Song 03 Out now
ආච්චිගේ මේසේ
Grandma's Table
Achchige Mese
A Saturday cooking class at Grandma's house: the van pulls up at ten, the visitors take their shoes off, and Achchi stands at the grinding stone telling the story of the dish as she grinds. A month later a photo arrives from Hamburg, a pol sambol in a visitor's own kitchen.
The video plays from YouTube when you press play.
Lyrics
Chorus
ආච්චිගේ කුස්සියට ලෝකෙම ආවාAchchige kussiyata lokema aawaThe whole world came to Grandma's kitchen
මිරිස් ගලේ අඹරලා, කෙසෙල් කොළේ කෑවාMiris gale ambarala, kesel kole kaawaGround it on the grinding stone, ate off a banana leaf
"මේක හැදුවේ කොහොමද?" අහනවා හැමෝම"Meka haduwe kohomada?" ahanawa hamoma"How did you make this?" everyone asks
ආච්චි හිනාවෙලා කියනවා කතාවමAchchi hinawela kiyanawa kathawamaGrandma smiles and tells them the whole story
ආච්චිගේ මේසේ, ආච්චිගේ මේසේAchchige mese, achchige meseGrandma's table, Grandma's table
හැමෝටම ඉඩ තියෙනවා ආච්චිගේ මේසේHamotama ida thiyenawa achchige meseThere's room for everyone at Grandma's table
Verse 1
සෙනසුරාදා දහයට, ගේට්ටුව ළඟ වෑන් එකSenasurada dahayata, gettuwa langa van ekaSaturday at ten, the van at the gate
සපත්තු ගලවලා අමුත්තෝ ඇතුළටSapaththu galawala amuththo athulataShoes off, the visitors come in
ආච්චි මිරිස් ගල ළඟ, අතේ හිරමනේAchchi miris gala langa, athe hiramaneGrandma at the grinding stone, the coconut scraper in her hand
"අද අපි හදන්නේ පොල් සම්බෝල" කියනවා"Ada api hadanne pol sambola" kiyanawa"Today we're making pol sambol," she says
Before the chorus
පොල් ගාන සද්දේ, දෙහි ලුණු සුවඳPol gaana sadde, dehi lunu suwandaThe sound of coconut being scraped, the smell of lime and salt
මිරිස් ඇහැට ගිහින් හැමෝම හිනාMiris ahata gihin hamoma hinaChilli gets in someone's eye and everyone laughs
"Slowly, slowly" ආච්චි කියනවා"Slowly, slowly" achchi kiyanawa"Slowly, slowly," Grandma says (in English, to the visitors)
අපේ ගමේ කතාව අඹරන ගමන්Ape game kathawa ambarana gamanTelling our village's story while she grinds
Chorus
ආච්චිගේ කුස්සියට ලෝකෙම ආවාAchchige kussiyata lokema aawaThe whole world came to Grandma's kitchen
මිරිස් ගලේ අඹරලා, කෙසෙල් කොළේ කෑවාMiris gale ambarala, kesel kole kaawaGround it on the grinding stone, ate off a banana leaf
"මේක හැදුවේ කොහොමද?" අහනවා හැමෝම"Meka haduwe kohomada?" ahanawa hamoma"How did you make this?" everyone asks
ආච්චි හිනාවෙලා කියනවා කතාවමAchchi hinawela kiyanawa kathawamaGrandma smiles and tells them the whole story
ආච්චිගේ මේසේ, ආච්චිගේ මේසේAchchige mese, achchige meseGrandma's table, Grandma's table
හැමෝටම ඉඩ තියෙනවා ආච්චිගේ මේසේHamotama ida thiyenawa achchige meseThere's room for everyone at Grandma's table
Chant
අඹරමු!Ambaramu!Let's grind!
කමු!Kamu!Let's eat!
ආච්චී!Achchee!Achchi!
තව ටිකක්!Thawa tikak!A bit more!
Verse 2
මාසෙකට පස්සේ, හැම්බර්ග් වලින් ෆොටෝ එකක්Masekata passe, Hamburg walin photo ekakA month later, a photo from Hamburg
එයාගේ කුස්සියේ, එයා හදපු සම්බෝලේEyage kussiye, eya hadapu samboleIn her own kitchen, the sambol she made
"Thank you, ආච්චි" කියලා පොඩි නෝට් එකක්"Thank you, Achchi" kiyala podi note ekakA little note: "Thank you, Achchi"
ආච්චි ඒ ෆොටෝ එක ෆ්‍රිජ් එකේ ඇලෙව්වාAchchi e photo eka fridge eke alewwaGrandma stuck that photo on the fridge
Before the chorus
පොල් ගාන සද්දේ, දෙහි ලුණු සුවඳPol gaana sadde, dehi lunu suwandaThe sound of coconut being scraped, the smell of lime and salt
මිරිස් ඇහැට ගිහින් හැමෝම හිනාMiris ahata gihin hamoma hinaChilli gets in someone's eye and everyone laughs
"Slowly, slowly" ආච්චි කියනවා"Slowly, slowly" achchi kiyanawa"Slowly, slowly," Grandma says (in English, to the visitors)
අපේ ගමේ කතාව අඹරන ගමන්Ape game kathawa ambarana gamanTelling our village's story while she grinds
Chorus
ආච්චිගේ කුස්සියට ලෝකෙම ආවාAchchige kussiyata lokema aawaThe whole world came to Grandma's kitchen
මිරිස් ගලේ අඹරලා, කෙසෙල් කොළේ කෑවාMiris gale ambarala, kesel kole kaawaGround it on the grinding stone, ate off a banana leaf
"මේක හැදුවේ කොහොමද?" අහනවා හැමෝම"Meka haduwe kohomada?" ahanawa hamoma"How did you make this?" everyone asks
ආච්චි හිනාවෙලා කියනවා කතාවමAchchi hinawela kiyanawa kathawamaGrandma smiles and tells them the whole story
ආච්චිගේ මේසේ, ආච්චිගේ මේසේAchchige mese, achchige meseGrandma's table, Grandma's table
හැමෝටම ඉඩ තියෙනවා ආච්චිගේ මේසේHamotama ida thiyenawa achchige meseThere's room for everyone at Grandma's table
Bridge
"මිරිස් ගල කාටද දැන්?" කිව්වා ආච්චි කලින්"Miris gala kaatada dan?" kiwwa achchi kalin"Who wants a grinding stone now?" Grandma used to say
මිදුලේ කොනේ වැහි වැහී තිබ්බා අවුරුදු ගාණක්Midule kone wahi wahee thibba awurudu ganakIt sat in a corner of the yard in the rain for years
අද ඒ ගල ළඟ පෝලිමක්, හැමෝටම අඹරන්න ඕනේAda e gala langa polimak, hamotama ambaranna oneToday there's a queue at that stone, everyone wants a turn
ආච්චිගේ ගල දැන් නිදාගන්නේ නෑAchchige gala dan nidaganne naGrandma's stone never gets to sleep now
Chorus
ආච්චිගේ කුස්සියට ලෝකෙම ආවා (ලෝකෙම ආවා)Achchige kussiyata lokema aawa (lokema aawa)The whole world came to Grandma's kitchen
මිරිස් ගලේ අඹරලා, කෙසෙල් කොළේ කෑවාMiris gale ambarala, kesel kole kaawaGround it on the grinding stone, ate off a banana leaf
"මේක හැදුවේ කොහොමද?" අහනවා හැමෝම"Meka haduwe kohomada?" ahanawa hamoma"How did you make this?" everyone asks
ආච්චි හිනාවෙලා කියනවා කතාවමAchchi hinawela kiyanawa kathawamaGrandma smiles and tells them the whole story
ආච්චිගේ මේසේ, ආච්චිගේ මේසේ (ආච්චිගේ මේසේ)Achchige mese, achchige mese (achchige mese)Grandma's table, Grandma's table
හැමෝටම ඉඩ තියෙනවා ආච්චිගේ මේසේHamotama ida thiyenawa achchige meseThere's room for everyone at Grandma's table
Outro
ආච්චිගේ මේසේAchchige meseGrandma's table
හැමෝටම ඉඩ තියෙනවා.Hamotama ida thiyenawa.there's room for everyone
From the book
- Idea 21Cooking classes, from a half-day of two curries and rice to a week-long residency
- Idea 40Grandmother's Kitchen: one dish, one district, one story
- Cluster 2Sell the making, not the object
The book behind the songs
Every song here is sung from inside one moment: the day someone in Sri Lanka has already done one of the book's 500 ideas, and the family is celebrating.
This song is a story about one idea from the book Why Not Sri Lanka. It promises nothing. No real person or business is shown in it. The book's ideas belong to whoever builds them. Music and vocals created with Suno from original lyrics written for this channel. The pictures in the songs are made with AI too.
© 2026 Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. Lyrics, music recordings, films and pictures. All rights reserved. Please do not re-upload or reuse these songs; to use one, get in touch through whynotsrilanka.com.