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In this episode, we perceive the lifestyle of a family living by the sea, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 269, penned by Kaladanaar. The verse is situated in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, passing on a hidden message to the man, listening nearby.
சேயாறு சென்று, துனைபரி அசாவாது,
உசாவுநர்ப் பெறினே நன்றுமன் தில்ல-
வயச் சுறா எறிந்த புண் தணிந்து, எந்தையும்
நீல் நிறப் பெருங் கடல் புக்கனன்; யாயும்
உப்பை மாறி வெண்ணெல் தரீஇய
உப்பு விளை கழனிச் சென்றனள்; அதனால்,
பனி இரு பரப்பின் சேர்ப்பற்கு,
”இனி வரின் எளியள்” என்னும் தூதே.
‘All I need is someone to take a message’ sighs a voice in this verse! The opening words ‘சேயாறு சென்று துனைபரி அசாவாது’ meaning ‘travelling a long distance quickly on foot and not feeling tired at all’ puts out the job requirements of a messenger, as hinted in the core theme. ‘வயச் சுறா எறிந்த புண்’ meaning ‘a wound caused by the pounce of a shark’ talks about the kind of things that could hurt one in the ancient world. In ‘நீல் நிறப் பெருங் கடல்’ meaning ‘the great ocean coloured in blue’, we see the Sangam Tamil usage of the contemporary word for blue, ‘Neel’, in North Indian languages such as Hindi. An instance of barter is glimpsed at in ‘உப்பை மாறி வெண்ணெல்’ meaning ‘white paddy in exchange for salt’. Interesting how a salt pan is featured as another kind of agricultural field in ‘உப்பு விளை கழனி’, translated as ‘a field where salt is grown’. Ending with the words ‘இனி வரின் எளியள் என்னும் தூதே’ meaning ‘a message that if you come, you can reach her easily’, the verse welcomes us to know more.
Striking images such as a shark pouncing on one side and salt growing on the other abound. The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and the man was trysting with the lady for a while. For a period of time, the man seemed to return disappointed unable to meet the lady. One day, after this time, the lady observes the man arriving near her house. Pretending not to notice him, but making sure he’s in earshot, the lady says to the confidante, “If only I could get someone to go a long distance, walking at a swift pace and not tiring out, that would be so good! As the wound caused by the attack of the strong shark has healed, my father has ventured into the blue-hued huge seas; Intending to exchange salt and return with white paddy, my mother too has left to the salt fields. That’s why I wish for a messenger to go to the lord of the spreading, cool seas, and say, ‘If you were to come, you can meet with her easily’.” With these words, the lady informs the listening man that he need not leave disappointed that day for the obstacles to his tryst with the lady were gone.
Time to delve into the nuances. The lady starts her words with a wish for someone to walk swiftly on a distant path, never complaining or tiring out because of the speed or distance. Then, instead of saying why she needs the services of such a person, she goes on to talk about her father and she relates how the wound inflicted on him by a leaping shark was fully healed, which made him leave to his workplace, that being the deep blue seas! From her father, she turns to mention her mother and relates how this good lady too had left for their salt fields, with the intention of exchanging salt crystals for white paddy. And then, she says, this is why she needs a messenger to go tell the man that if at all he were to come to meet the lady, he could accomplish that with ease.
The verse makes me want to say, ‘With daddy and mummy out of the way, the kiddo wants to play’! Rhymes apart, there are intricate details woven into this seemingly simple verse. First, is the way the lady wishes for some messenger and that too one, who will go a long distance and quite swiftly to the man. She knows the man is not even a few feet away from her but just so that the man shouldn’t suspect that she has already seen him, she goes on into the detailed prerequisites for the messenger.
Next, we observe how the father’s job was to go out into the seas and bring the fish home. While this is happening, the mother is not sitting idle at home, for she too had the responsibility of bringing back paddy in exchange of salt. She has to be quite the businesswoman to go to her salt field, collect the crystals and then travel inland, towards the farming towns and exchange her salt for paddy. There’s a subtle trace of the hunter-gatherer divide between the lady’s father and mother, the former, hunting for fish, and the latter, gathering paddy as barter for salt.
While the intention of the lady is to say that father and mother are gone and they will not return for a long while, we can focus on that egalitarian division of duties between the male and female head of the family. That a verse from two thousand years ago talks about a woman actively involved in business is a sign of trust in her skill and knowledge, which even today, some nations and some people find it hard to accord!
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