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In this episode, we listen to a lady’s anguish, as she admonishes a raincloud, as illustrated in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 238, penned by Kantharathanaar. Set in the forest country of ‘Mullai’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the raincloud, scolding it for arriving there without the company of the man, who has parted away from her.
வறம் கொல வீந்த கானத்து, குறும் பூங்
கோதை மகளிர் குழூஉ நிரை கடுப்ப,
வண்டு வாய் திறப்ப விண்ட பிடவம்,
மாலை அந்தி, மால் அதர் நண்ணிய
பருவம் செய்த கருவி மா மழை!
”அவர் நிலை அறியுமோ, ஈங்கு” என வருதல்
சான்றோர்ப் புரைவதோ அன்றே; மான்று உடன்
உர உரும் உரறும் நீரின், பரந்த
பாம்பு பை மழுங்கல் அன்றியும், மாண்ட
கனியா நெஞ்சத்தானும்,
இனிய அல்ல, நின் இடி நவில் குரலே.
Although it’s a song involving a raincloud, the poem opens with the words ‘வறம் கொல’ meaning ‘attacked by the heat of summer’. Note how ‘summer’ has been denoted by the word ‘வறம்’, which is the root of the word ‘வறட்சி’, the Tamil word for ‘drought’, conjuring up images of the parched earth, thirsty for the rains! The phrase ‘வண்டு வாய் திறப்ப விண்ட பிடவம்’ meaning ‘the wild jasmine flowers opened by the mouths of bees’ reveals how the ancients have portrayed the flowers as having no volition of their own and depicted the bees as the actors and the flowers as the reactors in the natural event of blooming. The hero of this verse makes an appearance in ‘கருவி மா மழை’ meaning ‘the huge raincloud with its companions’. ‘சான்றோர்ப் புரைவதோ’ talks about ‘what the wise do’. The lady’s angst can be sensed with her address to the man as ‘கனியா நெஞ்சத்தானும்’ meaning ‘the one with the unrelenting heart’. Ending with ‘நின் இடி நவில் குரலே’ meaning ‘your thunder-filled voice’, the poem invites us to listen to the voice of the raincloud!
The man and lady have been in a married relationship and the man leaves her on a journey to gather wealth. Before he leaves, he promises he will be back before the rainy season. The lady starts her patient wait. One day, when she sees a raincloud in the sky, she turns to it and says, “In the dried-up forest, suffering under the attack of the hot summer, women wearing tiny flowers assemble in a line. Akin to that, kindled open by the buzzing bees’ mouth, the ‘pidavam’ flowers bloom in the disconcerting twilight of the evening. At this time, you, the changer of seasons, arrive here, with your companions, O great raincloud! It seems as if you come here saying, ‘Do you know his state there?’ This is not something the wise would do! As you roar aloud with the powerful thunder and pour down with rain, snakes spreading around, may be ruined. But, there is no change in that unbending heart of the lover, who has parted away. So, your thunderous voice brings no sweetness to me!” With these words, the lady tries to persuade the raincloud to melt the heart of her man and bring him back, and thereby, expresses her sadness at the delay in the man’s return.
Now, for the hidden details! The lady first brings forth an image of dryness and thirst, by talking about the forest in the summer. A time when leaves and flowers lose all moisture and fall to the ground. Then, marking a change in season, she points to the blooming ‘pidavam’ flowers that are breaking buds in a straight line. To describe how these wild jasmine flowers bloom, she brings in the simile of how women from the forest country, who wear tiny flowers on their heads, assemble together. Perhaps, it’s a dance they assemble for! But, in this simile, the lady’s yearning for wearing flowers can be seen. You will remember from other poems that custom forbid the lady from wearing flowers and decorating herself when her man was away. This is a hidden register of that yearning to be with her man. The lady then talks about how these events are happening in the evening time, a time of confusion! At this time, know who comes there, uninvited? It’s the raincloud! To the lady’s heart, the cloud seems to say, ‘Do you know how’s he faring?’ as if it has seen the man in yonder land and then, travelled here. So, the lady gives the cloud a piece of her mind, saying that this is not what the wise do!
The reason for this admonishment is because the lady is angered that the cloud has arrived here, without reminding the man of his promise to return before the rains. She showers her anger on the cloud saying that all it seems to do is to scatter snakes and ruin them, but nothing that brings solace to her heart. Therefore, she declares that the voice of this cloud is not something that’s sweet to her ears. This innocent way of treating an object in nature as a person, as a friend even, and sulking with it, for not doing what one’s heart yearns for, is surely a positive way of expressing disappointment and despair!
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