Natrinai 74 – Belligerent boats and broadcasting birds

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வடிக் கதிர் திரித்த வல் ஞாண்பெரு வலை
இடிக் குரற் புணரிப் பௌவத்து இடுமார்,
நிறையப் பெய்த அம்பி, காழோர்
சிறை அருங் களிற்றின், பரதவர் ஒய்யும்
சிறு வீ ஞாழற் பெருங் கடற் சேர்ப்பனை,
‘ஏதிலாளனும்’ என்ப; போது அவிழ்
புது மணற் கானல் புன்னை நுண் தாது,
கொண்டல் அசை வளி தூக்குதொறும், குருகின்
வெண் புறம் மொசிய வார்க்கும், தெண் கடல்
கண்டல் வேலிய ஊர், ‘அவன்
பெண்டு’ என அறிந்தன்று; பெயர்த்தலோ அரிதே!

The poem seems an ode to ‘ethugai’ or second-letter rhymes, which are sprinkled generously on the lines of the verse. The rhythm opens with ‘வடி – இடி’ and then proceeds with ‘நிறை – சிறை’, ‘போது – புது’ and finishes with a flourish in the five-petaled poetic flower of ‘கொண்டல் – வெண் புறம் –  தெண் கடல் – கண்டல் – பெண்டு’. Not just rhythm, the poem holds a casket of precious words within too. First is ‘கதிர்’ which means a ‘spindle’ and we’ll delve in depth into this shortly. Next, we meet the word ‘ஞாண்’, meaning a ‘thread’. This word is significant because it’s the root-word of the ‘அரை ஞாண் கயிறு’ referring to that thread or inner belt, tied around the waist of babies in villages and sometimes used by men even till adulthood’. It’s this word, that has morphed into the colloquial ‘அர்ணாக்கயிறு’! We also meet a word for the ‘sea’ in ‘பௌவம்’ and a word for a boat in ‘அம்பி’! The east wind caresses our face as we gaze at ‘கொண்டல்’, that flows through the mangroves of ‘கண்டல்’ trees.

Braced by the breeze, let’s move into the breadth of the verse. The man and woman are living a life of wedded union and during this time, the man takes to visiting courtesans, increasing the ire of his wife. Knowing that she’s angry with him, he sends the singer as his messenger to help him reconcile with his wife. To the singer, the lady replies, “The fisherfolk fill their boats with huge nets made of strong threads, woven using sharp spindles, to throw them into the waves of the ocean, which roar with the voice of thunder. They steer their boats with force like the way mahouts steer uncontrollable elephants. The lord of the shore comes from the village of these fisherfolk, filled with the little-flowered ’gnazhal’ trees and is said to have become a ’stranger’ to me. My flower-filled village, by the clear waters of the sea is fenced by the ’kandal’ trees. A hamlet, where the pollen of the ‘punnai’ tree, standing on the new sands of the shore, are scattered by the ‘kondal’ wind and they spread on the white backs of egrets, flying by. This village knows well that she’s his woman. To change this view, is impossible indeed!” With these words, the lady refuses to grant entry to the messenger and indirectly, to the man, refusing his attempts at calming her anger. 

Let’s plumb the depth of this poem and excavate those hidden facets. Back in Natrinai 4, we wondered together about the materials used in the fishing nets from the Sangam era, so that we can save the seas from the plastic pollution of today’s nets. 70 poems onward, we get the answer we were seeking then. The threads of these nets seem to be woven with sharp spindles called as ‘kathir’ in this poem, which is the root for the ‘khadhar’ or ‘khadi’ material, used by Mahatma Gandhi, to bring his peaceful struggle for Indian Independence to even the clothes one wore. Even two thousand years back, the Tamil fisherfolk seem to have used such non-violent nets to fish the seas. The threads woven out of such sharp spindles are said to be strong and robust, described with the adjective ‘வல்’, meaning powerful. Imagine how strong the threads should be, if they are meant to brave the waves of the ocean, that resound like thunder. The lady describes the boats as being filled with these nets and are steered into the seas, as they rock and sway, much like the unmanageable elephants, driven by the mahouts. Now, why is the lady going on about nets, boats and elephants, just to describe the land of her lord? Turns out, she wraps a neat metaphor within this dense description. She hints that she is aware that the man has sent the messenger with the net of fine words to elevate him before the lady, who according to him, seems to be giving the difficulty of those intractable elephants and rocking the boat of their marriage. By saying this, she declares that she knows fully well what the man is upto.

Then comes another detailed description of the fragrant village, fenced by the mangroves, where the east wind disperses the pollen from the flowers of the ‘punnai’ or ‘laurelwood’ tree and this falls on the white backs on egrets, flying by. With this description, she points out to the messenger that the news of the man’s relationship with that courtesan has spread in the wind on the wings of rumours and gossip in the village and that one cannot wish it away.

Thus, with these exquisite descriptions of the land that bring that world before our eyes, we are also able to perceive the inner life of those men and women. An insightful poetic device to showcase the way one projects one’s thoughts and desires onto the world around, which is a behaviour that lives on, centuries onward!