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In this episode, we observe the conflict around separation from a beloved, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 229, penned by an anonymous poet. The verse is set in the drylands of ‘Paalai’ landscape and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, in response to his news about parting away from the lady on a mission.
”சேறும், சேறும்” என்றலின், பல புலந்து,
”சென்மின்” என்றல் யான் அஞ்சுவலே;
”செல்லாதீம்” எனச் செப்பின், பல்லோர்
நிறத்து எறி புன் சொலின்திறத்து அஞ்சுவலே;
அதனால், சென்மின்; சென்று வினை முடிமின்; சென்றாங்கு,
அவண் நீடாதல் ஓம்புமின்; யாமத்து,
இழை அணி ஆகம் வடுக் கொள முயங்கி,
உழையீராகவும் பனிப்போள் தமியே
குழைவான், கண்ணிடத்து ஈண்டித் தண்ணென,
ஆடிய இள மழைப் பின்றை,
வாடையும் கண்டிரோ, வந்து நின்றதுவே?
At first glance, the verse seems full of dialogues, as in a play. It starts with the words ‘சேறும், சேறும்’ meaning ‘I want to leave, I want to leave’. Perhaps, the confidante repeats the word so as to indicate that the man has been repeatedly saying this to her. The word ‘சென்மின்’ which means ‘may you go’ and the antonym ‘செல்லாதீம்’ meaning ‘you shan’t go’ makes an appearance here. ‘அஞ்சுவலே’ appears twice and it means ‘I’m scared’. With these first few lines, dilemma and doubt is brought out vividly. Before we proceed, I want to focus on the word ‘செப்பின்’ meaning ‘If I say’. This is because the word ‘செப்பு’ meaning ‘tell’ may have gone out of vogue in contemporary Tamil but it lives even today in Telugu, thus revealing the deep bond between South Indian languages. I loved the phrase ‘இள மழை’ meaning ‘young rains’, for attributing ‘youth’ to this natural phenomenon seems to bring it closer to the heart. The verse ends with ‘வாடையும் கண்டிரோ’ meaning ‘have you seen the cold, north wind?’ With that exquisite call to see the breeze, let’s look into the soul of this verse.
The man and lady had been leading a happy married life when the man had to leave her on a mission. He fears of hurting the lady by parting away, and so he tries to convey this news through the confidante. When he shares his intention one day, the confidante replies to him, “Although you have told me ‘I want to leave’ many times, changing my stance, I fear to say to you, ‘go’! But, if I were to say ‘do not go’, I fear the wounding words from many others that will attack me. So, go; finish the task you want to do. But, after going there, do not extend your stay there. At night, after you are done embracing her so as to cause imprints to appear on her bejewelled bosom, even if you are nearby, she shivers. Now you intend to leave her to suffer on her own. Surrounding vast spaces with moisture, the young rains have poured down. Close behind, follows the cold, northern wind. Don’t you see that arriving here now?” With these words, the confidante communicates the concerns in the man’s parting with the lady.
Now, for the hidden nuances! The confidante conveys how the man has been repeatedly telling her of his intention to part away. And, this makes us wonder why! Why must the man repeatedly tell the confidante? Is it information or is it permission? Within this line, the confidante reveals how the man fears to tell the news of his parting away to the lady directly and seeks her friend’s help in conveying the message to her, so as to prepare the lady to bear the burden of separation. Then, the confidante says she fears to say both ‘go’ and ‘don’t go’. Fears ‘go’ because of the lady’s inconsolable state and fears ‘don’t go’ because that would be what we call in legal language ‘obstruction of duty’! If she were to do that, people would hurt her with arrow-like words for preventing the man from going about his duty. After balancing the scale for a while, she decides in favour of letting the man go. But, she puts in a condition saying, once his task is done, he must return with haste!
The confidante reveals the reason for this condition saying that even when the man was nearby, when he relaxed his embrace for a moment, the lady would shiver missing him. She then adds, imagine the lady’s state when she would be all alone after the man parts. And it is now that she brings in the time aspect of the scenario. The rains have poured and filled the land with moisture and after this, follows the cold, north wind, true to the cycle of seasons. It was supposedly an unbearable time for those in love to be apart. She calls the man’s attention to the waiting northern wind, and the consequences on the lady, once the man parts away. Beautiful is the way, the wind becomes a character in this verse, so much so that we can see it with our eyes. The greatest of art captures the unseeable and here is a case in point. Akin to the famous words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet – ‘To be, or not to be’ I see this verse as a portrayal of the confidante’s quandary about whether ‘to let, or not to let’ the man go!
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