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In this episode, we perceive a joyous celebration, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 393, penned by Kovoor Kizhaar. Set in the mountains of ‘Kurinji’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, conveying the news of the man’s arrival to the lady’s house.
நெடுங் கழை நிவந்த நிழல் படு சிலம்பின்
கடுஞ் சூல் வயப்பிடி கன்று ஈன்று உயங்க,
பால் ஆர் பசும் புனிறு தீரிய, களி சிறந்து,
வாலா வேழம் வணர் குரல் கவர்தலின்,
கானவன் எறிந்த கடுஞ் செலல் ஞெகிழி
வேய் பயில் அடுக்கம் சுடர மின்னி,
நிலை கிளர் மீனின், தோன்றும் நாடன்
இரவின் வரூஉம் இடும்பை நாம் உய,
வரைய வந்த வாய்மைக்கு ஏற்ப,
நமர் கொடை நேர்ந்தனர்ஆயின், அவருடன்,
நேர்வர்கொல் வாழி- தோழி!- நம் காதலர்
புதுவர் ஆகிய வரவும், நின்
வதுவை நாண் ஒடுக்கமும் காணுங்காலே?
The verse opens with the words ‘நெடுங் கழை நிவந்த’ meaning ‘where tall bamboos soar’, bringing before our eyes, a mountain landscape, densely covered with wild bamboos. Complementing this reference from the plant kingdom, appears ‘கடுஞ் சூல் வயப்பிடி’ meaning ‘a young female elephant, which is pregnant’. ‘களி சிறந்து’ which means ‘brimming with joy’ conveys the ebullient nature of a character as well as the subtext of this verse. The phrase ‘வாலா வேழம்’ talks about ‘an elephant that is not white’. What an odd way of calling the elephant ‘black’! Next, we meet with a curious phrase ‘கடுஞ் செலல் ஞெகிழி’, curious because the word ‘ஞெகிழி’ means ‘plastic’ in current-day lingo, but here, it refers to ‘a firebrand that speeds’. Nothing fast about plastic, which simply sticks around undying for ages to come! In addition to ‘கழை’ we encountered earlier, we see another word for ‘bamboo’ in ‘வேய்’. I wonder if there was any nuanced difference between the bamboos referred by these two different words or whether it was a ruse to avoid repeating words! Next, we meet with ‘நிலை கிளர் மீன்’ meaning ‘a star that’s moving away from its spot’ and is believed to refer to ‘a comet’. A person is penned as one with integrity in the words ‘வரைய வந்த வாய்மை’ meaning ‘honesty in seeking marriage’. Ending with ‘வதுவை நாண் ஒடுக்கமும் காணுங்காலே’ meaning ‘in this time, when your shyness looms huge because of the upcoming wedding’, the verse extends an invitation to the happy events unfolding.
The man and lady had been leading a love relationship and the man had been trysting with the lady by night. One day, the confidante runs to the lady and says, “In the shadowed slopes, where soars tall bamboos, a young, female elephant is fatigued after giving birth to its calf and feeding it incessantly with milk. Seeking to end the female’s hunger, the black elephant, with much joy, steals curved millet stalks. Seeing this, the hunter throws a fast-moving firebrand, which akin to a falling comet, makes the bamboo-filled mountains glow. Such is the land of the lord. In order to slay our suffering caused by his arrivals at night, he promised to seek your hand in marriage. Keeping that promise, he arrives now, intending to make our kith and kin accede, my friend. May you live long! When they see him arriving like a new person and see you, filled with shyness and reserve about the wedding, won’t they be amiable to him?” With these words, the confidante conveys the news the lady has been waiting for long, which is the arrival of the man to their house, seeking her hand in marriage.
Now, for the nuances! Like a nature documentary set in the Western Ghats, the confidante fixes the first scene as the image of tall bamboos growing in the shaded slopes of a mountain. Then, she takes us closer to a female elephant that has given birth. Even when a human child, which is held in the womb for around 40 weeks and weights around 4 kgs, is born, the mother feels as if she has taken a new life, so strenuous is the task of birthing this little one. Imagine the tiredness of an elephant that holds its foetus in its womb for 95 weeks and births a 90-kg calf! The confidante captures this in a picture-perfect way and talks about the immense fatigue in this giant mother, suckling its young. When we turn to see what the mate of this elephant is up to, the confidante informs us that it’s filled with jubilation at the birth of its young one and has gone to find food for its tired mate. The elephant chooses millet crops and pilfers it from the mountain farmer’s field. This farmer, who is also a hunter, throws a firebrand at the stealing elephant, and the confidante concludes the description equating the glow of that firebrand to a falling comet in the sky. She finishes this scene as if to describe the man’s mountain country and she adds that at the moment, he comes towards their house, so as to keep his promise of marrying the lady, which arose because the lady was pained by the dangers in his nightly path. The confidante ends the verse describing how the man comes like a stranger seeking the lady’s hand and how the lady seemed to be filled with shyness at the imminent wedding and she questions whether the lady’s kith and kin will welcome the man into their fold.
The lady’s relatives have no reason to say ‘no’ to the man, the confidante reveals in a hidden manner. In that scene of the hunter’s firebrand thrown at the stealing elephant, which makes the entire mountain glow, the confidante conceals a metaphor for the series of incidents, which include how the lady was worried about the dangers in the man’s path, how the confidante spoke harsh words to move the man to marriage, and how he now arrives with gold and offerings that makes their entire village glow in the joy of the imminent wedding. A verse that seems to shine with the evergreen euphoria that rises in the marriage of two loving hearts!
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