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In this episode, we perceive the angst of a torn heart, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 112, penned by Aalathoor Kilaar. The verse is situated in the hills of ‘Kurinji’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, conveying her feelings as the man continues to delay seeking her hand in marriage.
கௌவை அஞ்சின், காமம் எய்க்கும்;
எள் அற விடினே, உள்ளது நாணே;
பெருங் களிறு வாங்க முரிந்து நிலம் படாஅ
நாருடை ஒசியல் அற்றே-
கண்டிசின், தோழி!-அவர் உண்ட என் நலனே.
‘Broken but hanging’ is the striking image in this one! The opening words ‘கௌவை அஞ்சின்’ meaning ‘if slander were to be feared’, answers the question ‘what happens to be the trouble just then?’ It’s a preoccupation about the rumours spreading in town! From people’s behaviour, the focus shifts to an animal in ‘பெருங் களிறு’ referring to ‘a huge male elephant’. Thereafter, the essential image of this verse appears in ‘நிலம் படாஅ நாருடை ஒசியல்’ meaning ‘a broken branch that hasn’t fallen to the ground’. Ending with the words ‘அவர் உண்ட என் நலனே’ meaning ‘my health that he savoured’, the verse invites us to listen to the tale within.
Curious isn’t this expression about health being savoured by another? The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a love relationship and that the man had been trysting with the lady for a long while. Observing that the man was not taking any steps towards formalising their union, one day, the lady says to her confidante, “If I were to fear slander, passion would fade; If I were to let go of it completely, all that remains would be my decorum; Behold, my friend, akin to a branch, bent by the tug of a huge elephant, a branch not lying on the ground but hanging by a thread, is my beauty that he partook.” With these words, the lady expresses the tormented state she finds herself between the man’s inaction and the town’s slander.
Time to delve into the nuances! The lady first talks about the slander in town and mentions that if she were to pay heed to that, her relationship with the man would suffer. Further, if she were to take the extreme step of letting go of that relationship, all that would remain would be her sense of propriety. By which, she means there would be no life and no love left in her! Then, she asks her friend to behold the way a branch that has been tugged by an elephant would bend, not yet falling to the ground, but hanging from the tree, would be, and says that’s the exact state of her virtue that the man partook!
In that image of the hanging branch, the lady conceals the hope that all is not lost and just as with proper care, leaves can bloom in that branch, if the man were to be nudged in the direction of seeking her hand, then there was possibility of her health, beauty and her relationship with the man thriving once again. Hoping that her words would move her wise friend into action, the lady reveals these dilemmas in her heart. Historically, in ancient societies, rumours and gossip was used to control close-knit communities into following the right conduct. Here too, we see how the concept of slander and its effect on the victim is being used to nudge the protagonists into taking the right action for their lives. In the end, beyond these complicated abstractions of the human mind, one thing that would remain evergreen here is that image of a broken branch, still holding on, inviting a whisper of a wish for it to bloom and bear life again!
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