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In this episode, we listen to philosophical words rendered in a moment of angst, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 354, penned by Kayathoor Kizhaar. The verse is situated in the farmlands of ‘Marutham’ and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, refusing him entry to the lady’s house.
நீர் நீடு ஆடின் கண்ணும் சிவக்கும்;
ஆர்ந்தோர் வாயில் தேனும் புளிக்கும்;
தணந்தனைஆயின், எம் இல் உய்த்துக் கொடுமோ-
அம் தண் பொய்கை எந்தை எம் ஊர்க்
கடும் பாம்பு வழங்கும் தெருவில்
நடுங்கு அஞர் எவ்வம் களைந்த எம்மே?
‘Savoured for too long, it loses its lustre’ is the core thought here! In the opening words ‘நீர் நீடு ஆடின் கண்ணும் சிவக்கும்’ meaning ‘if you play for long in the waters, eyes would redden’ talks about the consequences of indulging in a pleasurable activity for a long period. The next line ‘ஆர்ந்தோர் வாயில் தேனும் புளிக்கும்’ follows in the same theme too, for it means ‘tasted too many times, even honey tastes sour’. A sharp request appears in ‘எம் இல் உய்த்துக் கொடுமோ’ meaning ‘take me back to my home’. Ending with the words ‘நடுங்கு அஞர் எவ்வம் களைந்த எம்மே’ meaning ‘our trembling angst that you ended’, the verse welcomes us to listen intently.
What do those abstract words have to do with the lady’s personal suffering? The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a married life when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans. The lady was angered by this action of the man. After a while, when the man returns seeking reconciliation, the confidante says to him, “Eyes redden if one plays in the water for too long; Honey tastes sour in the mouth, to those who eat it, multiple times. If you have to part away, please take me back home to my father’s town, with beautiful, cool lakes, where in the paths, dangerous snakes roam, and even so, you had come then to slay my shivering suffering!” With these words, the confidante, speaking in the voice of the lady, refuses to accept the man’s attempt at allaying the anger of his wife.
Time to explore the nuances. The confidante starts by making a statement about how eyes would turn red when someone plays in the water for too long. There can be no greater enjoyment than splashing in the waters but when done too long, disagreeable effects happen, the confidante implies. After that, she goes on in a similar vein, to say how if eaten once too many times, even the sweetness of honey will turn sour. These abstractions are meant to convey how once the man had rejoiced in the company of the lady but now he seemed to relish it no more. Turning from these abstractions, the confidante tells the man that if he was bent on leaving the lady in this manner, he’d better take her back to her father’s home, where once, not minding the slithering snakes on the path, he came in the middle of the night to end her suffering of missing him.
Bringing back memories of the man’s courtship with the lady, the confidante brings to fore, how, not minding impediments any, he used to visit the lady, so as to bring her the joy of togetherness. She continues by implying how, he, the slayer of her suffering, had become the cause of the same, by his action of leaving the lady for the sake of courtesans. These words are meant to make the man regret his action of forsaking the lady. The highlight of the verse is the stunning similarity of these abstract lines in the beginning about eyes reddening and honey turning sour to the contemporary English phrase ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. It’s a different place and a different culture but there seems to be an invisible thread of connection in human thought across space and time!
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