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In this episode, we listen to a lady’s angst, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 229, penned by Madurai Koolavaanikan Seethalai Saathanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse describes aspects of this domain and the arrival of a season.
பகல் செய் பல் கதிர்ப் பருதி அம் செல்வன்
அகல் வாய் வானத்து ஆழி போழ்ந்தென,
நீர் அற வறந்த நிரம்பா நீள் இடை,
கயந் தலைக் குழவிக் கவி உகிர் மடப் பிடி
குளகு மறுத்து உயங்கிய மருங்குல் பல உடன்
பாழ் ஊர்க் குரம்பையின் தோன்றும் ஆங்கண்,
நெடுஞ் சேண் இடைய குன்றம் போகி,
பொய்வலாளர் முயன்று செய் பெரும் பொருள்
நம் இன்று ஆயினும் முடிக, வல்லென,
பெருந் துனி மேவல்! நல்கூர் குறுமகள்!
நோய் மலிந்து உகுத்த நொசி வரல் சில் நீர்
பல் இதழ் மழைக் கண் பாவை மாய்ப்ப,
பொன் ஏர் பசலை ஊர்தர, பொறி வரி
நல் மா மேனி தொலைதல் நோக்கி,
இனையல் என்றி தோழி! சினைய
பாசரும்பு ஈன்ற செம் முகை முருக்கினப்
போது அவிழ் அலரி கொழுதி தாது அருந்து,
அம் தளிர் மாஅத்து அலங்கல் மீமிசை,
செங் கண் இருங் குயில் நயவரக் கூஉம்
இன் இளவேனிலும் வாரார்,
‘இன்னே வருதும்’ எனத் தெளித்தோரே.
In this trip to the drylands, we experience tender scenes in the scrub jungle, as we listen to the lady say these words to her confidante, when the man continues to remain parted away, having left in search of wealth:
“As the many-rayed handsome sun, which creates the day, splits across the wide-mouthed sky, akin to a wheel, in those endless, long paths, bereft of even a drop of water, a naive female elephant refuses to eat leaves, leaving those for its tender-headed calf, and owing to the ensuing starvation, appears with a shrunken form, looking like huts in a ruined town. To such a place, after crossing peaks across great distances, that man of lies has gone to spend his efforts on gaining wealth.
My friend, when you heard my words, ‘Let him attain that great wealth promptly, even if it means he loses me’, you had said to me, ‘Do not shower your anger, O young maiden, who came as a boon to your parents! Filled with affliction, shedding tear drops, hiding the pupil of your many-petalled, rain-like eyes, as a golden pallor covers you, looking at your fine, dark skin, filled with delicate lines, becoming ruined, worry not!’.
Pecking and feeding on the pollen of fully bloomed flowers of the Coral tree, soaring from red buds on spreading branches, and then flying to a mango tree, with exquisite, tender sprouts, and perching on a swaying branch atop, the red-eyed black cuckoo calls out in a melodious tune in this sweet time of spring. The one who had promised that ‘I will be back soon’, has not yet returned even now!”
Time to take that walk through the sweltering drylands again! The lady starts by talking about the weather in the drylands, the way the sun seems to roll across the sky like a wheel and scorch the land beneath, without any pity. As a consequence, there’s not a drop of water to be had and food is hard to come by, which makes a female elephant give up its meal of leaves for the sake of its young calf, and seems to take on the appearance of a thatched hut in shambles, the lady says. Such are the scenes in the drylands, where the man has gone to gain wealth, the lady connects. Then she turns to the confidante and recollects how she had said in anger wishing the man to gain that wealth he sought even if it meant that she were to die. To this, the confidante had responded like a good friend that she is, asking the lady not to cry and worry about the changes in her form because of her pining. The lady concludes by expressing how it was impossible to accept the confidante’s consolation because spring was here, announced by the music of the content cuckoo, which had pecked on the pollen of the bright red coral flowers and was resting on the dancing branches of the mango tree, and yet the man had not returned in this sweet time of togetherness.
Spring’s not right, rainy season is not right, the cold season too, these women seem to declare, when parted from their beloved. In short, no season is acceptable to be apart, to these maiden in love! The striking moments of this oft-repeated theme is in the selflessness of that mother elephant and in the sweet song of the cuckoo in spring, evoking emotions of care and joy, beyond the boundaries of space and time!
