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In this episode, we listen to words of reassurance, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 357, penned by Erukkaattoor Thaayankannanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse turns the spotlight on the denizens of this domain.
கொடு முள் ஈங்கை சூரலொடு மிடைந்த
வான் முகை இறும்பின் வயவொடு வதிந்த
உண்ணாப் பிணவின் உயக்கம் தீரிய,
தட மருப்பு யானை வலம் படத் தொலைச்சி,
வியல் அறை சிவப்ப வாங்கி, முணங்கு நிமிர்ந்து,
புலவுப் புலி புரண்ட புல் சாய் சிறு நெறி
பயில் இருங் கானத்து வழங்கல்செல்லாது,
பெருங் களிற்று இன நிரை கை தொடூஉப் பெயரும்,
தீம் சுளைப் பலவின் தொழுதி, உம்பற்
பெருங் காடு இறந்தனர்ஆயினும், யாழ நின்
திருந்து இழைப் பணைத் தோள் வருந்த நீடி,
உள்ளாது அமைதலோ இலரே நல்குவர்
மிகு பெயல் நிலைஇய தீம் நீர்ப் பொய்கை
அடை இறந்து அவிழ்ந்த தண் கமழ் நீலம்
காலொடு துயல்வந்தன்ன, நின்
ஆய் இதழ் மழைக் கண் அமர்த்த நோக்கே.
In this trip to this familiar domain, we get to see the usual sights, as we listen to the confidante say these words to the lady, when the man remains parted away, having left in search of wealth:
“In the little scrub jungle with white buds, the touch-me-not with curving thorns and the wild jujube stand intertwined. To end the suffering of its hungry mate, languishing here, a flesh-reeking tiger attacks an elephant with curving tusks, on its right, kills it, and reddening those wide spaces, drags the carcass. Then stretching and straightening itself, it rolls on the grass in that narrow path. Avoiding this path with flattened grass in the wide and dark forest, a huge herd of elephants walk on, caressing their trunks, amidst the group of jackfruit trees with sweet fruit slices, in the huge Umbal forest. Even though he has parted away thither, he shall not prolong his stay, letting your well-etched, bamboo-like arms to thin away. He shall render his grace soon, for he cannot remain there, forgetting the look in your exquisite, petalled, rain-like eyes, which are akin to moist and fragrant blue lotuses, swaying in the wind, shooting up from the leaves, in a sweet-watered pond, in the middle of a heavy downpour!”
Let’s walk on through this formidable domain and learn more! The confidante starts with a description of the drylands and she talks about touch-me-not vines and jujube vines, appearing intertwined in a thick bush, near which lies a female tiger, exhausted and craving for food. To satisfy the hunger of this mate, the male hunts down and drags an elephant, and rolls on the grass, flattening it, the confidante continues. Elephants, known for their sharp memory, avoid this path, and they move away and walk through dense jackfruit trees, she mentions, and connects that this is the Umbal forest, beyond which the man had set out to seek wealth. The confidante promises the lady that the man would not delay his return for he is not someone to forget the look of the lady’s eyes, which are akin to blue lotuses, swaying in the wind, after a heavy downpour!
In essence, it’s a ‘Don’t you worry’ message to the lady, from a thoughtful friend. The image that stayed with me in this verse, is the one of elephants, walking in a huge herd, conveying their bond by rubbing their trunks, and this brought to my mind something I read about how these elephants survive because they are lead by a matriarch, an old female elephant, long past her prime, in the state of menopause, a stage of life that elephant females share only with humans and whales of all the species on earth. It’s the matriarch’s memory, which makes that herd avoid the paths of predators and seek the spots of waterholes. And so it is, with whales too. It should be the same for humans too. And, so I wish I could tell this sorrowful lady that the power to survive not just this mere separation from a man but even the great uncertainties of life itself was deeply encoded in who she was!
