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In this episode, we listen to a person’s angst arising out of the indecision of another, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 383, penned by Padumarathu Mosi Keeranaar. Set in the drylands of ‘Paalai’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, explaining her difficult situation relating to the lady’s elopement with the man.
நீ உடம்படுதலின், யான் தர, வந்து,
குறி நின்றனனே, குன்ற நாடன்;
”இன்றை அளவைச் சென்றைக்க” என்றி;
கையும் காலும் ஓய்வன ஒடுங்கத்
தீ உறு தளிரின் நடுங்கி,
யாவதும், இலை, யான் செயற்கு உரியதுவே.
‘What will I do, if you say this now?’ cries out a voice in this verse! The opening words ‘நீ உடம்படுதலின்’ meaning ‘since you accepted’ talks about a prior agreement for some planned event. In ‘குறி நின்றனனே குன்ற நாடன்’ meaning ‘the man from the mountains is waiting at the trysting spot’, we can envision an anxious person waiting for his beloved. An intense simile appears in ‘தீ உறு தளிர்’ meaning ‘a tender sprout that has fallen into the fire’. Ending with the words ‘யாவதும் இலை யான் செயற்கு உரியதுவே’ meaning ‘there is nothing for me to do’, the verse lets out a sigh of dejection and invites us to listen with empathy.
Sounds like the confidante is in a fix! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and the man was trysting with the lady for a while. Situation arose such that the man concludes the only way to guard his relationship with the lady was to elope away with her. He involves the confidante in his plan and one day, the confidante says to the lady, “Just because you agreed, I gave him the message, and so, the man from the mountains has come to the trysting spot. But now, you say, ‘Let today pass’. With my arms and legs losing strength and falling apart, akin to a tender leaf dropped in a fire, I shiver. There’s nothing more that I will be fit to do!” With these words, the confidante is stressing to the lady that the right course of action was for her to elope away with the man.
In each verse, there’s a different focus, for instance, it could be the description of a place, a character portrait or acute display of emotion. In this one, the highlight is the dialogue between two women detailing the entire story unfolding there. The confidante starts by saying that it was the lady who agreed, and from context, we understand that this denotes the lady’s acceptance of the man’s proposal to elope away together. Having obtained the lady’s approval, the confidante rushes to the man and conveys this news. Satisfied, the man too comes to the trysting spot to wait for the lady. But when the confidante says the man is all ready and waiting, the lady is overcome with a bout of shyness and so, she tells the confidante, ‘let’s not do this today’. On hearing these words, the confidante says her arms and legs become weak and she seems to fall with the shudder of a newborn leaf thrown into the fire. She concludes with the words that she will not be able to do anything more for the lady!
That last statement is a warning for the lady to see the precarious situation just then, for the confidante will lose her standing with the man, and he may even forsake the lady, given the circumstances. So, ‘considering my pitiable situation and a person waiting because of your promise, please push away your indecision and leave with him’, insists the confidante. The verse presents a classic dilemma in a person caught in the middle between two conflicting parties. Looking at this from the lady’s perspective, indeed, the ability to change one’s mind is both a strength and weakness. A weakness because this leads to lack of reliability and trust in the minds of others; A strength because it shows a mental flexibility to hold various positions and bend with the wind. Just as how the confidante nudges the lady in this verse, will we too learn the subtle nuance of knowing how far to bend and still not break in the currents of life?
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