and shoot my arrows of love!
The breeze from the southern side,
Touched gently, and the bud bloomed into a flower.
Male: When it sways and dances,
When it sings a sweet folk song,
Shall I gather you close and pinch you playfully?
The morning dew on the bamboo,
Female: Ah-ha!
Male: ...sleeps with a special kind of pleasure!
Female: Ah-ha!
Male: On the grassy meadow with you,
can I not lie down and rest?
When the time comes to spread out the mat,
Male: Ah!
Female: ...compose and sing a sweet song!
Male: Ah-ha!
Female: From just a look from her beloved,
won't this young girl melt in longing?
In the spring months of Panguni and Chithirai,
I will arrive at the wedding canopy.
Female: Once you come to the wedding canopy,
ah, I will give you everything I have kept for you!
Male: Right in the center of your forehead,
I will place the red kumkum dot.
The southern breeze, oh, the breeze from the southern side,
Touched gently, and the bud bloomed into a flower.
Female: When it sways and dances,
Male: Ah!
Female: When it sings a sweet folk song,
Won't you gather me close and pinch me playfully?
Male: Shall I gather you close and pinch you playfully?
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Male

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

'Thekkaththi Pakkaththu Kaaththu' is a romantic Tamil folk song from the 1986 film 'Annai En Deivam', penned by Vaali. The lyrics make extensive use of pastoral imagery—cool southern wind, blooming flower buds, dew drops on bamboo leaves, and singing cuckoos—to capture the playful romance and deep affection shared between two lovers. The couple playfully exchanges flirtatious lines, expressing restless sleepless nights, yearning for each other's touch, and dreaming of their upcoming wedding in the Tamil months of Panguni or Chithirai, culminating in the sacred ritual of placing kumkum on the bride's forehead.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Monnai (Initial Alliteration)

“Thekkaththi pakkaththu kaaththu / Thottuththaan mottuththaan pooththu”

Repetition of initial consonant sound 'Th' in consecutive lines: 'Thekkaththi', 'Thottuththaan', 'Thallaattam', 'Themmaangu'.

Uruvagam (Metaphor)

“Naan sengarumbu villeduththu / Ambugalai thoduppaen”

The hero metaphorically compares himself to Kamadeva (the god of love) wielding a bow made of red sugarcane ('sengarumbu villu') to shoot love arrows.

Nature Imagery

“Moongililae panithaan / Thoongum sugam thanithaan”

Use of rural Tamil landscape imagery such as 'Moongililae panithaan' (dew on bamboo) and 'senthaamara Thanneerilae' (red lotus water) to evoke sensory romantic feelings.

Did you know?

Trivia

Annai En Deivam (1986) features actor Vijayakanth in the lead role, and the song incorporates traditional southern Tamil Nadu 'Themmaangu' folk rhythms, famously stylized by lyricist Vaali using native rural idioms.

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