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In this episode, we realise the impact of weather on inner life, portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 89, written by Ilampulloor Kaavithi. The poem is set in the ‘Mullai’ region or the ‘forest lands’ and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, passing on a subtle message regarding the man’s arrival.
கொண்டல் ஆற்றி விண்தலைச்செறீஇயர்,
திரைப் பிதிர் கடுப்ப முகடு உகந்து ஏறி,
நிரைத்து நிறை கொண்ட கமஞ் சூல் மா மழை
அழி துளி கழிப்பிய வழி பெயற் கடை நாள்,
இரும் பனிப் பருவத்த மயிர்க் காய் உழுந்தின்
அகல் இலை அகல வீசி, அகலாது
அல்கலும் அலைக்கும் நல்கா வாடை,
பரும யானை அயா உயிர்த்தாஅங்கு,
இன்னும் வருமே-தோழி!-வாரா
வன்கணாளரோடு இயைந்த
புன்கண் மாலையும் புலம்பும் முந்துறுத்தே!
Like exquisite paintings that sketch the wind, this poem too makes us see and sense the winds, be it the ‘கொண்டல்’, the easterly winds or the ‘வாடை’, the northerly winds. ‘திரைப் பிதிர்’ meaning, ‘fine spray of mist from the waves’, splashes on one’s face. ‘மா மழை’ which sounds like ‘heavy rain’ actually refers to a ‘dark cloud’ here. The poet does not differentiate between ‘cloud’ and ‘rain’ because one is the object and the other, the action and as we have seen in many poems, the noun forms present are simply attired versions of the verbs! Talking of attire, the poem clothes itself in a rich ‘ethugai’ or second-letter rhyme scheme, for we have ‘கொண்டல் – விண்தலை’, ‘திரை – நிரை’, ’அழி – கழி – வழி’, ‘இரும்பனி – பருவத்த’, ‘அல்கலும் – நல்கா’ and ‘வன்கணாளர் – புன்கண்’! As if the gems of second-letter rhymes scattered through the poem weren’t sufficient, right in the centre is the alliterative adornment of the phrase ‘அகல் இலை அகல வீசி, அகலாது அல்கலும் அலைக்கும்’ and the verses finishes off with the end-letter rhyme of ‘மாலையும் புலம்பும்’!
Moving from melody to meaning, we find that the man has left the lady in search of wealth. One day, the confidante hears the news that the man is returning after completing his mission. She runs to the lady and says, “Those dark, water-filled clouds traverse in the path paved by the easterly winds and crowd together up in the skies. Appearing like fine mist from the waves, they climb up to the peaks and lie about in layers. Then, they fall as heavy drops, down below. Those days of the rainy season are long past. In the succeeding, dark, cold season, blows a northerly wind that inflicts injury on the broad leaves of the ‘ulundhu’ plant with hairy sprouts. This wind blows ceaselessly without compassion every day. It has been pushing forward this far, many a painful, sorrowful evening, which is one and the same like the harsh heart of your man who stays away! Will the northerly wind still arrive appearing like the sigh of a saddled elephant? Even if it does, it cannot hurt you!” With these words, the confidante conveys the message of the man’s return to the lady in an indirect manner to gently prepare her for his arrival and move her towards experiencing that joy of reuniting!
Exploring the many facets, we see this is a masterclass of an expert meteorologist! I never fail to be amazed by the many roles that Sangam poets seem to take on. One day, they are botanists, another day, historians and then again, an entomologist! Here, it’s the weather. If you thought talking about the weather was boring, this poem changes your perception and makes it an art form. First is the description of the rainy season, brimming with easterly winds. This seems parallel to the northeast monsoon that affects Tamil nadu in the months of October to December. The confidante situates this rainy season as the past and then speaks about their current season, which is the ‘mun pani’ or the winter season. A season where cold, northerly winds blow and bring immense pain to the separated lovers. A curious reference is to the ‘உழுந்து’ or the ‘blackgram’ plant that seems to be blooming in this cold, winter season. Searching, I find there are ‘winter-irrigated’ varieties that grow in the months of Markaazhi and Thai, concurrent with the December-January period of the ‘mun pani’ season. A typical description for this plant in modern times contains the word ‘hairy’ as does this poem with the words ‘மயிர்க் காய்’ meaning ‘hairy sprouts’. The reason this plant is depicted could be a metaphor for the lady with beautiful tresses, because like the broad leaves of that black gram plant, the lady’s heart has been ruined by the cold, northerly winds too. Finally, bringing in an exquisite simile for this wind, the confidante talks about it as a much-burdened elephant’s sigh!
Holding the hands of a few lines of verse, we walk back in time and sense the breeze and rain that falls on the land. The same, sorrowful breeze blows but the confidante says, with the man’s arrival, it cannot hurt the lady anymore. So we learn that it’s not the winds that swirl outside that cause suffering but the winds of thoughts in the pining lady’s mind. We are moving to an age where possibly, the weather outside can be changed in a moment’s notice. But, what about the weather in our minds? Unless we accord this deep attention rendered to the matters of the heart, as in Sangam times, the weather within is bound to be something of an unmanageable mystery!
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