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In this episode, we hear of the one thing that defines the goodness of a land, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Puranaanooru 187, penned by Avvaiyaar. The verse is situated in the category of ‘Pothuviyal Thinai’ or ‘Common themes’ and talks about how the type of land in a nation is of no consequence.
நாடாக ஒன்றோ, காடாக ஒன்றோ,
அவலாக ஒன்றோ, மிசையாக ஒன்றோ,
எவ்வழி நல்லவர் ஆடவர்,
அவ்வழி நல்லை வாழிய நிலனே.
Another tiny song which seems to me like art on a rice grain. The poet’s words can be translated as follows:
“Whether you are a country or a forest, whether you dive low or rise above, wherever the menfolk are good, you too become good, long may you live, O land!”
Let’s take a deeper glance at these words. The poet says it matters not if a place is a bustling country with many fertile towns or it’s a dense and impenetrable forest, and likewise it’s no matter if the land falls to a valley or soars as a hill. So, what matters? To that question, she says what makes a land good is only the presence of good men.
Isn’t it curious that this poet being a female still exclusively glorifies men? Or could she mean that women are anyway going to be good, and it’s the men who need to be good as well to determine the fate of the nation? Though this woman-centric reading of a verse from a male world sounds good, I feel this was not the true intention of this prolific poet. She’s most probably remarking about the importance of men, as was the case in her society. Even the greatest of historic characters are victims of their time and often do not even realise how their words and actions will seem years later to another generation with a different outlook. Well, let’s make this verse gender-neutral and say that the goodness of the land is not determined by its own characteristics but by the presence of good human beings, who will nurture it as it should be!
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