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In this episode, we delve into a historic event and the implications of war and hair that hides within, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 270, penned by Paranar. Set in the coastal landscape of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, in a hidden bid to rouse the listening lady to welcome him back into her house.
தடந் தாள் தாழைக் குடம்பை, நோனாத்
தண்டலை கமழும் வண்டு படு நாற்றத்து
இருள் புரை கூந்தல் பொங்கு துகள் ஆடி,
உருள் பொறி போல எம் முனை வருதல்,
அணித் தகை அல்லது பிணித்தல் தேற்றாப்
பெருந் தோட் செல்வத்து இவளினும்-எல்லா!-
எற் பெரிது அளித்தனை, நீயே; பொற்புடை
விரி உளைப் பொலிந்த பரியுடை நன் மான்
வேந்தர் ஓட்டிய ஏந்து வேல் நன்னன்
கூந்தல் முரற்சியின் கொடிதே;
மறப்பல் மாதோ, நின் விறல் தகைமையே.
The verse opens with ‘தடந் தாள் தாழை’ a favourite Sangam expression for the ‘screw-pine’ tree referring to ‘its curved trunk’ as reflected also in Natrinai poems 203 and 131. Other than these two words about the screw pine tree, there are no other markers to make this poem belong to the ‘Neythal’ region or the coastal country. The word ‘குடம்பை’ talks about a ‘nest’ and when discussing other poems, we have seen how this word reminds us of ‘குடும்பம்’, the Tamil word for ‘family’. In this verse, the reference has an extra layer of significance, which we will unravel in a short while. References to hair seems to abound in this poem! First, we see ‘இருள் புரை கூந்தல்’ meaning ‘tresses akin to darkness’, then we meet with ‘பொற்புடை விரி உளை’ meaning ‘exquisite, dancing mane’ and finally, the core element in this verse ‘கூந்தல் முரற்சி’ meaning ‘ropes made from hair’. Fascinating, isn’t it? The verse ends with ‘மறப்பல் மாதோ, நின் விறல் தகைமையே’ meaning ‘I have decided to forget your great qualities’. Let’s explore more!
The man and lady had been leading a happy, married life when the man took to keeping the company of courtesans. The lady is angered by this action of the man and refuses entry to the messengers, who come on the man’s behalf. Finally, the man himself appears at the house. The lady’s confidante, seeing the man at the gates, says to him, “Shirking its hive in the curved-trunk ‘thazhai’, pulled by a cool and rich fragrance, born from the kindling of many bees, a bee rushes to those tresses akin to darkness and plays about in the abundant pollen therein. Like that intoxicated round bee, you appear before me, O lord! My friend, the lady with fine arms, knows only the art of adorning herself with jewels and not the art of tying you down to herself. More than the kindness you have granted her, you have granted me, now! Nannan, who routed many kings with fine horses, adorned with exquisite, luxuriant tresses, with his army of spears, then took to making ropes of women’s tresses in that defeated country. Your behaviour to the lady has been more terrible than that cruel act of Nannan’s. I have decided to forget that you are a man of courage and virtue!” With these words, the confidante is scolding the man for his parting with the lady to seek the courtesan’s company and hopes the lady will take pity on the man, hearing the confidante’s excessive words of anger and permit him entry to their home.
Now, let’s delve into the nuances! The confidante opens the conversation by sketching the portrait of a bee. Here’s a bee, living in its happy hive in the screw pine tree. But being content is not what this bee wants. It decides to leave the comfort and love of its home and rushes at the call of a cool scent that wafts near it. Tracing the trail of this scent, the bee finds itself near the dark tresses of a woman, where pollen abounds, owing to the many flowers the woman wears and pecked by other bees many. Fully intoxicated by this scent, the bee finally rolls back home. The confidante describes the man’s behaviour with this succinct metaphor. The man too had left the nest of his family, to seek the company of courtesans. Life with the lady is pure and natural, akin to being on that ‘thazhai’ tree but the bee seems to rush to the artificial yet seductive pull of those courtesans, and this is the story the confidante narrates with the aid of a scene in nature. The confidante finishes the first segment of her conversation saying the man has rolled before her like that round bee and says in a note of sarcasm that he seems kinder to her, the confidante, than her friend, the lady!
The confidante then turns her attention to the attributes of her friend saying all she knows is to adorn herself with fine jewels but possesses not the crucial knowledge of holding her man to herself. That must sting the listening lady, no doubt! From there, she moves to an event that transpired in a battle with a king called ‘Nannan’ and his enemies. This king defeated those enemy kings and their rich horses with his army of spears. He got his victory but did that satisfy him? There is indeed something about war that brings out the worst in humanity and this king seems no exception. We know this because the confidante narrates the tale of how this king tonsured the hair of the womenfolk of his captives and made long ropes to pull the spoils of war home! Just when we are shocked by this tale of torture, the confidante raises the tempo of her anger towards the man and says his act is more cruel than that act of Nannan’s. She finally concludes saying that because of this, she has decided to forget whatever great virtues of courage and goodness the man may have! After these strong words, the confidante hopes that the lady will be moved at the humiliation suffered by her man and the lady’s sympathy will thus make her welcome the man back into her life!
Now that we have understood the poem, let us zoom into a striking element that has been rendered in this verse. The act of a king, who tonsures women’s hair to make ropes, is an act of cruelty, a violation of human rights, totally abhorrent to us today. It underscores the excesses of war! For a moment, let’s shake free from this perspective of war and look at the event of ‘hair being made into ropes’. Is that even possible, I wondered! On researching, I learnt of Sanne Visser, a Dutch designer, who has started a movement called ‘The New Age of Trichology, Harnessing the Potential of Hair’ and has come up with products such as swings and ropes, resting on the strength of human hair. In her website, I read that of all hair types, Asian hair is the strongest and grows the longest, with a single hair being able to hold a 100 grams and therefore, all the hair on a human head can hold around 10 tonnes of weight! This holds tremendous possibilities for the applications of cut human hair, that would otherwise simply gather in landfills, unable to see its end easily. Remarkable how something used as torture on women in the past has become an act of kindness to mother earth in the present!
