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සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා
The Kite's Up
Sarungale Nagga
On the beach in the morning the visitors' children paint our name on the kite in big letters, and at sunset Thaththa shouts give it line, run, and lets go, and it goes. A week later a video arrives of the kite up in the sky again, in a far country.
Lyrics
Chorus
සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා, අහසේ අපේ නම!Sarungale nagga, ahase ape nama!The kite's up, our name in the sky!
උදේ අපි හදපු එක, හවසට උඩටමUde api hadapu eka, hawasata udatamaThe one we built this morning, right up high by evening
ළමයි ලණුව අල්ලන්, දුව යටින් දුවනවාLamai lanuwa allan, duwa yatin duwanawaThe kids holding the line, my daughter running underneath
මුළු වෙරළම බලන්නේ අපේ සරුංගලේMulu weralama balanne ape sarungaleThe whole beach is watching our kite
නැග්ගා, නැග්ගා, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගාNagga, nagga, sarungale naggaIt's up, it's up, the kite's up
අහසේ අපේ නම, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා!Ahase ape nama, sarungale nagga!Our name in the sky, the kite's up!
Verse 1
උදේ වෙරළේ, බට කෝටු ටිකයි, කොළයිUde werale, bata kotu tikai, kolaiMorning on the beach, a few bamboo sticks and paper
අමුත්තන්ගේ ළමයි මගේ වටේ වාඩි වෙලාAmuththange lamai mage wate wadi welaThe visitors' kids sitting round me
පින්තාරු කරලා ලිව්වා අපේ නම, ලොකුවටPintharu karala liwwa ape nama, lokuwataThey painted our name on it, big
අම්මා පැදුරෙන් හිනාවෙලා, "ඕක බරයි, නගින්නේ නෑ!"Amma paduren hinawela, "Oka barai, naginne na!"Mum laughs from the mat: "that's too heavy, it won't go up!"
Before the chorus
ඉර බහිනකොට හුළඟ ආවාIra bahinakota hulanga aawaAs the sun went down, the wind came
ළමයි ලණුව අතට ගත්තා, මම සරුංගලේ උස්සලාLamai lanuwa athata gaththa, mama sarungale ussalaThe kids took the line, I lifted the kite
"ලණුව දෙන්න! දුවන්න!" කියලා"Lanuwa denna! Duwanna!" kiyala"Give it line! Run!"
මම අත ඇරියා, ඒක ගියා!Mama atha ariya, eka giya!I let go, and it went!
Chorus
සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා, අහසේ අපේ නම!Sarungale nagga, ahase ape nama!The kite's up, our name in the sky!
උදේ අපි හදපු එක, හවසට උඩටමUde api hadapu eka, hawasata udatamaThe one we built this morning, right up high by evening
ළමයි ලණුව අල්ලන්, දුව යටින් දුවනවාLamai lanuwa allan, duwa yatin duwanawaThe kids holding the line, my daughter running underneath
මුළු වෙරළම බලන්නේ අපේ සරුංගලේMulu weralama balanne ape sarungaleThe whole beach is watching our kite
නැග්ගා, නැග්ගා, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගාNagga, nagga, sarungale naggaIt's up, it's up, the kite's up
අහසේ අපේ නම, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා!Ahase ape nama, sarungale nagga!Our name in the sky, the kite's up!
Chant
නැග්ගා!Nagga!It's up!
අහසේ!Ahase!In the sky!
ලණුව දෙන්න!Lanuwa denna!Give it line!
උඩටම!Udatama!Right to the top!
Verse 2
සතියකට පස්සේ, ෆෝන් එකට වීඩියෝ එකක්Sathiyakata passe, phone ekata video ekakA week later, a video on my phone
පිටරට ගෙදරක බිත්තියේ, අපේ සරුංගලේPitarata gedaraka biththiye, ape sarungaleOn the wall of a house abroad, our kite
පොඩි එකා පෙන්නනවා, "Uncle's kite!" කියලාPodi eka pennanawa, "Uncle's kite!" kiyalaThe little one points: "Uncle's kite!"
අම්මා හිනාවෙලා ඇඬුවා, "අපේ නම ඒ බිත්තියේ!"Amma hinawela anduwa, "Ape nama e biththiye!"Mum laughed and cried: "our name's on that wall!"
Before the chorus
ඉර බහිනකොට හුළඟ ආවාIra bahinakota hulanga aawaAs the sun went down, the wind came
ළමයි ලණුව අතට ගත්තා, මම සරුංගලේ උස්සලාLamai lanuwa athata gaththa, mama sarungale ussalaThe kids took the line, I lifted the kite
"ලණුව දෙන්න! දුවන්න!" කියලා"Lanuwa denna! Duwanna!" kiyala"Give it line! Run!"
මම අත ඇරියා, ඒක ගියා!Mama atha ariya, eka giya!I let go, and it went!
Chorus
සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා, අහසේ අපේ නම!Sarungale nagga, ahase ape nama!The kite's up, our name in the sky!
උදේ අපි හදපු එක, හවසට උඩටමUde api hadapu eka, hawasata udatamaThe one we built this morning, right up high by evening
ළමයි ලණුව අල්ලන්, දුව යටින් දුවනවාLamai lanuwa allan, duwa yatin duwanawaThe kids holding the line, my daughter running underneath
මුළු වෙරළම බලන්නේ අපේ සරුංගලේMulu weralama balanne ape sarungaleThe whole beach is watching our kite
නැග්ගා, නැග්ගා, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගාNagga, nagga, sarungale naggaIt's up, it's up, the kite's up
අහසේ අපේ නම, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා!Ahase ape nama, sarungale nagga!Our name in the sky, the kite's up!
Bridge
"ඕක බරයි, නගින්නේ නෑ" කිව්වා අම්මා උදේ"Oka barai, naginne na" kiwwa amma ude"That's too heavy, it won't go up," Mum said in the morning
පැදුරේ වාඩි වෙලා, ඉර අව්වේ හිනාවෙලාPadure wadi wela, ira awwe hinawelaSitting on the mat, laughing in the sun
හවසට ඒ පැදුරෙන් නැගිටලා, අත්පුඩි ගහලාHawasata e paduren nagitala, athpudi gahalaBy evening she's up off that mat, clapping
"අපේ නම අහසේ!" කියලා අම්මා කෑ ගැහුවා"Ape nama ahase!" kiyala amma ka gahuwa"Our name's in the sky!" Mum shouted
Chorus
සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා, අහසේ අපේ නම! (උඩටම!)Sarungale nagga, ahase ape nama! (udatama!)The kite's up, our name in the sky!
උදේ අපි හදපු එක, හවසට උඩටමUde api hadapu eka, hawasata udatamaThe one we built this morning, right up high by evening
ළමයි ලණුව අල්ලන්, දුව යටින් දුවනවාLamai lanuwa allan, duwa yatin duwanawaThe kids holding the line, my daughter running underneath
මුළු වෙරළම බලන්නේ අපේ සරුංගලේMulu weralama balanne ape sarungaleThe whole beach is watching our kite
නැග්ගා, නැග්ගා, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා (අපේ නම!)Nagga, nagga, sarungale nagga (ape nama!)It's up, it's up, the kite's up
අහසේ අපේ නම, සරුංගලේ නැග්ගා!Ahase ape nama, sarungale nagga!Our name in the sky, the kite's up!
Outro
සරුංගලේ නැග්ගාSarungale naggaThe kite's up
අහසේ අපේ නම.Ahase ape nama.our name in the sky
From the book
- Idea 22Kite-making on the beach: build a Sri Lankan kite in the morning and fly it at sunset
- 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.