Song H050 Coming soon
පුත්තලමේ කජු
Puttalam Cashew
Puththalame Kaju
In a Puttalam cashew family's kitchen at dawn, Amma turns the cashews in the hot pan, Nangi sticks on the labels, and Thaththa carries the first packets out to his stall under the tree. A week later the lorry driver who carried their raw sacks away for years stops and buys a packet.
Lyrics
Chorus
පුත්තලමේ කජු බැද්දේ අපි, පැකට් එකත් අපේ!Puththalame kaju badde api, packet ekath ape!We roasted the Puttalam cashew, and the packet's ours too!
අම්මගේ අතින් බැද්දා, නංගිගේ අතින් ලේබල් එකAmmage athin badda, nangige athin label ekaRoasted by Amma's hand, the label by Nangi's hand
ගෝනියට නෙවෙයි, අපේ නම ගහපු පැකට් එකටGoniyata newei, ape nama gahapu packet ekataNot into a sack, into a packet with our name on it
තාත්තගේ කඩේ, පාර අයිනේ, ගහ යටThaththage kade, para ayine, gaha yataAt Thaththa's stall, by the road, under the tree
පුත්තලමේ කජු, පුත්තලමේ කජුPuththalame kaju, Puththalame kajuPuttalam cashew, Puttalam cashew
අපේ ගහේ, අපේ අතින්, අපේ පැකට් එකේ!Ape gahe, ape athin, ape packet eke!From our tree, by our hands, in our packet!
Verse 1
උදේ පාන්දර, කුස්සියේ තාච්චිය උණුයිUde pandara, kussiye thachchiya unuiEarly morning, the pan in the kitchen is hot
අම්මා කජු ටික හරවනවා, සුවඳ ගෙයටමAmma kaju tika harawanawa, suwanda geyatamaAmma turns the cashews, the smell fills the whole house
නංගි මේසේ වාඩි වෙලා ලේබල් අලවනවාNangi mese wadi wela label alawanawaNangi sits at the table sticking the labels on
පළවෙනි පැකට් එක අතට අරන්, තාත්තා හිනා වුණාPalaweni packet eka athata aran, thaththa hina wunaThaththa took the first packet in his hand and laughed
Before the chorus
තාත්තා පෙට්ටිය උස්සගෙන කඩේට ගියාThaththa pettiya ussagena kadeta giyaThaththa lifted the box and went to the stall
පාර අයිනේ ගහ යට, මේසේ උඩ ලස්සනටPara ayine gaha yata, mese uda lassanataBy the road under the tree, laid out neatly on the table
අපි පස්සෙන් දුවගෙන ආවා බලන්නApi passen duwagena aawa balannaWe came running behind to see
පැකට් එක උස්සලා තාත්තා කෑ ගැහුවා, "අපේ!"Packet eka ussala thaththa ka gahuwa, "Ape!"Thaththa held a packet up and shouted, "Ours!"
Chorus
පුත්තලමේ කජු බැද්දේ අපි, පැකට් එකත් අපේ!Puththalame kaju badde api, packet ekath ape!We roasted the Puttalam cashew, and the packet's ours too!
අම්මගේ අතින් බැද්දා, නංගිගේ අතින් ලේබල් එකAmmage athin badda, nangige athin label ekaRoasted by Amma's hand, the label by Nangi's hand
ගෝනියට නෙවෙයි, අපේ නම ගහපු පැකට් එකටGoniyata newei, ape nama gahapu packet ekataNot into a sack, into a packet with our name on it
තාත්තගේ කඩේ, පාර අයිනේ, ගහ යටThaththage kade, para ayine, gaha yataAt Thaththa's stall, by the road, under the tree
පුත්තලමේ කජු, පුත්තලමේ කජුPuththalame kaju, Puththalame kajuPuttalam cashew, Puttalam cashew
අපේ ගහේ, අපේ අතින්, අපේ පැකට් එකේ!Ape gahe, ape athin, ape packet eke!From our tree, by our hands, in our packet!
Chant
පුත්තලම!Puththalama!Puttalam!
කජු!Kaju!Cashew!
බැද්දා!Badda!Roasted!
අපේ පැකට්!Ape packet!Our packet!
Verse 2
සතියකට පස්සේ, ලොරියක් කඩේ ළඟ නැවැත්තුවාSathiyakata passe, loriyak kade langa nawaththuwaA week later, a lorry pulled up by the stall
අපේ ගෝනි අවුරුදු ගාණක් ගෙනිච්ච ඒ ඩ්‍රයිවර්මයිApe goni awurudu ganak genichcha e driwarmaiThe very driver who carried our sacks away for years
පැකට් එකක් අරන්, කැබ් එකේ කාලා, හෝන් එක ගහගෙන ගියාPacket ekak aran, cab eke kaala, horn eka gahagena giyaHe bought a packet, ate it in the cab, and drove off sounding the horn
තාත්තා ගෙදරට දුවගෙන ආවා, "අම්මේ! ලොරි මාමා අපේ කජු ගත්තා!"Thaththa gedarata duwagena aawa, "Amme! Lori mama ape kaju gaththa!"Thaththa came running home: "Amma! He bought our cashews!"
Before the chorus
තාත්තා පෙට්ටිය උස්සගෙන කඩේට ගියාThaththa pettiya ussagena kadeta giyaThaththa lifted the box and went to the stall
පාර අයිනේ ගහ යට, මේසේ උඩ ලස්සනටPara ayine gaha yata, mese uda lassanataBy the road under the tree, laid out neatly on the table
අපි පස්සෙන් දුවගෙන ආවා බලන්නApi passen duwagena aawa balannaWe came running behind to see
පැකට් එක උස්සලා තාත්තා කෑ ගැහුවා, "අපේ!"Packet eka ussala thaththa ka gahuwa, "Ape!"Thaththa held a packet up and shouted, "Ours!"
Chorus
පුත්තලමේ කජු බැද්දේ අපි, පැකට් එකත් අපේ!Puththalame kaju badde api, packet ekath ape!We roasted the Puttalam cashew, and the packet's ours too!
අම්මගේ අතින් බැද්දා, නංගිගේ අතින් ලේබල් එකAmmage athin badda, nangige athin label ekaRoasted by Amma's hand, the label by Nangi's hand
ගෝනියට නෙවෙයි, අපේ නම ගහපු පැකට් එකටGoniyata newei, ape nama gahapu packet ekataNot into a sack, into a packet with our name on it
තාත්තගේ කඩේ, පාර අයිනේ, ගහ යටThaththage kade, para ayine, gaha yataAt Thaththa's stall, by the road, under the tree
පුත්තලමේ කජු, පුත්තලමේ කජුPuththalame kaju, Puththalame kajuPuttalam cashew, Puttalam cashew
අපේ ගහේ, අපේ අතින්, අපේ පැකට් එකේ!Ape gahe, ape athin, ape packet eke!From our tree, by our hands, in our packet!
Bridge
කලින් ඒ ගහ යට, තාත්තා ගෝනි ලොරියට උස්සලා දුන්නාKalin e gaha yata, thaththa goni loriyata ussala dunnaUnder that tree, Thaththa used to hand sacks up to the lorry
අමු කජු ගියා, අපේ නමක් නෑ, ආපහු ආවේ නෑAmu kaju giya, ape namak na, aapahu aawe naRaw cashew went away, no name of ours, and never came back
අද ඒ ගහ යටම අපේ කඩේ, අපේ පැකට්Ada e gaha yatama ape kade, ape packetToday under that same tree, our stall, our packets
ලොරිය නවතින්නේ දැන් ගන්න, ගෙනියන්න නෙවෙයි!Loriya nawathinne dan ganna, geniyanna newei!The lorry stops now to buy, not to carry away!
Chorus
පුත්තලමේ කජු බැද්දේ අපි, පැකට් එකත් අපේ! (අපේ!)Puththalame kaju badde api, packet ekath ape! (ape!)We roasted the Puttalam cashew, and the packet's ours too!
අම්මගේ අතින් බැද්දා, නංගිගේ අතින් ලේබල් එකAmmage athin badda, nangige athin label ekaRoasted by Amma's hand, the label by Nangi's hand
ගෝනියට නෙවෙයි, අපේ නම ගහපු පැකට් එකටGoniyata newei, ape nama gahapu packet ekataNot into a sack, into a packet with our name on it
තාත්තගේ කඩේ, පාර අයිනේ, ගහ යට (ගහ යට!)Thaththage kade, para ayine, gaha yata (gaha yata!)At Thaththa's stall, by the road, under the tree
පුත්තලමේ කජු, පුත්තලමේ කජු (කජු!)Puththalame kaju, Puththalame kaju (kaju!)Puttalam cashew, Puttalam cashew
අපේ ගහේ, අපේ අතින්, අපේ පැකට් එකේ!Ape gahe, ape athin, ape packet eke!From our tree, by our hands, in our packet!
Outro
පුත්තලමේ කජුPuththalame kajuPuttalam cashew
පැකට් එකත් අපේ.Packet ekath ape.the packet's ours too
From the book
- Idea 286Cashew-processing units in Puttalam owned by the growers, not by the traders
- Cluster 14Farm to shelf
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.