Thawama Pana Thiyenawa Lyrics by Abhisheka Wimalaweera

You ask if I feel love,
yes, I too feel love
you ask if I can feel a kiss,
yes, I too am searching for warmth
you ask, don’t I lack the milk-blessing,
even without milk, there is still room in this heart
take up a club and strike, and strike hard,
the earth still has life left in it

There is no seven-stranded band for my brow,
no white lotus, no rose petals,
and the tears that ran
beneath my kohl-lined eyes, you never once saw them
take up a club and strike, and strike hard,
the earth still has life left in it

Born of tears of fire, of the dema flower,
of the cobra’s tears, of the nuga leaf,
by the power and majesty of the seven Pattini goddesses,
gather your courage and bloom..
take up a club and strike, and strike hard,
the earth still has life left in it

This is a defiant anthem of resilience, sung back at someone who keeps questioning the singer’s worth and feeling. Yes, she answers, I feel love too; yes, I also long for warmth; and when asked whether she lacks the milk-blessing, the sacred grace, she replies that even without it there is still room in her heart. Each gentle answer builds to the fierce refrain: take up a club and strike hard, for the earth still has life in it, a call never to surrender.

The second verse strips away every ornament. She has no seven-stranded jewel for her brow, no white lotus or rose petals, none of the adornments others are handed, and, worse, the tears that ran beneath her kohl-lined eyes were never even noticed. It is the voice of someone overlooked and unadorned, and still the refrain returns, unbroken: strike hard, the earth still has life.

The last verse reaches into Sinhala myth for its strength. It invokes the seven Pattini goddesses, born, in legend, of fire and tears and sacred trees, and by their power calls the listener, and the singer herself, to gather courage and bloom. This is a song about dignity in hardship, the refusal of the beaten-down to stay down, drawing on the fierce, protective figure of Pattini. Written, composed and sung by Abhisheka Wimalaweera, it turns pain into a battle cry: however little you were given, there is still life in you, so rise and fight.