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In this episode, we relish references to a delicious fruit, native to South India, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 18, penned by Kabilar. Set in the mountain country of ‘Kurinji’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, persuading him to seek the lady’s hand in marriage.
வேரல் வேலி வேர் கோட் பலவின்
சாரல் நாட! செவ்வியை ஆகுமதி!
யார் அஃது அறிந்திசினோரே?-சாரல்
சிறு கோட்டுப் பெரும் பழம் தூங்கியாங்கு, இவள்
உயிர் தவச் சிறிது; காமமோ பெரிதே!
Seizing our senses, a jackfruit dominates this verse! The first words however talk about another plant, in the words ‘வேரல் வேலி’ referring to ‘a solid bamboo that surrounds like a fence’. This is followed by the lead of the verse in ‘வேர் கோட் பலவு’ meaning ‘jackfruit growing at the roots’. Is it common for jackfruit to grow at the roots of the tree? Let’s investigate in a short while. The phrase ‘செவ்வியை ஆகுமதி’ meaning ‘act with integrity’ sounds like a rousing call to action. Words that would sound familiar to Tamil movie buffs appears in ‘சிறு கோட்டுப் பெரும் பழம் தூங்கியாங்கு’ meaning ‘akin to a large fruit on a small branch’ for the same words appear in the ‘Idhayam’ song in the movie ‘Kochadaiyaan’. Ending with the significant phrase ‘காமமோ பெரிதே’ meaning ‘love is vast’, the verse pulls us within to perceive the story entire.
Sounds like a study in contrast! Turning to the context, we learn that the man and lady had been leading a love relationship and the man had been trysting with the lady by night. One night, when the man was about to leave after his tryst, the confidante says to him, “O man from the mountain slopes, filled with jackfruit blooming at the roots and fenced by stems of the solid bamboo, act with honour! Who could predict the end to that? For, akin to a huge fruit hanging from a tiny branch, her life is exceptionally fragile but her love is exceedingly vast!” With these words, the confidante is conveying the precariousness of the lady’s situation to the man and urging him to seek the path to permanent happiness.
Time to walk into this dense jungle of words and savour the deeper layers! The confidante starts with an address to the man calling him ‘a man from the slopes, where jackfruit grows at the roots and bamboos surround all around’. First, let’s look at the bamboos mentioned, these are a special variety of bamboos called as the ‘solid bamboo’ or ‘Calcutta bamboo’ and is said to naturally grow in the form of a ‘thicket’, which is a dense grouping of trees. It’s this natural behaviour that has been rendered economically in the first two words of this verse. This thicket-like nature of the solid bamboo ends up providing a fence. Fence to what? On exploration, we see that these bamboos are a natural cover to the jackfruit trees in the man’s country. But, not any old jackfruit trees, but ones in which the fruit grows at the roots. This curious fact made me to wonder if this was common in these trees. On searching, I first found one Youtube video from 2016, where a Malayalam newscaster is excitedly talking about the fruit growing at the roots of a tree at someone’s farm. The excitement made me conclude that this is no regular feature. And then, on further probing, understood that this phenomenon of jackfruits growing at the roots occurs only in very old trees. So, we can conclude that the man’s land is dotted with ancient jackfruit trees, perhaps nearing their maximum age of 100 and yielding that sweet fruit, not just from the branches but from the trunk and roots as well.
After that address to the man, the confidante comes straight to the point and asks him to do the thoughtful thing with integrity. Immediately afterwards, the confidante adds a rhetorical question hinting that no one can know what could be the end of that. And, soon we learn that ‘that’ in this question refers to the lady’s situation. Capturing that state in a picture-perfect simile, the confidante talks about a huge jackfruit hanging from a slender branch and equates that to how the love in the lady has bloomed heavily whereas the life holding that seemed so delicate. Indeed, the confidante is telling the man that no one can know what will happen if this situation were to prolong and that he must act promptly to render the fence of marriage for the lady’s love, akin to the bamboo thicket around the jackfruit trees in his country. With picturesque images from a lush land, the verse captures an effective technique of persuasion to purposeful action. The verse seems to persuade us too, to reflect on those significant things in our lives, hanging on a delicate hold, and to find the wisdom to do the right thing!
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