Puranaanooru 103 – Counsel to a singer

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ஒரு தலைப் பதலை தூங்க, ஒரு தலைத்
தூம்பு அகச் சிறு முழாத் தூங்கத் தூக்கி,
‘கவிழ்ந்த மண்டை மலர்க்குநர் யார்?’ எனச்
சுரன்முதல் இருந்த சில் வளை விறலி!
செல்வைஆயின், சேணோன் அல்லன்;
முனை சுட எழுந்த மங்குல் மாப் புகை
மலை சூழ் மஞ்சின், மழ களிறு அணியும்
பகைப் புலத்தோனே, பல் வேல் அஞ்சி;
பொழுது இடைப்படாஅப் புலரா மண்டை
மெழுகு மெல் அடையின் கொழு நிணம் பெருப்ப,
அலத்தற் காலை ஆயினும்,
புரத்தல் வல்லன்; வாழ்க, அவன் தாளே!

Returning to the praise of King Athiyamaan, the poet places many interesting details in this song. Her words can be translated as follows:

“With a ‘pathalai’ drum hanging on one side and a small ‘muzha’ drum with a hole, hanging in balance on the other side, standing in this drylands path, you ask me, ‘Who is that person who can turn this face-down food bowl the right way up?’, O singer wearing few bangles! If you travel thither, he is not far away. From the raging battlefield, black smoke rises and surrounds the huge battle elephants, akin to clouds that shroud the mountains. He is there in that enemy country, Anji, the bearer of many spears. Making sure food bowls never dry up in the time in between, akin to the texture of beeswax, fat-filled food, he shall offer you, even when there’s poverty around. Long may his feet live!”

Time to delve deeper into this verse! The poet begins by bringing before our eyes, the possessions of the female singer called as ‘Virali’ in Tamil, the person whom she is talking to. Note how in another poem this poet was addressed by the same term and so we can understand that this is a conversation between two professionals from the same field. Returning to the objects the singer is carrying, we hear the poet describe one as a drum called as ‘pathalai’ in Sangam times and another smaller drum called as ‘Muzha’ on the other side. But that’s not all! From the singer’s question to this poet, asking who is going to fill her empty food bowl, we know that’s the third object that this singer holds. Now, the poet reveals the location from where the singer is asking her this question and that is the drylands path. To finish up the portrait of this female singer, the poet adds that she’s wearing but a few bangles, apparently a picture of poverty for these Sangam people!

Next, the poet offers the path to the singer’s salvation saying if she continues walking, a certain person is not too far away. This person is none other than King Athiyamaan, the possessor of many spears, who, at the moment, is creating havoc at an enemy’s land, as can be witnessed by the smoke rising from the battlefield that surrounds elephants, making them look as if they were hills enveloped by rain clouds. Then, the poet talks about how this king will offer such delicious and rich food, which according to them is meat, flowing with fat in the texture of beeswax, so much that the food bowl will never dry up even when there happens to be poverty all around. The poet renders her customary blessing of wishing the feet of the said king with a long life!

There are so many aspects that this song is kindling in my mind that I don’t even know where to begin. Let me start with the remuneration expected by these singers from their patrons for their work. This is revealed in the question the singer asks. She wonders who is going to turn her food bowl face up. We can understand from this intricate question that they are not looking for precious jewels or money. All they seem to want is food! It talks about a time when these professionals had to look up to a patron even to satisfy their basic need of hunger. 

Next, let’s move on to the musical instruments that the female singer is said to be carrying. One is the ‘pathalai’ drum. It is today that I read in an article on the ‘Tamil Virtual University’ website that this ‘pathalai’ drum is the equivalent of the tabla instrument used in Hindustani music. The logic of these scholars is that the word ‘tabla’ pronounced as ‘tha-ba-la’ is a transformation of the word indicating this singer’s instrument – ‘pa-tha-lai’ or ‘pa-tha-la’. I leave it to etymologists and historians to ascertain the truth of this claim! 

Returning to the singer carrying two different drums on her, this image brought to my mind a ‘Sufi music’ concert called ‘Ruhaniyat’ that I recently attended. In the series of performances in this programme, one featured a female singer from the ‘Baul’ tradition. She had long, flowing locks of hair and had tied two drums on her body. She sang and danced about her search for the divine. The Bauls are incidentally nomadic singers with an oral tradition documented from the 15th century in regions around West Bengal in India and follow both the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism and Sufi sect of Islam. Could there be any connection between the tradition of ‘Paanars'(male singers) and ‘Viralis’ from ancient Tamilakam and that of these singers from the ‘Baul tradition’ of Bengal? 

Moving away from these musings on music, we come to the core of the song, which is about one female singer guiding another towards a better future. In that, shines the noble role of a mentor, who shows the way to another young professional. A verse from two thousand years ago, so rich in its content that it makes us reflect on aspects as diverse as the expected income for services, trajectory of musical instruments, origins of an oral tradition and human relations at work!