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In this episode, we perceive how a pointed message is relayed in a hidden manner, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 302, penned by Madurai Aruvai Vaanikan Ilavettanaar. The verse is situated amidst the blooming Kino flowers of the ‘Kurinji’ or ‘Mountain Landscape’ and sketches scenes of serenity.
சிலம்பில் போகிய செம் முக வாழை
அலங்கல் அம் தோடு, அசைவளி உறுதொறும்,
பள்ளி யானைப் பரூஉப் புறம் தைவரும்
நல் வரை நாடனொடு அருவி ஆடியும்,
பல் இதழ் நீலம் படு சுனைக் குற்றும்,
நறு வீ வேங்கை இன வண்டு ஆர்க்கும்
வெறி கமழ் சோலை நயந்து விளையாடலும்
அரிய போலும் காதல் அம் தோழி!
இருங் கல் அடுக்கத்து என்னையர் உழுத
கரும்பு எனக் கவினிய பெருங் குரல் ஏனல்,
கிளி பட விளைந்தமை அறிந்தும், ”செல்க” என,
நம் அவண் விடுநள் போலாள், கைம்மிகச்
சில் சுணங்கு அணிந்த, செறிந்து வீங்கு, இள முலை,
மெல் இயல் ஒலிவரும் கதுப்பொடு,
பல் கால் நோக்கும் அறன் இல் யாயே.
In this little trip to the highlands, we delight in picturesque images and learn about the situation at hand, as we listen to the confidante say these words to the lady, pretending not to notice the man listening nearby, but making sure he’s in earshot:
“The beautiful, swaying leaves of the red plantain that soars on slopes, nudged by the breeze, gently caresses the thick back of a sleeping elephant in the fine mountain ranges of the lord. It seems like bathing in the cascades, plucking many-petaled blue lilies from picturesque springs, and playing with desire in those thickly scented groves, where swarms of bees buzz around fragrant flowers of the Kino tree, in the company of the man, are all no longer possible for you, my loveable friend! Even though she knows that parrots are raiding the fields, where thick-stalked millet crops, sown by our brothers in the huge mountain spaces, have bloomed prosperously, akin to stalks of sugarcane, she doesn’t say to us, ‘Go there’’. Instead, that unjust mother of ours looks pointedly at your close-set, blooming young bosoms, adorned with exquisite pallor spots, and the gently swaying, thick, dark tresses of yours, over and over again!”
Time for the trek through those ancient mountains that never fails to amaze! The confidante starts with a description of the man’s mountain country, and to do that, she freezes an image of a sleeping elephant, whose back is gently caressed by the long leaves of the red plantain, every time a mountain breeze swirls around. What a delight for the senses to see and sense this image! A moment of appreciate this renowned delicacy, the red plantain, from various regions of Western Ghats called by the contemporary Tamil name ‘Sevvaazhai’, with sub-varieties growing in ‘Palakkad’ and ‘Thiruchur’ regions of Kerala, as well as the ‘Palani Hills’ and ‘Kumbum valley’ in Tamil Nadu. It’s a nutritional powerhouse having high Vitamin ‘A’ and ‘C’, a rich source of fibre and potassium, and inspite of its exquisite sweetness, having a lower glycemic index than other bananas!
Returning from our sweet fruit meanderings, we find the confidante now talking about all the activities the lady had been relishing with the man, such as bathing together in the bubbling cascades, plucking blue-lilies from the springs, and relaxing in the groves, filled with Kino trees and swarming bees around those fragrant flowers. These young lovers from these lush mountains seem to have realised that the foundation of a long and lasting relationship is spending time with one other! Returning, we find the confidante saying that all these activities are no longer possible. She explains the reason for this shocker by describing Mother’s attitude. Mother can clearly see the millet crops are fully grown, like thick sugarcanes that too, and are tempting the passing parrots, and yet she takes no steps to ask the lady and the confidante to go there and chase away those birds. The confidante concludes by declaring all that unjust mother seemed to do was to look at the lady’s blooming bosoms and thick tresses, with something on her mind!
In essence, we have the lady’s buddy informing the man that these trysts he had been taking for granted are no longer going to be feasible, pointing out how it’s the time for harvest and underscoring mother’s suspicions. It’s a way of telling the man to give up his temporary trysting and come seek the lady’s hand in marriage. The beauty of this communication is that instead of throwing a spear of words straight into the man’s heart, in the gentle manner of those caressing leaves upon the sleeping elephant’s back, the confidante relates to the man, the consequences of the winds of change blowing through the lady’s life just then!
