Selvy Thriuchandran’s book is essentially a description and analysis of two types of verses from the oral tradition that used to be commonly sung by women in Sri Lankan Tamil society over time even though the popularity of these have diminished in more recent times. The types of verses Thiruchandran has focused on are tallattu and oppari, which are described by her as lullabies and lament songs respectively. In Sri Lanka, these types of songs are found generally in three locations: in the north among northern Tamils, in the east among Muslims who also speak Tamil, and in the hill country among Tamils of Indian origin. The common strand that runs through these verses is the language, despite its regional variations and in some clear cases the differences in experiences depicted in the lyrics as well. Thiruchandran suggests that women’s verses in the oral tradition such as tallattu and oppari should be viewed from the perspective of four broad areas: 1) women’s role as performers, 2) how women use these verses, 3) women’s specific creativities being conditioned and constrained by their social environment, and 4) women’s verbal arts being part of the subjective consciousness of the self (2001: 3).
According to Thiruchandran’s analysis, tallattu as lullabies fulfils a number of functions. These include the immediate purpose of putting a baby to sleep while they are also sung when a baby is being breast-fed allowing the baby to concentrate on her feeding (2001: 8).