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In this episode, we observe a struggle in a man’s mind and its resolution, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 71, penned by Karuvoor Othagnaaniyaar. Set in the drylands of ‘Paalai’, the verse speaks in the voice of the man to his heart, in response to its persuasion that he part away in search of wealth.
மருந்து எனின் மருந்தே; வைப்பு எனின் வைப்பே-
அரும்பிய சுணங்கின் அம் பகட்டு இள முலை,
பெருந் தோள், நுணுகிய நுசுப்பின்,
கல் கெழு கானவர் நல்குறு மகளே.
‘Medicine and money, she is’ proclaims the verse simply. The first set of words ‘மருந்து எனின் மருந்தே’ meaning ‘If you consider as a cure, then, a cure’ seems to link perception and reality in this abstraction. This continues in the next phrase ‘வைப்பு எனின் வைப்பே’ meaning ‘If you consider as riches, then riches’! From these intangible concepts, the verse moves on to ‘அரும்பிய சுணங்கு’ referring to ‘beauty spots’, believed to appear on a lady’s youthful skin, ‘பெருந் தோள்’ referring to ‘long arms’ and finally, the alliterative ‘நுணுகிய நுசுப்பு’ meaning ‘small waist’, thus, narrating physical attributes. Ending with ‘கல் கெழு கானவர் நல்குறு மகளே’ meaning ‘the daughter borne by the hunter of the mountainous forest’, the verse invites us to visit an ancient landscape!
Here’s a portrait of a beautiful lady, conveying something significant about the man in question! The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a happy, married life, when the man found himself pushed by his heart to leave the lady and go in search of wealth. To his heart, the man says, “If I need a cure, she’s my medicine; If I need prosperity, she’s my riches! She, the one adorned with a beautiful, wide, young bosom, dotted with budding beauty spots, having long arms and a slender waist – that good daughter borne by the hunter who rules over the rocky forest!” With these words, the man seems to say to his heart that he needs nothing more than his beloved and that it was pointless to part from her and go in search of wealth!
What makes the man so convinced about not parting away? The man looks ahead with wisdom and considers the long term consequences of his decision regarding parting away to seek wealth. Thinking about what he needs in life, he says if it was a cure for love affliction, then the only cure could be his lady; Then, he looks in the other direction and says, if it is riches one needs to save and savour, then he says those riches too, are his lady, for there can be no joy more than being with her! Then, he goes on to list the wonders of her beauty, concluding with a note of thanks to the father, who bore her, that hunter who rules over the rocky jungles!
The verse reminded me of a story popular in corporate circles called as ‘The Mexican Fisherman’, in which an American investment banker, seeing the catch of a fisherman, tries to induce him into buying bigger boats, hiring more staff, and increasing his produce. To each of these suggestions, the fisherman keeps asking ‘then, what?’. When the banker says it’s so that the fisherman can earn millions, the fisherman yet again responds with a ‘then, what?’. The banker replies saying, ‘you could retire and spend the day happily with your friends, and fishing at leisure’, to which the fisherman turns to him and says, ‘what do you think I’m doing now?’. In this two-thousand year old verse too, the man can be seen saying, ‘I have everything I need in my lovely lady. So, why should I leave that joy and part away to earn more wealth so as to be happy with her?’ What a thought-provoking nudge to consider the big picture in our many of our pursuits in life!
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