Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | Email | TuneIn | RSS | More
In this episode, we listen to a mother’s shocked words, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 396, penned by Kayamanaar. Set in the drylands of ‘Paalai’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady’s mother, on learning that her daughter had eloped with the man.
பாலும் உண்ணாள், பந்துடன் மேவாள்,
விளையாடு ஆயமொடு அயர்வோள் இனியே,
எளிது என உணர்ந்தனள்கொல்லோ-முளி சினை
ஓமைக் குத்திய உயர் கோட்டு ஒருத்தல்
வேனிற் குன்றத்து வெவ் அறைக் கவாஅன்
மழை முழங்கு கடுங் குரல் ஓர்க்கும்
கழை திரங்கு ஆர் இடை, அவனொடு செலவே?
‘Did she think her journey was going to be easy?’ is the wondering question at the core here. The opening words ‘பாலும் உண்ணாள்’ meaning ‘she would not have her milk’ highlights how the first thought of a mother about her child would most probably be something to do with the child’s food. How young these Sangam maiden being sung about were, is sketched by the phrase ‘விளையாடு ஆயமொடு அயர்வோள்’ meaning ‘she plays with young girls’. In ‘ஓமைக் குத்திய உயர் கோட்டு ஒருத்தல்’ meaning ‘a tooth-brush tree, which a male elephant with huge tusks pierces’, we see both an animal and plant of this domain. The phrase ‘கடுங் குரல் ஓர்க்கும்’ meaning ‘listens intently to the deep sound’ highlights the action of some entity in deep concentration. Ending with the words ‘அவனொடு செலவே’ meaning ‘parting away with him’, the verse welcomes us to listen closely.
What do these glimpses of drylands signify here? The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship when they realised the only way to guard their relationship was to elope away together. The day after they leave, the lady’s mother learns of their parting and says, “She wouldn’t drink her milk, she wouldn’t be interested in her ball, but would simply spend all her time playing with her young mates. Now, did she think that this was going to be easy? Piercing dried branches of the ‘omai’ tree, the male elephant with long tusks, listens intently near that heated mountain range in summer, for the deep sound of thundering rain clouds in the bamboo-filled drylands path, which she traverses along with him?” With these words, the lady’s mother expresses her worry about the lady’s ability to bear the harsh journey through the drylands, given her immature nature.
Delicate lady and barren desert is the crux of the situation here. The lady’s mother profiles the lady’s nature by talking about how the girl would refuse milk and not be interested in her play items, but would thoughtlessly spend all day simply playing with her friends. This scene illustrates both how pampered the girl was, for there was someone preparing and insisting the maiden have her food and also how irresponsible the same girl was, for she was only focused on play to the exclusion of taking care of herself. Now, the mother asks a relevant question about how this girl suddenly felt that she was grown up enough to leave with the man, to the drylands, where even the toothbrush trees, which are the only source of water for elephants there, had dried up. One such elephant with long tusks after piercing the tree, and finding no sustenance there, thinks it hears the rumbling of rain clouds in the nearby mountains, and listens eagerly to the same. An image capturing the desperation of the elephant to have some water somehow!
The mother’s final question is did the girl think that traveling on such a path was going to be as easy as a play with her friends. Valid worry on the mother’s part. But children do grow up faster than the images of them in their parents’ heads, and also, when love is by her side, perhaps the lady can bear those torments, which looms so menacingly in that mother’s eyes!
Share your thoughts...