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In this episode, we take a trot through Sangam Literary work, Natrinai Poem 21, written by Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. In our explorations so far through ancient Tamil land, this is our first encounter with the lush, rain-soaked ‘Mullai’ or the forest regions. This poem is also unique in that we have a scene for the first time, involving two men, a man and his charioteer.
விரைப்பரி வருந்திய வீங்குசெலல் இளையர்
அரைச்செறி கச்சை யாப்பு அழித்து அசைஇ,
வேண்டு அமர் நடையர் மென்மெல வருக
தீண்டா வைம்முள் தீண்டி நாம்செலற்கு
ஏமதி வலவ தேரே! உதுக்காண்!
உருக்குறு நறுநெய் பால் விதிர்த்தன்ன,
அரிக்குரல் மிடற்ற அம் நுண் பல் பொறிக்
காமரு தகைய கான வாரணம்
பெயல் நீர் போகிய வியல் நெடும் புறவில்
புலரா ஈர் மணல் மலிரக் கெண்டி,
நாள் இரை கவர மாட்டித்தன்
பேடை நோக்கிய பெருந்தகு நிலையே.
The first word of the poem sets the pace for in ‘விரை’ meaning ‘to hurry’, there’s a sense of rushing on, moving fast. This far, I was thinking that ‘வாரணம்’ means an elephant but in this poem, it means a forest bird. I smiled thinking how a trumpeting elephant and a tweeting bird have met in the same word. That’s the curious journey of a language and its words, meaning many different things, at different times and in different places. In ’ஈர் மணல்’ or wet sand, there was the freshness of rain soaked mud, filling the air with the delicious smells of what is called in Tamil, ‘மண் வாசனை’ or the poetic ‘petrichor’.
Rushing on the wings of explanatory texts, the situation turns out that the man had moved away from his lady in order to complete a task. He finishes this task and when he is about to start homeward, he turns to his charioteer and says, ‘O charioteer! Let the young helpers travelling with us, who are fatigued by this long journey, relax the tightness of their waistbands and walk slowly at their own pace. But, use that unused thorn-stitched whip on the horse and hurry! Behold that scene! There, that forest fowl with many little spots on its feathers like the bubbles that form when cold milk is sprinkled on hot, melting butter, with a hoarse sound from its throat, inspects the wet earth of the rain-drenched forest bed and finding in it, a wriggling worm, its food for the day, it pecks it, holds tight in its beak and rushes to share it with its mate. Behold that noble scene, be inspired and hurry to unite me with my lady.’
One leaf we must not take from this poem is to hurry and get a speeding ticket, for unlike this man who roamed the forests of two thousand years ago, it’s a real jungle out here today and you shouldn’t be falling prey to a cop’s wrath. So, let’s slow down and see a little further. When understanding this poem, I found that there was a divided opinion among experts about whether the simile connecting the milk sprinkled on melting butter refers to the sound made by the bird or the spots on its body. I tried searching for wild fowl sounds and somehow felt that the bird sound could not be the sizzling sound that comes from cold milk on hot butter, if at all such a sound arises. Then, when I looked at the pictures of some wild fowl, the comparison made perfect sense, for bulging out of the skin of these birds, there were white droplets and I decided that it’s more a simile for sight rather than sound. This poem shows the exquisite way in which the scene blends into the substance of the poem. A bird pecking for its food and rushing to share it with its mate kindles in this man, the desire to rush homeward to his lady. Notice how he says that the whip has been unused. From this, we infer that this far, even when going towards his task, he rushed not. But, once that’s done with, he yearns to be with his loved one. The way the man discovers his cue from the scene in the natural world reminds me of that magical feeling we have when we discover something unexpectedly. Serendipity! When you are not even looking for something, you find it and then you realise that it is something that you have always wanted. Now, time for some reflection! Can you think of an unrelated sight or scene in the outer world that solved an inner problem? Keep your eyes peeled, for it may be something yet to come!
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