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In this episode, we hear the beat of life in nature and perceive the heart of a lady in love, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 117, penned by Kundriyanaar. The verse is situated in the coastal regions of ‘Neythal’ and speaks in the voice of the confidante to the lady, passing on a subtle message to the man, listening nearby.
மாரி ஆம்பல் அன்ன கொக்கின்
பார்வல் அஞ்சிய பருவரல் ஈர் ஞெண்டு
கண்டல் வேர் அளைச் செலீஇயர், அண்டர்
கயிறு அரி எருத்தின், கதழும் துறைவன்
வாராது அமையினும் அமைக!
சிறியவும் உள ஈண்டு, விலைஞர் கைவளையே.
‘Leaping life’ is the theme of this one! This nature-lover’s treat begins with the words ‘மாரி ஆம்பல்’ and brings before our eyes, ‘a white waterlily that blooms in the rainy season’. Then, the slender, graceful form of a stork appears in ‘கொக்கின் பார்வல்’ meaning ‘the sight of a stork’. Like a biologist’s dream, the spotlight then shifts to ‘ஈர் ஞெண்டு’ meaning ‘wet crab’ and ‘கண்டல் வேர்’ meaning ‘roots of a mangrove tree’. Learnt a new word for ‘cowherds’ in ‘அண்டர்’. The dynamic image of ‘a bull severing its tether and running speedily’ is captured by the phrase ‘கயிறு அரி எருது’. Away from these plants and animals, the verse ends with the words ‘விலைஞர் கைவளையே’ meaning ‘the sellers’ bangles’ and beckons us to explore more!
How is the huge distance between frolicking life and ornamental bangles bridged? 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 time. One day, when the man arrives to tryst with the lady, pretending not to notice him, but making sure he’s listening, the confidante says to the lady, “Fearing the sight of a stork, akin to a waterlily that blooms in the rains, a sorrowful, wet crab runs to its burrows amidst the roots of the mangroves, akin to a bull that rushes, breaking the herds’ tether-rope. Such scenes are to be seen in the shores of the lord. Even if he wants to stay away without gracing you, let him be. Indeed, in smaller sizes too, bangles can be found at the sellers!” With these words, the confidante conveys the frightened state of the lady as the man continues to delay seeking her hand in marriage.
Here she was talking at length about crabs, storks and bulls and suddenly, she ends on a cryptic note involving bangles! What meanings hide in these words of the lady’s friend? In this wildlife documentary, our director, the confidante, decides to turn the camera in the direction of a pristine white waterlily, opening its buds to the beat of raindrops from above! Then, the confidante morphs this image to now appear as if it’s a white stork standing in the backwaters and peering sharply. Changing the point of view from this stork’s to that of a wet crab nearby, she captures the crab’s sorrow and fear, and its action of rushing towards its burrows in the mangrove trees. In a whisper, the confidante tells us it’s the stork’s sharp peck the crab fears. But, even as she shows us the scuttling crab, yet again she morphs that image to make it appear as if it were a bull that’s breaking the tether of its cowherds and rushing towards its freedom as fast as it could. After delighting us with scene after scene of wildlife, the confidante decides it’s time to change the genre of the programme from documentary to drama and starts talking about how the man can stay at home if he wants to and mentions that they could find smaller bangles too, at the sellers!
Looks like it would take a verbal detective to decrypt the meaning of the confidante’s words! When she talks about the crab scuttling away in fear of falling in the stork’s eyes, the confidante presents a metaphor for how the lady too is worried and is hiding herself from the piercing glance of the townsfolk, who are sure to spread slander about her relationship with the man. The listening man gets a final punch when the confidante declares even if the man doesn’t care enough to allay the lady’s anxiety, it’s fine with her because she is sure to find smaller bangles for the lady at the sellers!
How can smaller bangles protect the lady? Are they some sort of charm to keep away sadness? To understand this, we should remember how the man’s absence acts on the lady. This leads to pining, which immediately seems to make the lady lose weight and the first symptom of this seems to be, the slipping away of bangles from the lady’s hand. If, by any chance, this sight of a bangle slipping away from the lady’s hand falls in the eyes of the watching womenfolk, that would sound the death-knell for the lady’s peace, for they would start pecking away at the lady instantly by spreading rumours of her relationship with the man. The confidante understands that this is the natural progression of events. However, she proposes a solution of buying smaller size bangles from the sellers so as to present an illusion to the watching world that the lady is still keeping her health. Listening to these words, the man would be ashamed to have put the lady in such a situation and would rush, hopefully like that escaping bull we just saw, and do what it takes to win the lady’s hand and keep those bangles intact… or so the confidante hopes. A delicious verse that leaves indelible imprints of nature and that of culture in our minds!
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