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In this episode, we relish the science of deduction at play, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 227, penned by Othagnaaniyaar. Set in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, passing on a message to the man, listening nearby.
பூண் வனைந்தன்ன பொலஞ் சூட்டு நேமி
வாள் முகம் துமிப்ப வள் இதழ் குறைந்த
கூழை நெய்தலும் உடைத்து, இவண்-
தேரோன் போகிய கானலானே.
If we were to sum up the verse, it would be ‘the tale a flower tells’! In the opening words ‘பூண் வனைந்தன்ன பொலஞ் சூட்டு நேமி’ meaning ‘the golden chariot wheels with well-set, curving rims’, we glance at a luxury vehicle of the past. Following this, in ‘கூழை நெய்தல்’ meaning ‘shortened blue lotus’, the flower in question is revealed. Ending with the words ‘தேரோன் போகிய கானலானே’ meaning ‘the orchard where the man with the chariot traversed’, the verse welcomes us to explore more.
Chariot wheels and blue lotus seem to signify something of substance here! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and were trysting with each other. One day, the lady is disappointed the man did not arrive after she had waited for a long time. The next day, the confidante, seeing the man approach, pretends not to notice him, but making sure he’s in earshot, says to the lady, “The curving golden rims of the wheel has struck with its knife edges and chopped off some luxuriant petals, leaving a diminished blue lotus there, in the grove, from where the lord had left on his chariot!” With these words, the confidante explains to the lady the man had not disappointed her but had come thither the previous day, and likewise, informs the man that the lady had been awaiting him then.
A tiny verse with a single core! The confidante talks about a blue lotus flower, whose thick petals were chopped off and describes how it stands shortened in stature. Revealing the reason for this to be the knife-like edges of the man’s wheels, the confidante says the man had come there to the grove, which was the trysting spot of the man and lady, and had left from there, without getting to meet his lady love.
The first time I read this, this verse seemed to shout out to me, ‘Sherlock Holmes’! I was reminded of the book ‘Study in Scarlet’, which I happened to be rereading recently, and the point where ‘Sherlock Holmes’ zooms on to the fact that the killer is a cab driver and later reveals that he came to that conclusion because the width of a cab’s wheels and a gentleman’s carriage wheels were different. Elementary indeed, for him! Here, I was struck by the similarity in how the confidante uses the same science of deduction in explaining to the lady, saying, see that blue lotus, lying chopped up and the imprint of chariot wheels, and so, you know the man’s been here! In effect, she asks the lady not to be angry with the man for disappointing her so and tells the listening man that there was much love in the lady, as she waited eagerly to meet him the day previous. And, that’s how this confidante from the Sangam era rolls – peace-maker, kind friend and shrewd detective – all in one!
Wonderful