Kurunthogai 125 – With a weakened wing

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இலங்கு வளை நெகிழச் சாஅய், யானே,
உளெனே வாழி-தோழி!-சாரல்
தழை அணி அல்குல் மகளிருள்ளும்
விழவு மேம்பட்ட என் நலனே, பழ விறல்
பறை வலம் தப்பிய பைதல் நாரை
திரை தோய் வாங்கு சினை இருக்கும்
தண்ணம் துறைவனொடு, கண்மாறின்றே

‘Good health on the fade’ is the essence of this one! In the very first line, this thought is evident as can be seen in the words ‘இலங்கு வளை நெகிழச் சாஅய்’ meaning ‘losing health such that the shining bangles slip away’. And, right away, we know a woman is in pining. The quaint phrase ‘விழவு மேம்பட்ட என் நலனே’ meaning ‘my beauty that soars like a festival day’ seems to link the exuberance of an event with the quality of a person. ‘It’s not like old times’ proclaim the words ‘பழ விறல் பறை வலம் தப்பிய’ meaning ‘the lost strength of wings’. We understand it’s not just metaphorical wings being talked about here, when we glimpse at ‘நாரை’, which happens to be a blanket term in Sangam verses for many different ‘seabirds’. Like a striking picture clicked appears ‘திரை தோய் வாங்கு சினை’ referring to ‘a curved branch soaking in the sea waves’. Ending with the words ‘தண்ணம் துறைவனொடு கண்மாறின்றே’ meaning ‘it has gone along with the lord of the cool shores’, the verse welcomes us to explore this stretch of the mind’s sands.

It’s not only a lady losing her health but that seabird with a weakened wing too! What could be the reason behind all this suffering? The context reveals that the man and lady were leading a love relationship and that the man was trysting with the lady for a long while. It becomes evident to the lady that the man seemed intent only on trysting and not formalising his union with her. One day, seeing him arrive, pretending not to notice him but making sure he’s listening, the lady says to her confidante, “Making shining bangles slip away, my health has forsaken me and yet I live. May you live long, my friend! Among all the maidens wearing leaves from mountain slopes on their loins, festival-like was my beauty. This beauty has abandoned me and left with the lord, in whose cool shores, a suffering seabird with wings that have lost their old strength, resides on a curved branch dipping into the waves.” With these words, the lady expresses the misery in her situation to the listening man and nudges him to seek her hand in marriage. 

Time to explore the nuances in the lady’s words. She begins by pointing to the radiant bangles on her forearm, looking as if they are about to slip away from her wrist. Sure-fire sign that the lady’s health is in ruins! Then, turning away from her present, the lady talks about how her beauty seemed to excel over that of all the young girls, who dress themselves with fine leaves from the mountain slopes. She qualifies how her beauty excels over that of other maiden by placing it in parallel to how a festival day would dazzle over the ordinary days in a town’s life. Do not mistake the lady’s words for a boast. She’s merely pointing out that once she had all the health and beauty and is trying to contrast it to her ruined state now. What has happened to cause this change in the lady’s life?

Instead of explaining to us, the lady conjures an image of a seabird. Looking closer, we see the bird in suffering for its wings seem not to have the strength of olden days and the bird finds itself sitting on a branch of a tree so close to the sea, so much that the tree’s branches seem to dip in the water. The only reason for the bird to stay this close to the roaring waves instead of a safe home further down the shore is that the bird cannot hunt for fish like it used to, and has to depend on the sea’s benevolence in bringing the fish close to its reach. Returning, we find that the lady has sketched this image for us to describe the man’s cool shores and she ends with the words that the beauty she had mentioned earlier seems to have forsaken her and left in the man’s company. In that image of the seabird seeking its sustenance from the sea, the lady places a metaphor for her own situation dependant on the man’s grace in seeking her hand in marriage. In a coded message, she expresses how, like the bird’s once-strong wing is now weakened, her health and beauty is lost because of the man’s delay in doing the right thing by her. If the man is a sensitive person, he will decode the lady’s sadness and render her the joy of marriage that she seeks.

On reflecting, what disturbs me in this verse is the portrait of the lady as someone who is totally dependent on a man for her health, happiness and even, her life. Was this the reality of the situation then or were these verses penned for dramatic effect to entertain patrons? How accurate is this portrait of a helpless woman in that era? While we can speculate that someday science will answer these questions, what brings content at this very moment is that no longer is this the accepted state of a woman. It’s heartening to see girls in today’s world growing up with the message that regardless of the men in their lives, they can be all that they want to be.