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In this episode, we are teleported to an ancient bustling shore, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Natrinai 354, penned by Ulochanaar. Set in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’, the verse speaks in the voice of the confidante to the man, subtly persuading him to seek the lady’s hand in marriage.
தான் அது பொறுத்தல் யாவது-கானல்
ஆடு அரை ஒழித்த நீடு இரும் பெண்ணை
வீழ் காவோலைச் சூழ் சிறை யாத்த
கானல் நண்ணிய வார் மணல் முன்றில்,
எல்லி அன்ன இருள் நிறப் புன்னை
நல் அரை முழுமுதல் அவ் வயின் தொடுத்த
தூங்கல் அம்பித் தூவல் அம் சேர்ப்பின்,
கடு வெயில் கொதித்த கல் விளை உப்பு
நெடு நெறி ஒழுகை நிரை செலப் பார்ப்போர்
அளம் போகு ஆகுலம் கடுப்ப,
கௌவை ஆகின்றது, ஐய! நின் நட்பே?
The verse opens with a question in ‘தான் அது பொறுத்தல் யாவது’ meaning ‘how can we bear that?’ Seems more like a rhetorical question rather than one inviting practical solutions! As we journey on, we are greeted by two trees – ‘நீடு இரும் பெண்ணை’ or ‘tall, dark palmyra tree’ and ‘இருள் நிறப் புன்னை’ or ‘laurelwood tree’ in the hue of a night’s darkness’. Perhaps, it’s the contrast of those pristine ‘white sands’ or ‘வார் மணல்’ that makes the trunks of these trees stand out so starkly dark! The words ‘தூங்கல் அம்பி’ conjures before our eyes, a gently ‘swaying boat’, an oft-seen and oft-enjoyed image in a seashore. Business interrupts thoughts of leisure in the words ‘கல் விளை உப்பு’ or ‘stone-like salt crystals’ and ‘நெடு நெறி ஒழுகை’ or ‘neatly ordered carts on those long roads’! Like a child finding a lost treasure, I was delighted to find the word ‘அளம்’ in this verse, meaning ‘a salt field’, because the contemporary word for the same is ‘உப்பளம்’. Remarkable how this word has lived on for more than two thousand years, without changing who it is! Ending with the phrase ‘கௌவை ஆகின்றது, ஐய! நின் நட்பே’ meaning ‘slander arises, O lord, owing to your friendship’, the verse intrigues our curiosity.
The man and lady had been leading a love relationship and the man had been trysting with the lady, for a while. Suddenly, the lady doesn’t arrive to their usual trysting spot for a few days. So, he decides to go over to the lady’s house and investigate her absence. Seeing him at the hedge, the confidante goes over to him and says, “Twisting and tearing away from the trunk of the tall, dark ‘pennai’, falls its dried-up leaves. Surrounded by a fence made of these leaves, is a grove, filled with the white sands of the shore. Nearby, stands a ‘punnai’, in the dark hue of night. On the thick and fine trunk of this tree, stands tied a swaying boat, splashed by the water droplets in that shore. Herein, burnt by harsh heat, blooms stone-like salt. Akin to the uproar, which arises in the salt pan when those who catch a glimpse of those neat rows of carts travelling on long roads, slander spreads because of your relationship. How can we bear this, O lord?” With these words, the confidante conveys to the man in a hidden manner that the lady has been confined to the house and that he needs to formalise his union with her, without further delay.
Now, for the nuances! Arriving straight to the point, the confidante starts by asking the man how they could bear it. We should know that the confidante often uses the pronoun ‘we’ when she actually means ‘she’, the lady in question. This is owing to her bond with the lady , so deep that the confidante sees herself and the lady as one entity, when it comes to emotions. After that question, the confidante whisks the listening man to the base of a tall, dark palm tree. Here, the branches of the tree have dried-up, owing perhaps to a searing summer, and the crispy brown leaves have fallen to the ground. The confidante then relates the journey of these leaves to a fence around the grove, which stands on fine, white sands. From this fenced grove, the confidante shifts the man’s attention to another adored tree, the ‘punnai’. On the thick trunk of this tree, whose colour is shaded for our eyes, in the exact hue of midnight’s darkness, a little boat is tied-up and sways a little, while being splashed by the water droplets of the waves.
The confidante has been narrating all these scenes to describe the shore, where something else is currently happening. Here, there’s a lot of noise piercing the air and this seems to be coming from some people, who are now rushing into the salt fields, where salt has been burnt into rock-like crystals in the heat of the sun. Who are these people and why are they rushing into the salt fields making all that noise? They are the salt farmers in the region, who have cultivated this heat-loving crop. Their excitement is because they have caught sight of the neat, orderly carts on the long roads ahead. They know that these carts belong to salt merchants, who will buy the fruit of their labour and take it to faraway lands. The confidante talks about this uproarious moment only to say that their town too was filled with the same uproar, arising out of the slander about the man’s relationship with the lady. The confidante is not only saying that slander is afoot but also adding that the lady’s family have heard about it and are guarding the lady akin to the fence of palm leaves, while the lady herself remains confined to the house, like the boat tied up to the ‘punnai’ tree, and all that keeps her company, are the memories of her relationship with the man, akin to those tiny water droplets from the foaming waves. With these imagery-rich words, the confidante hopes to melt the man’s heart and make him walk the path of permanent happiness. Fascinating to perceive this tale of love with the etched images of a soaring fence and a swaying boat on that ancient seashore!
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