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In this episode, we relish a precious simile, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 67, penned by Alloor Nanmullaiyaar. The verse is situated in the drylands of ‘Paalai’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, expressing her angst at the man’s delay in returning.
உள்ளார்கொல்லோ-தோழி!-கிள்ளை
வளை வாய்க் கொண்ட வேப்ப ஒண் பழம்
புது நாண் நுழைப்பான் நுதி மாண் வள் உகிர்ப்
பொலங் கல ஒரு காசு ஏய்க்கும்
நிலம் கரி கள்ளிஅம் காடு இறந்தோரே?
‘Won’t he?’ rings aloud this verse! This is echoed in the opening phrase ‘உள்ளார்கொல்லோ-தோழி’ meaning ‘won’t he think, O friend?’, making us wonder what the person referred should think about. From this abstract question, the verse moves in the direction of images from the real world in ‘கிள்ளை வளை வாய்’ meaning ‘the curved beak of a parrot’ and ‘வேப்ப ஒண் பழம்’ meaning ‘radiant fruit of the neem tree’. The beauty of the natural world gives way to objects of wealth in ‘பொலங் கல ஒரு காசு’ referring to ‘a coin in a gold ornament’. Ending with the words ‘கள்ளிஅம் காடு இறந்தோரே’ meaning ‘the one who parted away to the cacti-filled drylands’, the verse beckons us to listen intently.
Neem fruits and gold coins seem to conceal a deep story within! The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a happy married life when the man parted away to gather wealth. The lady suffered in his absence. One day, she turns to her confidante and says, “Won’t he think, my friend? The neem’s shining fruit in the curved beak of the parrot looks like a gold coin in an ornament, held between the fine tips of the sharp nailed fingers of a goldsmith, who intends to string it with a new thread, as this parrot sits on the cactus hedge, standing on the burnt earth in the drylands, to which he parted away!” With these words, the lady wonders out aloud about the man’s thoughts, as he continues to stay away.
What do ornaments embedded with gold coins and a parrot savouring a neem fruit have got to do with the lady’s mind? The lady starts with a simple question about the man, wondering if he won’t think. Is she referring to his thoughtless actions in general or something else? Let’s focus on the scene that she unravels for us. She talks about how a parrot holds a neem fruit in its curved beak. Then she goes on to etch that image in our minds by placing the image of the neem fruit in the parrot’s beak in parallel to a gold coin in an ornament being held between the sharp nails of a goldsmith, who looks at it closely, intending to pierce through a fine thread in that gold coin. A moment to pause and consider what that ornament could be. It clearly points in the direction of a contemporary ornament made in Tamil nadu called as the ‘Kaasu maalai’, which is a necklace made by stringing together gold coins, the very reference we find in this two thousand year old verse. That parrot with a neem fruit in its beak is now unforgettably etched in our minds. But, why has it been referred? The lady reveals the reason by pointing out how this parrot sits on a cactus hedge, savouring its shining neem fruit. And, where is this particular cactus hedge? In the drylands, to which the man has parted away, the lady concludes!
At this stage, the lady’s expression is still abstract. To reach the core of her words, we need to know that the man parted away when the neem tree was flowering but now, the tree’s little white flowers had turned to luscious fruits and still the man was not back. It’s at this time, the lady wonders if thoughts of her won’t cross the man’s mind at all. For if it had, he would have returned sooner, is it not? That reference to a gold coin ornament is no doubt, to express the man’s search for wealth and perhaps conceal a subconscious hint to the patron to bless this poet with riches. The verse thus turns the spotlight on that forever clash between being together with a beloved and parting away to gather wealth!
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