Natrinai 137 – The shade of a broken tree

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தண்ணிய கமழும் தாழ் இருங் கூந்தல்,
தட மென் பணைத் தோள், மட நல்லோள்வயின்
பிரியச் சூழ்ந்தனை ஆயின், அரியது ஒன்று
எய்தினை, வாழிய-நெஞ்சே!-செவ் வரை
அருவி ஆன்ற நீர் இல் நீள் இடை,
கயந் தலை மடப் பிடி உயங்கு பசி களைஇயர்,
பெருங் களிறு தொலைத்த முடத் தாள் ஓமை
அருஞ் சுரம் செல்வோர்க்கு அல்குநிழல் ஆகும்
குன்ற வைப்பின் கானம்
சென்று, சேண் அகறல் வல்லிய நீயே!

The verse opens with a flood of adjectives for the lady’s tresses or ‘கூந்தல்’ and her ‘தோள்’ or ‘arms’. The lady herself is referred to as ‘மட நல்லோள்’ meaning ‘naive and good maiden’. The innocence of a lady seems to be a favoured quality in those Sangam times, while ‘மட’ is not a welcome adjective today, for it refers to ‘foolishness’ rather than ‘innocence’. ‘நீர் இல் நீள் இடை’ brings before our eyes, ‘a long and stretching path without a drop of water’ as is the case of many a riverbed today. Both a ‘powerful male elephant’ and its ‘innocent, female partner’ make their appearance in ‘பெருங் களிறு’ and ‘மடப் பிடி’. The word ‘ஓமை’ curiously refers to a tree, commonly known as ‘elephant apple tree’, which we shall explore at length shortly. For now, let’s head to understand the meaning of these words uttered by the man to his heart.

The man and lady have been in a married relationship for a while and the circumstances arise wherein the man finds himself propelled by his heart to leave the lady in search of wealth. The man responds to the urges in his heart, by saying,“If you intend to make me leave the cool, fragrant, flowing, dark tresses and those wide, gentle, thick arms of the good and innocent, young girl, you must have seen something rare in that desert path! Those waterless, long paths near the dry waterfalls, wherein seeking to remove the terrifying hunger in the soft-headed, innocent female, the strong male elephant breaks the ‘omai’ tree. And, that broken tree serves as the only shade for those traversing those impossible desert paths. O heart, may you live long! Only you seem to have the ability to part away and travel to those faraway forests in the mountain ranges.” With these words, the man seems to bid bye to his heart in its mission to seek wealth, saying he lacks the strength to part with the lady. 

Now, for the hidden facets in these lines! Contrary to popular advice in many books on writing, which stress that one should use adjectives sparingly, if at all, here each noun seems to stand together with not one or two, but four or five adjectives. This is a unique style of writing, which in this case, seems to be an effective tool to bring to the fore, the wealth in the lady’s attributes. Her hair is not just dark, it’s full of moisture, with fragrance and flowing too. Her arms are not just gentle, they are wide and thick, like a bamboo. The lady herself is a good and innocent lass. The man seems to be showing what a luxurious life he now leads with the lady, by stressing on the wealth of happiness she gives him. In contrast, he talks about the path through the drylands where he would be walking if he were to part with the lady. Somehow, wealth in those days, doesn’t seem to occur in the lush mountains (no tourism there) or in the coastal regions (no beach front property) not even in the agricultural farmlands, but it always seems to pass through a dry, scrub jungle with no shade or rest. Perhaps this could be a way to characterise the seeking of wealth as a dry and joyless activity, no matter how the space around looks or what time period the characters live in, as can be vouched, even in the cool and moist air-conditioned offices of today! 

Returning to the poem, the man mentions that the drylands path, which is long and winding, is close to a dried up or trickling waterfalls. In all probability, the man is talking about a dried-up riverbed and its banks. On this path, two elephants stride by; a male and a young female. The female is suffering due to thirst and hunger and, the male is raging within to quell its distress. Seeing an ‘omai’ tree, the elephant pulls it down so that its mate can feed on the fruits and leaves of this tree. Then, the elephant walks on its way, but the bent branches of this tree are the only piece of shade to the wandering traveller, the man says. He mentions the broken ‘omai’ tree, as a metaphor for the lady’s suffering if he were to part from her, in search of wealth. He differentiates himself from his own heart that yearns to part away and says that he lacks the will to leave the lady to suffer. 

As promised, delving into the current-day knowledge of the ‘omai’ tree, I was stunned to learn that the common name of this tree is ‘elephant apple’, for the fruit of this tree is said to be a favoured dish of these gentle giants. Scientific studies indicate that earlier the fruit was accessible only to megaherbivores like the elephants, sharing a mutually beneficial relationship, wherein the feeding elephants would disperse the seeds across the paths they traverse. But, owing to the reducing number of those feeding species, these plants have now adapted their fruits to be eaten even by smaller herbivores like deer and monkeys. There is also conflict with humans who use the unripe fruit to make pickles and this large-scale, commercial activity leads to disruption of that delicate ecosystem. And, surprise upon surprise, the trees are said to grow mostly on river banks in tropical regions. Hearing all those facts unearthed by modern-day science, our poet seems to nodding his head in agreement, as he talks about his ‘omai’ tree, as the elephant’s food on that dry, riverbed. A warm handshake between poetry and science, reaching out and bridging the gap between the millennia!