Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | TuneIn | RSS | More
In this episode, we celebrate references to the antiquity of pottery even as we listen to a lament, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 293, penned by Kayamanaar. The verse is set in the drylands landscape of ‘Paalai’ and speaks in the voice of the lady’s mother, expressing the angst in her heart, at her daughter’s parting away with the man.
மணிக் குரல் நொச்சித் தெரியல் சூடி,
பலிக் கள் ஆர் கைப் பார் முது குயவன்
இடு பலி நுவலும் அகன்தலை மன்றத்து,
விழவுத் தலைக்கொண்ட பழ விறல் மூதூர்ப்
பூங் கண் ஆயம் காண்தொறும், எம்போல்,
பெரு விதுப்புறுகமாதோ-எம் இற்
பொம்மல் ஓதியைத் தன் மொழிக் கொளீஇ,
கொண்டு உடன் போக வலித்த
வன்கண் காளையை ஈன்ற தாயே.
The poem opens with the words ‘மணிக் குரல் நொச்சி’ meaning ‘chaste tree’s flower clusters akin to sapphires’ and fits well with the image of those vivid blue flowers. However, it’s not the tree that’s the focus in the verse, but someone ‘wearing a garland of its flowers’ as can be seen in the phrase ‘தெரியல் சூடி’. When we glimpse at ‘பலிக் கள்’, we learn of the curious tradition of offering ‘toddy as a sacrifice’, no doubt to the gods. This Sangam connection to liquor and gods is echoed in many other religions and most directly, in the Shinto religion of Japan, where offering ‘sake’, is an important part of their rituals. Moving on, there is mention of a ‘potter’ in ‘குயவன்’, about whose profession, we will explore in a short while. The words ‘பழ விறல் மூதூர்’ offer an enthusiastic boost to our explorations of the ancient for it means ‘an ancient town, with an age-old fame’. Note how this ancient verse is referring to an ancient town and also highlighting that its fame extends even further into the past. The problem with our poets is that they don’t quantify. Does this ‘ancient mean’ ‘a hundred years’ or a ‘thousand years’? We know not, but only that these poets are not merely describing the times they lived in, but possibly, life from centuries ago! Then, we see three characters etched in the verse: One, ‘the lady of the house’ described as ‘எம் இற் பொம்மல் ஓதி’ or ‘one with thick and flowing tresses’; Two, ‘the man’ mentioned as ‘வன்கண் காளை’ meaning ‘the strong, bull-like man’ and finally, ‘the man’s mother’ penned as ‘ஈன்ற தாயே’. Time to get to know these characters and the story that links them!
The man and lady had been leading a love relationship when circumstances arose such that the lady’s family started receiving proposals from strangers to marry the lady. Seeing the lady’s parents favour these proposals, the man and lady decide that the only way to save their love relationship is to elope to the man’s village and marry there. After the man and lady leave the lady’s town, the lady’s parents search everywhere and learn that the lady has left her home. The lady’s mother is angst-ridden and she says, “Wearing a garland of sapphire-hued ‘gnochi’ flower clusters, the potter from that age-old livelihood, drinks the sacrificial toddy and dictates the sacrifices to be done in the festive-spirited, wide-open spaces of this old town with ancient fame. Whenever I see her flower-eyed playmates here, I suffer terribly. With his words, the hard-hearted, young bull of a man persuaded the thick-tressed girl from our home to elope away with him. Just as I do, let the mother who bore this young man suffer too!” With these words, the lady’s mother gives word to her pain at having her daughter taken away from her and curses the man’s mother to feel her own suffering too.
Now, let’s explore the nuances in this little verse! Akin to a cinematographer with a plan, the lady’s mother starts by zooming on a blue garland of chaste tree flowers swaying on someone’s chest. We learn that this someone is a potter and what catches our attention is the description of his profession. Here, it’s mentioned as ‘pottery, the world’s old profession’ and when you do a search about pottery, you will inevitably find the words ‘one of the world’s oldest occupations’! What strikes me as stunning is the awareness of this two-thousand year old poet, who mentions the same fact without the backing evidence of archaeological discoveries of pottery remains. The ancients have their ways of knowing apparently! I read that the oldest pottery remains are clay figurines, made with the process of pottery, and that they date back to 28,000 BCE, found in a pre-historic settlement in the Czech Republic, whereas actual pottery items date back to 18,000 BCE, found in a cave in China. It’s the artefacts of this profession that has been helping people understand the past and the connections between cultures that could have existed. Coming to the Sangam potter mentioned here, I learnt that the profession of pottery was much respected in this era and that potters also took on the roles of priests and performed important rituals then!
Returning to the poem, we observe the lady’s mother describe how this potter drinks the toddy offered to gods and then instructs the village about the sacrifices to be performed. Makes me muse about how it’s always human priests who get to savour the offerings to gods! Focusing back on our potter-priest, we see that he’s performing these actions in the public spaces of a festive town, which has been glorified as one of ancient fame. The mother now comes to the point and says whenever she sees the young girls of this town, who were the playmates of her daughter, her heart suffers deeply. At that moment, her thoughts turn to her girl with flowing, long tresses, and how she has been lured by the words of the strong, bull-like man and she wishes her torment on neither her girl nor the man, but on the man’s mother! In a way, this reveals her love for her daughter, the grudging respect for the man who rightfully took her away and also, the human trait of wishing the opponent suffer as one does! Here, the lady’s mother sees the man’s mother as her opponent and wishes a suffering not without cause, not more than her, but only as much as the lady’s mother herself suffers. We should acknowledge the subtle fairness in this demand! Also, a mere human wish doesn’t make it come true and even in the current day world, some psychologists recommend the same as therapy. They say, if you are holding on to negative feelings about someone, write it all down in a letter and burn it or dissolve it. And here, the mother is expressing her feelings in words scattered in the air that has thankfully managed to reach our eyes to make us understand a little more about abiding emotions and the ancient world!
Share your thoughts...