Ayanna Kiyanna Lyrics by Nanda Malani

Say “ayanna,” recite it, let the whole world hear
Come, my little brother
Run, jump, dance, sing
Come, my little sister

School is a golden temple, the teacher there is like a god
Winning the mind day by day, sit in its shade and gain a skill for tomorrow
To see the world and wander freely through it
Come, my little sister
Come, my little brother

Money and wealth can vanish in a moment, thieves can carry it off in secret
But the knowledge gained from books and pages stays safe forever
So count the numbers, fill the hours well
Come, my little sister
Come, my little brother

This is a children’s learning song, the kind an older voice sings to coax little ones toward school and books. The very title, “Ayanna Kiyanna,” means “say ayanna,” the first letter of the Sinhala alphabet, the way a Sri Lankan child’s lessons begin. The whole song is a warm call to a younger brother and sister: come learn your letters, say them out loud so the world can hear, and then go run and jump and play. Learning and joy sit side by side here, never opposed.

The middle verse gives school its high place in our culture. It calls the school a “golden temple” and the teacher someone “like a god,” which sounds large to an outsider but is ordinary feeling in Sri Lanka, where the guru is honored almost the way a deity is. The image of sitting “in its shade” is the old picture of a student resting under a teacher’s protection, gaining a skill that will carry into the years ahead. From that shelter the child is told to go out, see the world, and move through it freely. Learning is not a cage; it is what sets you loose.

The last verse carries the lesson that gives the song its weight. Money and wealth, it says, can disappear in a moment, a thief can slip in and take them away. But what you learn from books and pages can never be stolen, it stays with you for life. This is an old and deeply held idea in Sinhala thinking, that knowledge is the one wealth no one can rob from you. So the closing nudge, count your numbers and spend your time well, is really a gentle teaching about where lasting value lies.

What the listener is left with is the song’s bright, encouraging warmth. It treats a child’s first letters as something worth celebrating and worth running and singing about, and it quietly hands down a value many of us grew up on: learn, because that is the one thing in life no one can take from you.