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In this episode, we see the dynamism of emotions reflected in elements of nature, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 54, penned by Meeneri Thoondilaar. The verse is situated in the mountains of ‘Kurinji’ and speaks in the voice of the lady to the confidante, conveying her angst at the man’s delay in formalising their union.
யானே யீண்டையேனே, என் நலனே
ஏனல் காவலர் கவண் ஓலி வெரீஇக்
கான யானை கைவிடு பசுங்கழை
மீன் எறி தூண்டிலின் நிவக்கும்
கானக நாடனொடு, ஆண்டு ஒழிந்தன்றே.
Fear and forsaking fills this verse! The opening words ‘யானே யீண்டையேனே என் நலனே’ meaning ‘I am indeed here, but my health’ seems to imprint the verse with the ellipsis of suspense. From the speaker’s portrait, the verse turns to ‘ஏனல் காவலர்’ referring to the ‘guardsmen of millet fields’ along with the mention of ‘கவண்’, ‘a handheld catapult’ or ‘slingshot’. Then on, the familiar elements of the hills greet us in ‘கான யானை’ referring to ‘a jungle elephant’ and ‘பசுங்கழை’ referring to ‘a green bamboo’. An element we normally don’t associate with this geography is echoed in the phrase ‘மீன் எறி தூண்டில்’ meaning ‘a fishing rod’, something striking, which has become the name of this poem’s creator. Ending with the words ‘ஆண்டு ஒழிந்தன்றே’ meaning ‘there, it has disappeared’, the verse intrigues our interest!
A lot of bustling activity in this one! The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a love relationship and that the man had been trysting with the lady for a long while. Perceiving how he seemed not to be taking any steps towards their marriage, the lady says to her confidante, “A green bamboo, abandoned by a frightened jungle elephant, when it hears the sound of slingshots fired by the guardsmen of the millet fields, springs up, like a fishing rod that has caught a fish, in the man’s mountain country. Although I’m left behind here, my health seems to have parted away there, along with him!” With these words, the lady expresses her frustration at the man’s lack of action and nudges her friend to do something about it.
Elephants, sling-shots, bamboos and fishing rods seem to express an action-filled story! The lady starts by saying that she seemed to be right there, and adds a ‘but’ to mention about her health. Leaving that vision of her health hanging, she moves on to focus on the men guarding a millet field and we observe them running hither and thither, firing from the slingshots in their hands. The sounds of these activities falls on the huge ears of an elephant that happened to be bending a bamboo at the very moment. Immediately on hearing this, the elephant lets go of the bamboo and the bent bamboo springs up in the air. To etch this action of the bamboo in our minds, the lady mentions how it has lifted just like a fishing rod, in which a fish has got caught. What an apt simile to capture the image of a bamboo leaping up! Mentioning that such scenes are to be seen in the man’s mountain country, the lady concludes how her health and happiness too seems to have accompanied the man thither and vanished away!
In that scene of the bamboo leaping up, after being let go by the elephant, the lady places a metaphor for her own situation of being abandoned by the man, listening to the slanderous talk of the town. With such impactful imagery, the lady conveys the depth of emotions thronging in her heart, which will hopefully make her realise her dreams of uniting with the man soon. A verse that lets us to relish the art of connecting disparate things to tell a striking story about the state of one’s mind!
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