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In this episode, we listen to a lady’s anguish on not hearing from her man, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 266, penned by Nakirar. Set in the drylands of ‘Paalai’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, after the man had parted away without seeking her hand in marriage.
நமக்கு ஒன்று உரையார் ஆயினும், தமக்கு ஒன்று
இன்னா இரவின் இன் துணை ஆகிய
படப்பை வேங்கைக்கு மறந்தனர் கொல்லோ-
மறப்பு அரும் பணைத் தோள் மரீஇத்
துறத்தல் வல்லியோர் புள்வாய்த் தூதே?
‘Has he forgotten me?’ is the hidden question in this verse. The opening words ‘நமக்கு ஒன்று உரையார் ஆயினும்’ meaning ‘even if he doesn’t say anything to us’ starts off with an ‘even-if’ clause making us wonder about the direction of what would follow. Next, an alliteratively exquisite phrase appears in ‘இன்னா இரவின் இன் துணை’ meaning ‘the pleasant companion on a distressing night’. A tree we have often encountered in Sangam poems from the mountainous regions can be seen in ‘படப்பை வேங்கை’ meaning ‘an Indian Kino tree in the grove’, a tree intricately connected with the love-life of a Sangam couple, as we will explore shortly. In ‘மறப்பு அரும் பணைத் தோள்’, there’s mention yet again of the beauty of a Sangam woman, for this means ‘the hard-to-forget bamboo-like arms’. Ending with the words ‘புள்வாய்த் தூதே’ meaning ‘a bird messenger’, the verse invites us to listen closely.
Orchard trees and bird messengers seem to have something significant to say. The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and that the man was trysting with the lady for a while. Then, he decides it is time to part away from the lady so as to gather wealth for their wedding. As can be expected, the lady languishes in his absence. After a while, the lady turns to her confidante and says, “Even if he doesn’t care to send word to us, how could he forget his sweet companion of harrowing nights – the ‘vengai’ tree in the orchard? How could the one, who had the strength to give up embracing my unforgettable bamboo-like shoulders, forget to send a message to the tree through a bird?” With these words, in an indirect manner, the lady laments that the man was not thoughtful enough to send word to her about his journey and return.
Time to delve into the nuances. The lady starts by talking about how the man had not thought to send word to them. Let’s pause for a moment and dwell on how the lady uses the first person plural to refer to the man’s thoughtlessness. She doesn’t say, ‘the man doesn’t send word to me’ but instead she says, ‘the man doesn’t send word to us’, thereby including the confidante in the same league as her. Such a reference is not unique to this particular verse but something we have seen in verse after verse in Sangam Literature. In this, hides a subtle hint about a collectivist culture that is uncomfortable with individualistic references, and echoes of this, you will find when conversing with a Tamil person even today, in their usage of ‘நம்ம’ or ‘ours’. Moving on, the lady talks about even though the man had not sent word to her, at least he should have sent a message to his good companion of terrible nights, the ‘vengai’ tree, through a bird. To describe who she is talking about, the lady says it’s the man, who had the strength to give up being together with her unforgettable bamboo-like shoulders. Some self-praise there indeed, and the poet’s face pops up, rather than the lady’s, but it was part of the Sangam literary tradition, which considered such words as not boasting when spoken in connection with sad circumstances!
Let’s focus on the ‘vengai’ tree, described as a companion to the man on his nights of suffering. What nights would those be and how did the ‘vengai’ tree help? Turns out when the man came to tryst with the lady at night, the ‘vengai’ tree was the rendezvous. The man would lie in waiting, hiding amidst the dense branches with a throbbing heart, wondering if the lady would come or whether he would get caught. At these times, the tree protected him and also, turned out to be the safe haven for his sweet moments with the lady. And that’s why no matter that the man forgot her, he should at least not have forgotten this tree, an invaluable friend in dire times, the lady says.
In the end, it’s an expression of angst about a missing beloved and hopefully the confidante will have the right words to allay the lady’s suffering! The beauty of this verse is in how the lady sees a tree, not as a mere prop, but almost as an important person in her life. In other songs, we have seen how the season when the ‘vengai’ flowers was considered as the season of marriage. And so, we learn that this tree of the past was an inseparable part of the love and life of the ancients!
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