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In this episode, we hear the justification of a lady’s anxiety, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 77, penned by Madurai Maruthan Ilanaakanaar. The verse is situated in the drylands of ‘Paalai’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to her confidante, conveying her concerns about the man’s parting away.
அம்ம வாழி, தோழி!-யாவதும்,
தவறு எனின், தவறோ இலவே-வெஞ் சுரத்து
உலந்த வம்பலர் உவல் இடு பதுக்கை
நெடு நல் யானைக்கு இடு நிழல் ஆகும்
அரிய கானம் சென்றோர்க்கு
எளிய ஆகிய தட மென் தோளே.
Wasting away is the theme of this one! The opening words ‘அம்ம வாழி, தோழி’ meaning ‘May you live long! Listen, my friend’, packs within a request and a blessing. ‘தவறு எனின், தவறோ இலவே’ proclaims the significant words ‘even if you say it’s wrong, wrong, it is not at all’ and seems to stand up to the judgement of another. In the phrase ‘உவல் இடு பதுக்கை’ meaning ‘leaves on a stone grave’, we see the custom of covering a corpse with pebbles and dried leaves. A ‘tall elephant’ graces us in the words ‘நெடு நல் யானை’. Ending with the words ‘எளிய ஆகிய தட மென் தோளே’ meaning ‘slender they have become, those curved and soft arms’, the verse informs us that pining is afoot.
Right and wrong, stone graves and tall elephants intrigue our curiosity! The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a happy, married life when the man parted away to gather wealth. After days pass by, the lady suffers in his absence. The confidante tells the lady that the lady is wrong in worrying so, about the man. To her, the lady responds, “Listen, may you live long, my friend! If you say it’s wrong, I refuse and say that it is not at all wrong! In the hot drylands, dead wayfarers are covered with leaves and stacked in a stone grave, and this serves as the false shade for the fine, tall elephant. Thinking of my man, who went to such a ruthless forest, my soft and curved arms have wasted away!” With these words, the lady relates the dangers of the merciless drylands path, on which the man traverses.
Time to take a closer look at the images rendered in this verse. The lady declares that even though the confidante may be blaming her, she’s blameless. To explain what she means, the lady describes a scene in the sweltering heat of the drylands. Here, she points to a stack of stones and leaves and when we inspect it closely, we learn that it’s a make-shift grave for the corpses of wayfarers. Moving on to the other side, we take in an elephant standing in the shade of this stone grave, the only spot of shade as far as the eyes can see. After etching this image, the lady says such is the dry forest that the man had left to traverse, and says it as a matter of fact, that thinking about him, her curved, soft arms have become thin!
Arms becoming thin is a much welcome thing in our times! Why is the lady saying this with such sadness? Indeed, it was a time when loss of weight, especially in a woman, was considered disastrous. So, when the lady is saying her arms are thinning, it’s a vital indicator of her fading good health. In the description of the drylands before, the lady has outlined the reason for her wasting away. It’s a gruesome place where highway robbers end the lives of innocent wayfarers and stack those corpses with stones and leaves. Imagine how many corpses they must have heaped such that this stone grave provides shade to a towering elephant! Death and dryness of the place is encapsulated in that single image. And so, the lady seems to ask her friend, what person would not be worried that their beloved is traversing such a path! In a few words, the lady tells her friend that it’s natural to feel that way and the confidante shouldn’t be telling her that such behaviour was wrong. The verse exquisitely illustrates how some emotions are inevitable and these must be lived with, rather than judged upon!
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