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In this episode, we perceive a lady’s worry about the future, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 293, penned by Kallil Aathiraiyanaar. Set in the farmlands of ‘Marutham’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, refusing the man’s request for reconciliation.
கள்ளின் கேளிர் ஆத்திரை உள்ளூர்ப்
பாளை தந்த பஞ்சிஅம் குறுங் காய்
ஓங்கு இரும் பெண்ணை நுங்கொடு பெயரும்
ஆதி அருமன் மூதூர் அன்ன,
அய வெள்ளாம்பல் அம் பகை நெறித் தழை
தித்திக் குறங்கின் ஊழ் மாறு அலைப்ப,
வருமே சேயிழை, அந்தில்
கொழுநற் காணிய; அளியேன் யானே!
‘He comes now, but he’s sure to leave’ foresees a voice in this verse. In the opening words that have rendered the song’s poet his name, ‘கள்ளின் கேளிர் ஆத்திரை’ meaning ‘those who travel together in search of toddy’, we see the ancient version of some modern day parties. The drinks may change but the search seems to remain in many a mind! Returning, we next find mention of a fruit in ‘இரும் பெண்ணை நுங்கொடு’ meaning ‘with a palmyra fruit from the black palm tree’. This is followed by the presence of a historical character in ‘ஆதி அருமன்’. The phrase ‘வருமே சேயிழை’ meaning ‘she will come, that bejewelled maiden’ talks about how a woman was personified as the jewels she adorned herself with. Ending with the words ‘அளியேன் யானே’ meaning ‘I’m to be pitied’, the verse evokes our empathy.
What could toddy and palm fruits have to do with the lady’s mind? The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a married life when the man took to keeping the company of a courtesan. The lady was angered by this action of the man. Later, the man approaches the lady’s confidante to help him resolve his differences with the lady and to permit him back to their house. When the confidante takes the man’s request to the lady, the lady says, “Those who go on a journey to drink toddy, return with the locally growing, small, fibrous palmyra fruit, sprouting amidst the tender fronds of the soaring, dark palm tree in the ancient town, ruled by Aadhi Aruman. Akin to this town is she, who wears a skirt made of differing leaves of white waterlilies stitched tightly together. Making the beauty spots on her thighs sway in sequence, she would come, that woman decked with fine jewels, so as to see my husband. I’m to be pitied!” With these words, the lady refuses to accept the man’s request questioning in a hidden manner his intentions to return.
Time to explore the nuances. The lady starts by talking about people who go in search of toddy, and then mentions how they return not with toddy but with the fibrous palm fruits that grow locally. This happens in the ancient town of ‘Aadhi Aruman’, the lady relates. Why is the lady suddenly talking about a town? Only to equate the beauty of that town with the beauty of person, whom she describes as ‘a woman wearing fine jewels’. Continuing that list of clothing and accessories, the lady describes this woman as wearing a skirt made of white-lily leaves and then goes on to say how she comes walking making the pallor spots on her thighs sway in an orderly fashion. That statement is to say the woman has an alluring gait. Finally the lady says that woman would come to see the man the moment she knows the man had returned to the lady’s home and the lady ends her words on a note of self-pity.
That woman so described is none other than the courtesan, whom the lady fears will bring trouble to her for she comes only with the intention of stealing away her husband once again. This is direct proof that she does not trust in the man’s loyalty to her. Also, in the scene of toddy seekers, the lady places a metaphor for how the man went in search of a courtesan and after his time there, now returns seeking his homemaker, akin to how the toddy seekers satisfy themselves with the local palm fruit, after their drink is done. Delicacy done and now the man returns to his home out of a sense of duty, not love, the lady hints, and thus refuses entry to him. Great to know that a woman in the ancient past could stand up to a man in such a manner. Something that cannot be taken for granted even two thousand years later, for indeed there are many places in our world that seek to subdue a woman. Hopefully, someday in the future, women in all parts of the world will be seen as the equals they are and not even the subtlest traces of a man’s assumed superiority will remain!
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