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In this episode, we travel to the past with Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 23, written by Kanakaayanaar, set in the ‘Kurinji’ landscape or the mountainous regions. These words are said by the lady’s confidante to the lady’s man, conveying the lady’s state of mind and situation.
தொடி பழி மறைத்தலின் தோள் உய்ந்தனவே;
வடிக் கொள் கூழை ஆயமோடு ஆடலின்
இடிப்பு மெய்யது ஒன்று உடைத்தே; கடிக் கொள
அன்னை காக்கும் தொல் நலம் சிதையக்,
காண்தொறும் கலுழ்தல் அன்றியும், ஈண்டு நீர்
முத்துப்படு பரப்பின் கொற்கை முன் துறைச்
சிறு பாசடைய செப்பு ஊர் நெய்தல்
தெண் நீர் மலரின் தொலைந்த
கண்ணே காமம் கரப்பு அரியவ்வே.
Even at first glance, you could say that someone is going through a lot of anguish in this verse. For we see phrases like ‘தொல் நலம் சிதைய’ meaning ‘beauty deteriorates’ and also, ‘காண்தொறும் கலுழ்தல்’ meaning ‘never-ending tears.’ Even as we make plans to travel into the mind of this anguished person, something about the land is referenced. For, in the phrase, ’முத்துப்படு பரப்பின் கொற்கை’ we are invited to the ancient port of Korkai with its seabed of pearls. Right away, we know this is going to be both an inward and outward journey, an exploration of both the mind and the land. But then, isn’t that true of every other travel?
Our expert tour guides point out that the lady’s confidante senses that the man is not keen on formalising his relationship with the lady. So, she urges him to do so, indirectly, by explaining the pain in the lady’s mind. To the man, she says,“My friend tightens her armlets, so that her thinning arms escape the eyes of others. She, with her neatly combed hair, plays unceasingly with her playmates so that the fatigue she feels within may be attributed to the excessiveness of play. She is under restrictive care and sensing her helpless situation, she cries all the time, spoiling her exquisite beauty that mother protected all her life. Her eyes look like the flowers of the ‘Neythal’ plant, with its tiny leaves, blooming on the Korkai seaport, surrounded by water, with its rich seabed of pearls. These lovely eyes are ruined for they know not, how to hide her love for you.”
Let’s hold our empathy for the lady and step away to visit the land for a while. Just like the effect of a long walk, we may come back with a richer understanding. Korkai – this is a port that we will encounter again and again, in our Sangam travels. If I were to take you to the place where Korkai once stood, you would think the stories of its magnificence are all just that…mere stories! It’s currently a tiny village hiding in the Thoothukudi district of Tamilnadu. Even the sea is nowhere in sight! To see the sea, you will have to travel 6 km to the Bay of Bengal. However, in ancient times, this was the place where the Thamirabarani river converged with the sea. Indeed, it’s the rich sediments brought by this river that led to the formation of exquisite pearls by the sea bed of this port city, which used to be the capital of the Early Pandya kings. It had a thriving trade in pearls, that extended to the Roman world and even took the fancy of the famous queen Cleopatra. If you thought having a connection to Cleopatra makes Korkai ancient, that’s just scraping the surface, for carbon dating of the artefacts found in this region takes it back to 785 BCE. Like the lady in our poem, nature has tried to hide the true state of Korkai and yet people, who walk now through the same place, find shells saying hello to their feet, although so far from the seashore. It’s believed the land beneath the current Korkai village holds many interesting archaeological secrets. I dream of a day in the future when those who come after us, will walk on this same land and with their innovative methods, find the true path to our ancient past.
After that rousing walk to the past and future, let’s try to understand the inner world of this verse. I’m reminded of the Tamil proverb ‘அகத்தின் அழகு முகத்தில் தெரியும்’ as captured by its idiomatic equivalent, ‘eyes are the window to the soul.’ No matter how well the lady tries to hide the physical expressions of her mental state, her eyes betray the truth. A mistake we often think we can get away with. We paint our faces with make-up to hide the pallor and swaddle ourselves with rich clothes to hide our mental fatigue. When we want to hide something, we come at it, from the outside, but no matter what we do, there’s something which declares our state of mind as it is. So, how do we change how we appear to the world? For sure, there’s no easy way like our quick-fixes on the outside. Perhaps the verse whispers the way… that change is possible only within, for your eyes are always telling the world your true story!
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