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කොළඹ කන්නේ තාත්තගේ එළවළු
Colombo Eats Thaththa's Vegetables
Kolamba Kanne Thaththage Elawalu
At dawn at the packing table on our farm, Thaththa lays the dewy beans in the box and Nangi writes the farm's name on every lid. By evening a photo arrives: our box on a Colombo doorstep with the lid open, and a message saying tonight's dinner is from this.
Lyrics
Chorus
කොළඹ ගෙවල්වල කන්නේ තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Kolamba gewalwala kanne thaththage elawalu!Colombo homes are eating Thaththa's vegetables!
අපේ වත්තෙන් කෙළින්ම, පෙට්ටියේ ඔයාගේ දොරකඩටApe waththen kelinma, pettiye oyage dorakadataStraight from our garden, in a box to your doorstep
පියන උඩ අපේ නම, නංගිගේ අත් අකුරෙන්Piyana uda ape nama, nangige ath akurenOur name on the lid, in Nangi's handwriting
ෆෝන් එක නවතින්නේ නෑ, තව ඕඩර්, තව ඕඩර්!Phone eka nawathinne na, thawa order, thawa order!The phone won't stop, more orders, more orders!
තාත්තගේ එළවළු, තාත්තගේ එළවළුThaththage elawalu, thaththage elawaluThaththa's vegetables, Thaththa's vegetables
අපේ වත්තෙන් කොළඹට, තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Ape waththen Kolambata, thaththage elawalu!From our garden to Colombo, Thaththa's vegetables!
Verse 1
පාන්දර පැකින් මේසේ, බෝංචි උඩ පින්න තාමPandara packing mese, bonchi uda pinna thamaDawn at the packing table, dew still on the beans
තාත්තා පෙට්ටියට දානවා, හෙමින්, ලස්සනටThaththa pettiyata danawa, hemin, lassanataThaththa lays them in the box, gently, neatly
නංගි පියන උඩ ලියනවා, අපේ වත්තේ නමNangi piyana uda liyanawa, ape waththe namaNangi writes on the lid: our farm's name
ෆෝන් එක "ටිං!", අම්මා කෑ ගැහුවා, "තව එකක්!"Phone eka "ting!", amma ka gahuwa, "Thawa ekak!"The phone goes "ping!", Amma shouts, "Another one!"
Before the chorus
පෙට්ටි ටික වෑන් එකට, ගේට්ටුව ඇරලාPetti tika van ekata, gettuwa aralaThe boxes into the van, the gate opened
තාත්තා පස්සෙන් කෑ ගැහුවා, "පරිස්සමෙන් ගෙනියන්න!"Thaththa passen ka gahuwa, "Parissamen geniyanna!"Thaththa shouted after it, "Carry them carefully!"
කොළඹ පාර දිගේ අපේ නම යනවාKolamba para dige ape nama yanawaDown the Colombo road goes our name
දොරකඩින් දොරකඩට, තාත්තගේ වත්තෙන්Dorakadin dorakadata, thaththage waththenDoorstep to doorstep, from Thaththa's garden
Chorus
කොළඹ ගෙවල්වල කන්නේ තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Kolamba gewalwala kanne thaththage elawalu!Colombo homes are eating Thaththa's vegetables!
අපේ වත්තෙන් කෙළින්ම, පෙට්ටියේ ඔයාගේ දොරකඩටApe waththen kelinma, pettiye oyage dorakadataStraight from our garden, in a box to your doorstep
පියන උඩ අපේ නම, නංගිගේ අත් අකුරෙන්Piyana uda ape nama, nangige ath akurenOur name on the lid, in Nangi's handwriting
ෆෝන් එක නවතින්නේ නෑ, තව ඕඩර්, තව ඕඩර්!Phone eka nawathinne na, thawa order, thawa order!The phone won't stop, more orders, more orders!
තාත්තගේ එළවළු, තාත්තගේ එළවළුThaththage elawalu, thaththage elawaluThaththa's vegetables, Thaththa's vegetables
අපේ වත්තෙන් කොළඹට, තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Ape waththen Kolambata, thaththage elawalu!From our garden to Colombo, Thaththa's vegetables!
Chant
කොළඹ!Kolamba!Colombo!
තාත්තගේ!Thaththage!Thaththa's!
පෙට්ටිය!Pettiya!The box!
තව ඕඩර්!Thawa order!More orders!
Verse 2
හවස් වෙද්දී ෆෝන් එකට ෆොටෝ එකක් ආවාHawas weddi phone ekata photo ekak aawaBy evening a photo came to the phone
කොළඹ දොරකඩක අපේ පෙට්ටිය, පියන ඇරලාKolamba dorakadaka ape pettiya, piyana aralaOur box on a Colombo doorstep, lid open
"අද රෑ කෑම මේකෙන්!" කියලා මැසේජ් එකක්"Ada ra kama meken!" kiyala message ekakA message saying "tonight's dinner is from this!"
තාත්තා ෆෝන් එක ළං කරලා බැලුවා, "අර මගේ වම්බටු!"Thaththa phone eka lan karala baluwa, "Ara mage wambatu!"Thaththa brought the phone up close and looked: "That's my brinjal!"
Before the chorus
පෙට්ටි ටික වෑන් එකට, ගේට්ටුව ඇරලාPetti tika van ekata, gettuwa aralaThe boxes into the van, the gate opened
තාත්තා පස්සෙන් කෑ ගැහුවා, "පරිස්සමෙන් ගෙනියන්න!"Thaththa passen ka gahuwa, "Parissamen geniyanna!"Thaththa shouted after it, "Carry them carefully!"
කොළඹ පාර දිගේ අපේ නම යනවාKolamba para dige ape nama yanawaDown the Colombo road goes our name
දොරකඩින් දොරකඩට, තාත්තගේ වත්තෙන්Dorakadin dorakadata, thaththage waththenDoorstep to doorstep, from Thaththa's garden
Chorus
කොළඹ ගෙවල්වල කන්නේ තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Kolamba gewalwala kanne thaththage elawalu!Colombo homes are eating Thaththa's vegetables!
අපේ වත්තෙන් කෙළින්ම, පෙට්ටියේ ඔයාගේ දොරකඩටApe waththen kelinma, pettiye oyage dorakadataStraight from our garden, in a box to your doorstep
පියන උඩ අපේ නම, නංගිගේ අත් අකුරෙන්Piyana uda ape nama, nangige ath akurenOur name on the lid, in Nangi's handwriting
ෆෝන් එක නවතින්නේ නෑ, තව ඕඩර්, තව ඕඩර්!Phone eka nawathinne na, thawa order, thawa order!The phone won't stop, more orders, more orders!
තාත්තගේ එළවළු, තාත්තගේ එළවළුThaththage elawalu, thaththage elawaluThaththa's vegetables, Thaththa's vegetables
අපේ වත්තෙන් කොළඹට, තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Ape waththen Kolambata, thaththage elawalu!From our garden to Colombo, Thaththa's vegetables!
Bridge
කලින් එළවළු ගියේ කූඩේකට දාලා පොළටKalin elawalu giye kudekata dala polataVegetables used to go to the market in a basket
කවුද වැව්වේ කියලා කවුරුත් ඇහුවේ නෑKawuda wawwe kiyala kawuruth ahuwe naNobody ever asked who grew them
අද පියන උඩ අපේ වත්තේ නම, නංගිගේ අකුරෙන්Ada piyana uda ape waththe nama, nangige akurenToday our farm's name is on the lid, in Nangi's letters
කොළඹ දොරකඩක කෙනෙක් ඒක කියවනවා, හයියෙන්!Kolamba dorakadaka kenek eka kiyawanawa, haiyen!Someone on a Colombo doorstep reads it out, loud!
Chorus
කොළඹ ගෙවල්වල කන්නේ තාත්තගේ එළවළු! (තාත්තගේ!)Kolamba gewalwala kanne thaththage elawalu! (thaththage!)Colombo homes are eating Thaththa's vegetables!
අපේ වත්තෙන් කෙළින්ම, පෙට්ටියේ ඔයාගේ දොරකඩටApe waththen kelinma, pettiye oyage dorakadataStraight from our garden, in a box to your doorstep
පියන උඩ අපේ නම, නංගිගේ අත් අකුරෙන්Piyana uda ape nama, nangige ath akurenOur name on the lid, in Nangi's handwriting
ෆෝන් එක නවතින්නේ නෑ, තව ඕඩර්, තව ඕඩර්! (තව ඕඩර්!)Phone eka nawathinne na, thawa order, thawa order! (thawa order!)The phone won't stop, more orders, more orders!
තාත්තගේ එළවළු, තාත්තගේ එළවළු (කොළඹ!)Thaththage elawalu, thaththage elawalu (Kolamba!)Thaththa's vegetables, Thaththa's vegetables
අපේ වත්තෙන් කොළඹට, තාත්තගේ එළවළු!Ape waththen Kolambata, thaththage elawalu!From our garden to Colombo, Thaththa's vegetables!
Outro
තාත්තගේ එළවළුThaththage elawaluThaththa's vegetables
කොළඹ ගෙවල්වල කන්නේ.Kolamba gewalwala kanne.Colombo homes are eating them
From the book
- Idea 284Vegetable box schemes for Colombo households, direct from a named farm
- 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.