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In this episode, we listen to words of trust and positivity, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 288, penned by Kabilar. Set in the mountains of ‘Kurinji’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, refusing to accept the confidante’s words of rebuke about the man.
கறி வளர் அடுக்கத்து ஆங்கண், முறி அருந்து
குரங்கு ஒருங்கு இருக்கும் பெருங் கல் நாடன்
இனியன்; ஆகலின், இனத்தின் இயன்ற
இன்னாமையினும், இனிதோ-
இனிது எனப்படூஉம் புத்தேள் நாடே?
‘Even the suffering he causes is sweet’ declares a voice in this verse. In the opening words ‘கறி வளர் அடுக்கத்து’ meaning ‘in the ranges where pepper grows’, we glimpse at the ancient word that seems to have lent its name to all of contemporary Indian cooking in the eyes of the West – I mean ‘curry’, the English term used for spicy Indian gravies. From food we turn to wildlife in ‘குரங்கு ஒருங்கு’ meaning ‘a troop of monkeys’. A single-word celebration of a beloved person can be seen in ‘இனியன்’ or ‘a good-natured man’! The phrase ‘இனத்தின் இயன்ற இன்னாமை’ meaning ‘the hurt caused by one’s own’ uses a generic term to remark about something negative done by someone close. Ending with the words ‘இனிது எனப்படூஉம் புத்தேள் நாடே’ meaning ‘that heavenly new world that is said to be sweet’, the verse intrigues our curiosity.
Pepper growing mountains and heavenly worlds – What could be the connection? The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship when the man had parted away from the lady to gather wealth for their wedding. Seeing the lady in pining, the confidante tells the lady that the man has not been good to the lady. In response, the lady says, “In the mountains where pepper grows, monkeys gather together to feed on tender leaves. Such is the land of the lord. He is a sweet man; And so, could that so-called sweet celestial world of bliss be sweeter than the wrong done by one’s kin?” With these words, the lady rejects the confidante’s words spoken against the man and reiterates her trust in the man’s goodness.
What a deep expression of love! The lady starts by talking about the man’s land, one dotted with hills, sprouting with pepper plants and where, monkeys gang together and feed on soft leaves. After rendering his address, the lady talks about the man’s nature, declaring him to be a sweet person. And then, instead of talking further about him, she mentions about one’s kith and kin and compares the distress caused by them with the world after death, said to be so delightful, and asks whether even that could be sweeter than the distress caused by those kin!
Isn’t it odd to compare a negative thing with a positive one and say that negative thing is better than even the positive? That curious framing is done to pronounce with clarity that even the harm done by one’s kin is better than all the heavens above. Though the lady may talk generically of ‘kin’, she means none other than her ‘sweet man’. In the image of the monkeys eating leaves in the pepper growing mountains, there lies a metaphor that when relishing the joy endowed by the man, certain distress that he causes by parting away should not be minded, just as how the monkeys mind not a bite of hot pepper as they feed on those sweet leaves. A thoughtful verse that seems to ask us not to mind the bits of pepper in our partners but to see the sweetness at their core!
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