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In this episode, we perceive a picturesque portrait of an ancient shore, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 226, penned by Madurai Ezhuthaalan Senthampoothanaar. Set in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, in response to the confidante’s worry about the lady, as the man remained parted away.
பூவொடு புரையும் கண்ணும், வேய் என
விறல் வனப்பு எய்திய தோளும் பிறை என
மதி மயக்குறூஉம் நுதலும், நன்றும்
நல்லமன்; வாழி-தோழி!-அல்கலும்
தயங்கு திரை பொருத தாழை வெண் பூக்
குருகு என மலரும் பெருந் துறை
விரிநீர்ச் சேர்ப்பனொடு நகாஅ ஊங்கே.
‘I was all that then, now, no more’ cries a voice in this verse. The opening words ‘பூவொடு புரையும் கண்ணும்’ meaning ‘eyes that seem like flowers’ bring out the blooming beauty of a person. This narrative continues in ‘பிறை என மதி மயக்குறூஉம் நுதலும்’ meaning ‘a forehead that is mistaken for a crescent moon’ places a celestial object as an element of comparison for a person’s appearance. It’s interesting to see the level of importance given to the forehead in Sangam Literature, the seat of cognition to modern psychologists, the importance of which, was somehow intuited by these ancients. The frequently mentioned flower from the coastal regions makes an appearance in ‘தாழை வெண் பூ’ referring to ‘the white flowers of the pandanus tree’, also known as the ‘fragrant screw pine flowers’. Ending with the words ‘நகாஅ ஊங்கே’ meaning ‘before I smiled’, the verse intrigues our curiosity.
A bouquet of fragrance in this one! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship when the man decided it was time to part with the lady to go in search of wealth. As days roll by, the lady languishes and the confidante worries about her. To the confidante, the lady says, “Eyes like flowers; Arms that have a victorious beauty like bamboos; Forehead that confuses the mind thinking it’s the crescent moon; All these were in excellent state then. May you live long, my friend. As the swaying waves dash against it all night, the white flowers of the ‘thazhai’ bloom, akin to seabirds, in the great shores by the lord’s seas. Before I delighted with him, all those were in excellent state indeed!” With these words, the lady talks about how her life has changed after uniting with the man.
Time to explore the nuances! The lady starts by talking about how her eyes were like radiant flowers, her arms were like sturdy bamboos and even her forehead confused one making them think it was the crescent moon. Then, she mentions the shores of the man, where the pandanus flowers that have bloomed are mistaken for perching seabirds, and concludes that all her health and beauty were fine indeed, before she met the man, delighted and smiled in his company.
In essence, the lady is saying before she started trysting with the man, her beauty was in the best of best states, and the stress is on the word ‘was’. It’s the past and in the present, as the man remains away, she has lost all that, she laments. An expression of pining that would bring her relief, no doubt. Perhaps it’s a portrait of how all signs of health and beauty fades when one is bothered by an inner issue, and no amount of surface treatment will solve that deep-rooted issue. Let’s leave aside these relationship concerns and zoom on to a characteristic plant-animal connection rendered here! It’s the depiction of blooming white pandanus flowers as seabirds. When I did a Google search of ‘Fragrant Screwpine flower’, I was stunned by how apt this comparison is. The leafy white outer covering of this flower makes you think it’s the feathers of a swan or some such seabird. And yet again, this ability to connect distinct things, to bring together plants and animals as one, seems to speak of the continuity that flows through all life!
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