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In this episode, we relish references to a rare flower in the mountain country, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 268, penned by Veripaadiya Kaamakkanniyaar, a female poet from the Sangam era. Set in the mountainous regions of ‘Kurinji’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, passing on a hidden message to the man, listening nearby.
சூருடை நனந் தலைச் சுனை நீர் மல்க,
மால் பெயல் தலைஇய மன் நெடுங் குன்றத்து,
கருங் காற் குறிஞ்சி மதன் இல் வான் பூ,
ஓவுக் கண்டன்ன இல்வரை இழைத்த
நாறு கொள் பிரசம் ஊறு நாடற்குக்
காதல் செய்தவும் காதலன்மை
யாதனிற்கொல்லோ?- தோழி!- வினவுகம்,
பெய்ம் மணல் முற்றம் கடி கொண்டு
மெய்ம் மலி கழங்கின் வேலற் தந்தே.
What struck me instantly when I started reading this poem was a feeling I have heard the words ‘சூருடை நனந் தலை’ before. Turned out that my hunch was right and I found not just the two words but the entire first line ‘சூருடை நனந் தலைச் சுனை நீர் மல்க’ meaning ‘making spring waters rise in fearsome, wide spaces’, replicated exactly in Natrinai 7. That poem was written by another female poet – Nalvelliyaar. Interesting how these two women have expressed the same words in the same space in a poem, and how both the poems have found their way into this anthology! Returning to the verse, we glimpse at ‘மால் பெயல்’, which drenches us in a ‘heavy downpour’. Thereafter, a famed flower makes an appearance in ‘கருங் காற் குறிஞ்சி’ meaning ‘black-stemmed neelakurinji’, a flower that blooms in the Western Ghats in Southern India once in 12 years. I read that the last time the flower bloomed was in 2018 and wonder how the world will be, when the flower blooms again in 2030! Our attention is summoned away from this extraordinary flower by the words ‘நாறு கொள் பிரசம்’ meaning ‘honey that exudes a rich fragrance’. Something to make mouths water, I’m sure! Thereafter, we see ‘வினவுகம்’, meaning ‘let’s ask’ and also, the words ‘மெய்ம் மலி கழங்கு’ referring to ‘the molucca seeds that were used in fortune-telling’. The verse ends with ‘வேலற் தந்தே’ meaning ‘bringing the priest who calls God Murugu’, making us want to know more about these curious customs!
The man and lady had been leading a love relationship and the man seemed to be intent only on trysting with the lady. It was custom for the man to delay his meetings with the lady so as to make her love for him soar during the separation. In these times of parting, the lady would suffer in pining. During one such time, the confidante decides to convey the importance of formalising the union to the man. One day, seeing the man arrive at the lady’s house, turning to the lady, the confidante says, “In the intimidating, wide open spaces, making spring waters rise, heavy rains have poured in those soaring peaks. The black-stemmed, delicate and radiant Kurinji flowers bloom akin to a painting and showers copious, fragrant honey that drops from hives within houses in the domain of the lord! Although you shower your love, what could be the reason for him to be bereft of love? O friend, we should ask the fortune-teller to spread his divining seeds on the fresh sand in our front yard and find out the reason why!” With these words, the confidante conveys the love that overflows in the lady’s heart, and at the same time, speaks of the dangers surrounding the lady such as confinement and religious rituals to probe the reasons for the lady’s deteriorating health.
Now, let’s take a strenuous trek into the mountain’s undergrowth! The confidante first talks about heavy rains that pour, filling those wide spaces with fertile spring water. When the rich mountain soil is further enhanced with such copious rains, we can expect beautiful things to bloom and so it does! The luscious, shining and yet gentle ‘kurinji’ flowers open out their buds. Even after all these centuries, the sight of these flowers covering entire mountain slopes is a divine sight not to be missed, I read. Imagine the glory of these flowers in those unpolluted times! The confidante says the kurinji flower is in full bloom, standing like a painting sketched by a skilled artist. The confidante then adds that this glorious flower can fill homes with flowing honey in the man’s land. After this lengthy and picturesque description, the confidante wonders out aloud asking why doesn’t the man reciprocate the love overflowing in the lady’s heart. Then, she finishes saying the only option seems to be summoning the priest and asking him to spread out his divining seeds on the white sands of their front yard to probe the answer to this riddle on the absence of love!
When the confidante talks about the ‘kurinji’ flower in such glowing terms, she is referring to the lady and how the lady is waiting with love brimming in her heart, ready to spread honey-like happiness in the man’s home. But, the confidante in a subtle note of chiding seems to say that the man doesn’t get it. Giving him a sharp prod with her words, she wonders why there is no love in him when there is so much in the lady. When she talks about summoning ‘velan’ to help them, we have to understand why this was such a crazy thing to say. It was because it was not fitting for the man’s name and fame to have the lady he loves be subjected to the ritual where God Murugu is summoned to know the reason for the lady’s ill-health. It was imperative that the man claim the lady’s hand in marriage before such a calamity occurred. Thus, using innovative techniques of role-play and visualisation, the confidante thus imprints on the man’s mind, the importance of seeking the lady’s hand in marriage without further delay. An instance of imagination coming to intention’s rescue!
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