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In this episode, we perceive a rousing call to action, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 345, penned by Nambi Kuttuvanaar. Set in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, bidding him to seek the lady’s hand in marriage, without further delay.
கானற் கண்டல் கழன்று உகு பைங் காய்
நீல் நிற இருங் கழி உட்பட வீழ்ந்தென,
உறு கால் தூக்க, தூங்கி ஆம்பல்,
சிறு வெண் காக்கை ஆவித்தன்ன,
வெளிய விரியும் துறைவ! என்றும்,
அளிய பெரிய கேண்மை நும் போல்,
சால்பு எதிர்கொண்ட செம்மையோரும்
தேறா நெஞ்சம் கையறுபு வாட,
நீடின்று விரும்பார் ஆயின்,
வாழ்தல் மற்று எவனோ? தேய்கமா தெளிவே!
The poem instantly transports us to ‘a mangrove-fenced seashore’ in ‘கானற் கண்டல்’. Further, the feeling of being by the sea is strengthened by ‘நீல் நிற இருங் கழி’ meaning ‘the huge, blue-coloured backwaters’. Seems like a storm is brewing for there is a sense of ‘a strong wind blowing’ in ‘உறு கால் தூக்க’. Thereafter, we glimpse an alluring flower that blooms by the sea in ‘ஆம்பல்’ or ‘white lily’. Complementing the flora, appears the fauna in ‘சிறு வெண் காக்கை’ or ‘little white gull’. Learnt a new word for ‘yawning’ in ‘ஆவித்தல்’! Anxiety and worry make their presence felt in the phrase ‘தேறா நெஞ்சம் கையறுபு வாட’ meaning ‘saddened by helplessness and an inconsolable heart’. Ending with the words ‘தேய்கமா தெளிவே’ meaning ‘let your clarifications be ruined’, the verse intrigues us with its intensity.
The man and lady had been leading a love relationship and the man had been trysting with her for a while. Intermittently, the man leaves the lady on various missions and this leads to pining and suffering in her. Although the confidante has been subtly persuading the man to seek a formal union, the man has not been responsive to those requests. One day, when he promises to the confidante that he will soon marry the lady, the confidante says to him, “Dislodged by a strong wind, the fresh, green fruit of a mangrove tree in the seashore grove falls into the blue-hued, huge waters of the marsh, making the swaying water-lily open out its silver buds, akin to the yawn of a small, white gull. Such is your shore, O lord! If those, who have received the grace of a great relationship such as yours, worry with helplessness and an inconsolable heart, and if this state of lovelessness goes on for long, how can they go on living? May your explanations fade away!” With these words, the confidante conveys a strong message to the man, communicating the importance of seeking the blessings of the elders and formalising his union with the lady.
Let’s take a longer walk on this shore and unearth the buried treasures! The confidante starts by making the focus fall on a green fruit, amidst the branches of a mangrove tree. Just then, a strong wind blows and although the fruit is not yet ripe, pushed by this force of nature, it falls into the backwaters nearby. This sudden action then makes a white-lily that was bent and closed, open out its buds. The confidante brings in a picturesque simile calling the opening of these lily buds as the yawning of a white gull. I spent some delicious moments placing these two images in parallel. Amazing is the creativity of those poets to see such connections between disparate things! Further zooming into the ‘yawning’ aspect of it, we have seen how when we yawn, it spreads like a contagion and infects those around us, at least if they have empathy, add psychologists. Now, I wonder if this yawning behaviour happens only on seeing someone or whether it can happen even by hearing about it. For instance, will all this talk of yawning, make anyone yawn?
Returning to the verse, the confidante mentions this scene as if to describe the man’s shores. Before we unravel the metaphor, let us hear the confidante’s full message. After that tangible scene in the real word, the confidante turns to abstractions and asks the man how can people who have trusted in him go on living if he were to keep filling them with worry and helplessness, he, being the great person that he was! In that scene of the fruit falling into the backwaters and making the lily bloom suddenly, the confidante conceals how the slander in town, because of the man’s delaying, is making the lady’s pining come out in the open for all to see. What the confidante says in the end is rather forceful and to capture its flavour in today’s lingo, the words would be ‘let your explanations be damned’. This conveys the anger in the confidante at the man, who keeps offering explanations but is not choosing to do the necessary to seek the lady’s hand in marriage. After seeing so many hidden and subtle instances of persuasion by the confidante, this seems rather direct but in the end, she’s saying something that all of us can understand even now. And that is, ‘let not your words but your actions speak!’
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