Jingu Chikan

Story

Jingu Chikan! ஜிங்கு சிக்கன் சிக்கன்ஜி — a Tamil kuthu comedy folk song where village grannies mock a tipsy show-off dandy.

Meet Muniyandi — slightly intoxicated, always bragging, forever showing off, and the butt of every village joke. Dressed to the nines in cooling glasses, gingham shirt, white veshti and polished black shoes, a folded black umbrella clamped in his armpit, he struts into the flooded paddy where the grandma chorus is transplanting rice.

The grannies drop their seedlings and break into a kuthu dance around him — round and round until the poor man is dizzy. Taunts fly: Sleeppaandi! Murukkaandi! Suppaandeee! They cackle, they circle, they walk home along the field bund. And Muniyandi? He finally slips and sits down in the paddy mud — cooling glass askew, umbrella still in his armpit.

Meaning in English

Jingu chikan chikanji, jingu chikan. Into the village came our brother-in-law, and he set his foot down. Vadala fish in the belly, the gut and the vadala at the neck. Roasted groundnuts at the shop, a black-coloured umbrella. Crisp and crunchy chikanji.

Once he has had a drink he is Sleeppaandi; the murukku he nibbles with it makes him Murukkaandi. You are a complete Suppaandi, yes indeed.

He came into the village again and this time picked up a stone and set it down. The chilli bajji is bitter, and he thinks he is a big shot. All the rascals get the slipper, Muniyandi.

Somebody or other told him to sing, they told him to sing. Enough now, get lost, or go home and get there; your grandson will be waiting for you.

Chapters

1. 0:00 The Dandy Arrives
2. 0:23 Gossip Break
3. 0:47 Strut and Preen
4. 1:08 The Ring Forms
5. 1:48 Dizzy Spiral
6. 2:23 He Dances!
7. 2:43 The Slip
8. 2:53 Outro

Music video