Natrinai 19 – Fragrance of a festival

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In this episode, we relish the scent of Sangam Literary work, Natrinai Poem 19, written by Nakkannaiyaar, a female poet from two thousand years ago. This imagery-rich poem is set in the ‘Neythal’ or the coastal regions, in the words of the lady’s confidante to the lady’s man, who seems to be departing to his village. 

இறவுப் புறத்து அன்ன பிணர் படு தடவு முதல்
சுறவுக் கோட்டன்ன முள் இலைத் தாழை,
பெருங் களிற்று மருப்பின் அன்ன அரும்பு முதிர்பு,
நல் மான் உழையின் வேறுபடத் தோன்றி,
விழவுக் களம் கமழும் உரவு நீர்ச் சேர்ப்ப!
இன மணி நெடுந் தேர் பாகன் இயக்க,
செலீஇய சேறிஆயின், இவளே
வருவை ஆகிய சில் நாள்
வாழாளாதல் நற்கு அறிந்தனை சென்மே!

My first thought on this poem was ‘zoology meets botany’. For, interspersed in the lines were ‘இறவு’, ‘சுறவு’, ‘களிறு’ ,  meaning ‘shrimp’, ‘shark’ and ‘elephant’ respectively and somehow connected to all of this was the ‘தாழை’ or the ‘screw pine’ tree, whose flower is referred to as ‘தாழம்பூ’ and made popular among Tamil movie fans by the song, ‘Kondaiyil Thaazhamboo’. The word ‘கமழும்’ promised a fragrant walk through the shore of this song. 

Tracing the whiff of sweetness to the source, I found that these words were uttered to the parting man by the lady’s confidante. She says to him, ‘O lord of the shore, on whose land, grows abundant the screw pine, with its rough trunk resembling the scaly underside of a shrimp, with sharp leaves like that of the bill of a swordfish, whose ripened flower buds look like the tusk of a bull elephant, with its bunch of leaves bushy like that of the mane of a fine horse, exuding the fragrance of a festival! As your charioteer prepares the sapphire-studded chariot, you seem to be leaving to your village. But before you go, know that your lady will not survive for days, many, without you. With this knowledge, go and do the right thing!’ The lady’s confidante is urging the man to formalise his relationship with the lady, through these words of warning.

The sense called smell has the power of evoking so many hidden memories. Even a faraway scent of something takes us to another place and time, bringing unexpected images and feelings to the fore. This poem leads with this core philosophy. In the address of the lady’s confidante to the man, in that reference to the coastal land he calls home, are the many images arising from the single scent of the ‘தாழை’ or the ‘screw pine’. This dextrous poetess carves out an exacting simile for each part of this screw pine tree. The bark reminds her of the skin of a marine creature, the spiny leaves remind her of another marine creature, the swordfish, to be exact and the way the bushy leaves of this tree fall reminds her of the luxurious mane of a fine horse. But the best one I felt was the likening of the ripened flower to the tusk of a bull elephant. Let me tell you why I found this to be a special simile. As I was browsing to know more about the screw pine flowers, I learnt that only male flowers exude fragrance and these are collected for making perfumes. It’s only then I realised that there were ‘male’ and ‘female’ flowers! On reading further, I found that this screw pine, like other ‘dioecious’ plants, produces male and female flowers on different trees. Connecting back, we see that there’s a link between the fragrant and therefore, a ‘male’ flower to the tusk of a ‘male’ elephant. So, I inferred that this was no casual reference. Such density of thought in so subtle a simile!

Travelling away from those ancient shores, we will find the same screw pine leaves in cuisines around the world today. One such is the Thai cuisine. Only the leaves are called as the ‘Pandan’ leaves. As you may know, there’s the method of wrapping a small quantity of a food item in a pandan leaf, tying a knot at the end of it and then cooking it. At the end of the process, the leaf is stripped away and the food is left with the exquisite fragrance of the leaf. Thus, on this little drop of a poem, we witness the fragrance of the tree living on, from those ancient Tamil shores to our contemporary Thai food. A delight to see the threads of life extending so far into the past and evoking the same sensory pleasure!