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In this episode, we listen to the stories echoing from the sounds of shell bangles, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 191-200, situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal landscape’ and penned by the poet Ammoovanaar.
Thus flows the Twentieth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Tell, O Shell
191 The Stealer of my heart
கடற்கோடு செறிந்த வளை வார் முன் கைக்,
கழிப் பூத் தொடர்ந்த இரும் பல் கூந்தல்,
கானல் ஞாழல் கவின் பெறும் தழையள்.
வரையர மகளிரின் அரியள் என்
நிறை அரு நெஞ்சம் கொண்டு ஒளித்தோளே.
Wearing a stack of tight-fitting bangles made of sea shells on her long forearms, flowers from the backwaters on her dark and thick tresses, and a garment made from the leaves of the tigerclaw, is that beautiful maiden, who is rarer to attain than a mountain goddess. She’s the one, who took my heart brimming with emotions and hid it away!
192 Loose and Tight
கோடு புலம் கொட்ப, கடல் எழுந்து முழங்க,
பாடு இமிழ் பனித் துறை ஓடு கலம் உகைக்கும்
துறைவன் பிரிந்தென, நெகிழ்ந்தன,
வீங்கின மாதோ தோழி! என் வளையே!
As conches rove on the shore, as the sea rises and roars and music resounds, speedy boats set out in the cool shores of the lord. Since he parted away, they slipped away. But now, they seem to fit tightly, O friend, these bangles of mine!
193 Tilling conches, Twinkling pearls
வலம்புரி உழுத வார் மணல் அடைகரை
இலங்கு கதிர் முத்தம் இருள் கெட இமைக்கும்
துறை கெழு கொண்க! நீ தந்த
அறைபுனல் வால் வளை நல்லவோ தாமே?
As right-whorled conch shells leave tracks, tilling the sands, pearls with glowing rays, scattering the darkness, twinkle in the shore of the lord! These white bangles from the resounding seas that you rendered, are they good, well-fitting bangles?
194 Mother’s hypothesis
கடற் கோடு அறுத்த, அரம் போழ் அவ் வளை
ஒண் தொடி மடவரல் கண்டிகும்; கொண்க!
நல் நுதல் இன்று மால் செய்தென,
கொன் ஒன்று கடுத்தனள், அன்னையது நிலையே.
The lady’s beautiful, glowing bangles are cut by a saw from the conch shells of the sea. Look at the state of this naive maiden, O lord! Seeing that her daughter’s fine forehead was looking sickly, mother came up with a reason for that. That’s mother’s state of mind!
195 Trading shells and pearls
வளை படு முத்தம் பரதவர் பகரும்
கடல் கெழு கொண்கன் காதல் மட மகள்
கெடல் அருந் துயரம் நல்கி,
படல் இன் பாயல் வௌவியோளே.
The people of the coast give away pearls within shells to others in the sea-filled shores of the lord. She is the lord’s loving daughter. She’s the one, who has rendered me this undying, harsh sorrow and the one, who has stolen away the sweet sleep of my eyes!
196 Catching shrimp in the backwaters
கோடு ஈர் எல் வளை, கொழும் பல் கூந்தல்,
ஆய் தொடி, மடவரல் வேண்டுதிஆயின்
தெண் கழிச் சேயிறாப் படூஉம்
தண் கடல் சேர்ப்ப! வரைந்தனை கொண்மோ.
Wearing shining bangles cut out of shells, having thick tresses, is that beautiful and naive maiden. If you seek her, O lord of the shores, surrounded by the cool seas, where shrimps in the clear backwaters are caught, you have to seek her hand in marriage!
197 Aura of shyness
இலங்கு வளை தெளிர்ப்ப அலவன் ஆட்டி,
முகம் புதை கதுப்பினள், இறைஞ்சி நின்றோளே
புலம்பு கொள் மாலை மறைய
நலம் கேழ் ஆகம் நல்குவள் எனக்கே.
Chasing a crab that makes her shining bangles quiver, hiding her face within her tresses, with a bent head, she stood. When the lament-filled evening fades away, she will render her beautiful bosom to me!
198 The questioning one
வளை அணி முன்கை, வால் எயிற்று அமர் நகை,
இளையர் ஆடும் தளை அவிழ் கானல்,
குறுந் துறை வினவி நின்ற
நெடுந் தோள் அண்ணல் கண்டிகும், யாமே.
‘Where is that leaf-budding grove on the little shore, where young maiden, their arms clad with bangles, with captivating smiles from shining teeth, play together?’, asked the esteemed man with broad shoulders. Let’s go see him now!
199 Sight of his seas
கானல்அம் பெருந் துறைக் கலிதிரை திளைக்கும்
வான் உயர் நெடு மணல் ஏறி, ஆனாது,
காண்கம் வம்மோ தோழி!
செறிவளை நெகிழ்த்தோன் எறிகடல் நாடே!
In the huge shore, filled with groves, around which uproarious waves delight, climbing on the mountain-high sand dunes untiringly, let’s go see, my friend, the country with pouncing waves, ruled by the man, who has made your tight bangles slip away!
200 A laugh at pallor
இலங்கு வீங்கு எல்வளை! ஆய்நுதல் கவின,
பொலந்தேர்க் கொண்கன் வந்தனன் இனியே;
விலங்கு அரி நெடுங் கண் ஞெகிழ்மதி;
நலம் கவர் பசலையை நகுகம் நாமே!
O maiden, wearing shining, well-fitted bangles! For the distressed forehead to gain its beauty, the lord has come in his golden chariot now. Please open your eyes filled with shining lines. Let us laugh at the pallor that wanted to steal away your good health!
So concludes Ainkurunooru 191-200. All but one song is set in the context of a man’s love relationship with the lady prior to marriage, and that exception is set in the context of a man’s married relationship with the lady and his involvement with courtesans. The unifying theme of all the verses in this section is the reference to conch shells and specifically the ancient tradition of carving shell bangles for women from them. In this section, it’s the confidante’s voice that’s predominantly heard, even though there are few instances wherein the man and lady speak too.
In most of these verses, the shell bangles are seen glowing on the hands of the lady or other maiden, dancing in their play, and sometimes they seem to tell the state of the lady. If she’s sorrowful and pining, they become loose-fitting and slip away. If she’s in the opposite state, then magically they seem to become tight-fitting. In one, these are the gift the man gives to the lady. A unique rendition in one of the verses is where no reference is made to the bangle, but rather the oyster shells and pearls within them are talked about as an object of barter by those who live near the seas.
Delving into the intent and context of each of these verses, in the first, we see the man giving a long description to his friends about the lady who had stolen his heart to his friends, talking about her shell bangles, backwater flowers on her tresses and her beautiful garment made from the leaves of the tigerclaw tree. Here, we see the rare case of a man in pining, missing the girl he’s fallen for. In the second, conch shells flit about on the shore and elements of the sea such as the waves and boats shine on, and here, the lady is remarking on the miracle of how the bangles were slipping away when the man was gone, but now that he’s back, they seem to fit so well. Astonishing indeed the way these Sangam maiden shed their pounds when in separation and instantly gained them back on the arrival of their beloved!
In the third, conch shells leave tracks on the seashore akin to the ploughs of farmers and pearls seem to be twinkling there too. So much preciousness for the taking in those ancient spaces! Here, the confidante is sarcastically asking the man if the bangles he gifted the lady were any good, implying her question about whether these bangles will stay put on her hands or will the man leave her in pining, making those bangles slip away again. Fourth sees the situation of the confidante informing the man that the lady has been put on guard by mother, after mother saw the sickly state of the lady’s forehead. Mother seems to have come up with some random reason and locked up the lady, says the confidante, implying to the man that if he wanted to be with the lady, he must seek her hand.
The man takes the spotlight in the fifth as he sits in some faraway place on his mission to earn wealth for his wedding, thinking about the lady, the daughter of a lord of the shores, and how she has stolen his sleep. In the sixth one, there’s mention of bangles being cut from the shells with saws and apart from this background information, here the confidante urges the man to marry the lady instead of seeking a way to tryst with her, by obtaining the confidante’s help.
In the seventh, is an emotion-filled moment, when a lady is overcome with the feeling of shyness when she arrives at the spot to tryst with the man, for she seems to be avoiding him and simply chasing crabs and hiding her face behind the thick veil of her tresses. But the man seeing all this is still hopeful that she would overcome this shyness and embrace him when the evening is gone. The eighth is the only one set in the post-marital context and here the confidante recollects to the lady how the man used to seek out her in those days of their love relationship asking people about the shore where the lady lived, and thus tries to direct the lady to forgive his recent meandering towards courtesans.
In the ninth, the confidante takes us back to the time when the man and lady are separated before their marriage and as an act of consolation to her pining friend, she says that they should go and climb the sands on their shore and try to look at the man’s land, resounding with waves far away. The act of walking and climbing on the sands and looking ahead with hope is sure to be a recipe for allaying the sadness of the lady. In the final one, the man comes to elope with the lady in his golden chariot, and so the confidante, wakes up the sleeping lady and says, it’s time to have a good laugh at pallor, which was waiting to torment the lady, for pallor’s plans are laid to dust by the man’s daring.
Turning to metaphorical elements, in the note about coastal people giving away shells and pearls without any regret is an illustration of how this abounds in their landscape and they are always ready to barter that for other things that are hard to find. Apart from this nugget of economics, it’s also a metaphor for how the man is away seeking wealth to offer the lady’s father to win over that precious, pearl-like lady. In the one, where the confidante portrays the man’s shores as those where the shrimps are caught easily in the backwaters, she places a metaphor for how the man too should take efforts to seek the lady’s hand and like the shrimp caught, he too can impress the lady’s family and make a catch of the lady for his happy, married life.
With this section, we come to the end of songs set in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal landscape’ in Ainkurunooru. While some landscapes like ‘Marutham’ and ‘Kurinji’ are so well-defined in their emotional aspects, I found ‘Neythal’ to be somewhat ambiguous. It seemed to move through all possible stages from the moment of falling in love to courtesan trouble at the end, and not only that, so many different emotions were expressed here too. Perhaps the Sangam poets wanted these songs to echo the rise and fall of emotions and the changing dunes of the mind just the way the waves soar and dive and keep changing the shorelines around. Let’s rise from this dip in these Sangam seas and walk on to relish the wonders of another domain!
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