Tikiri Liya Lyrics by Sunil Santha

Little little little Tikiri
took the pot and went to the well,
around the well was a monitor lizard,
Tikiri saw it, leapt and ran

The pot filled up with water,
the full pot was lifted up,
Tikiri’s hip gave a twist,
and the pot went up onto her hip

One hand went round the pot,
one hand fell down at her side,
her face bent toward the ground,
a foot went forward, looking ahead

Tikiri went along the fence,
a flower on the fence rose to her head,
a flower bloomed upon her head,
and Tikiri looked lovely

an eye was drawn to the flower,
one eye met with another eye,
two rows of pearls showed themselves,
and Tikiri hurried off home

Tikiri, tikiri, tikiri, tikiri,
tikiri, tikiri, little flower,
tikiri, tikiri, tikiri, tikiri,
tikiri, tikiri, little flower

This is a charming little folk vignette by Sunil Santha, following a village girl named Tikiri, whose name also carries the sense of “tiny.” She takes her water pot and goes to the well, and the first thing that happens is pure village comedy: a kabaragoya, a monitor lizard, is lurking around the well, and Tikiri spots it, jumps, and bolts.

Then the song simply watches her, with a painter’s eye, as she fills the pot and carries it home. The full pot is lifted, her hip gives a little twist and takes the weight, one hand curls around the pot while the other swings at her side, her face tips toward the ground and a foot steps out ahead. It is the ordinary, graceful choreography of carrying water, caught in slow, affectionate detail.

The loveliest turn is the last. Walking along the fence, a flower reaches up and settles at her head, blooming there so that Tikiri suddenly looks pretty. An eye is drawn to the flower, one eye meets another, two rows of pearls, her teeth in a shy smile, flash for a moment, and Tikiri hurries off home. In a few soft strokes Sunil Santha catches the very first flush of attraction, the glance and the blush, inside a simple scene of a girl at a village well.