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In this episode, we perceive the angst and yearning in a mother’s voice, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 203, penned by Kabilar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse resonates with the wishes throbbing in a sorrowful heart.
‘உவக்குநள்ஆயினும், உடலுநள்ஆயினும்,
யாய் அறிந்து உணர்க’ என்னார், தீ வாய்
அலர் வினை மேவல் அம்பற் பெண்டிர்,
‘இன்னள் இனையள், நின் மகள்’ என, பல் நாள்
எனக்கு வந்து உரைப்பவும், தனக்கு உரைப்பு அறியேன்,
‘நாணுவள் இவள்’ என, நனி கரந்து உறையும்
யான் இவ் வறு மனை ஒழிய, தானே,
‘அன்னை அறியின், இவண் உறை வாழ்க்கை
எனக்கு எளிது ஆகல் இல்’ என, கழற் கால்
மின் ஒளிர் நெடு வேல் இளையோன் முன்னுற,
பல் மலை அருஞ் சுரம் போகிய தனக்கு, யான்
அன்னேன் அன்மை நன் வாயாக,
மான் அதர் மயங்கிய மலைமுதல் சிறு நெறி
வெய்து இடையுறாஅது எய்தி, முன்னர்ப்
புல்லென் மா மலைப் புலம்பு கொள் சீறூர்,
செல் விருந்து ஆற்றி, துச்சில் இருத்த,
நுனை குழைத்து அலமரும் நொச்சி
மனை கெழு பெண்டு யான் ஆகுகமன்னே!
Plenty of talking in this trip to the drylands, as we get to hear the lady’s mother say these words, at the juncture of her daughter’s elopement with the man:
“Without thinking, ‘Whether she’s going to be happy about it or whether she’s going to be angry about it, let her mother learn of it herself!’, those back-biting, slanderous women, who love to spread rumours with their cruel mouths, came to me and said, ‘Such is the nature of your daughter’, over many, many days. Thinking that, ‘It will make her feel ashamed’, I said nothing to my daughter, and kept it well hidden. Leaving me alone in this barren house, thinking, ‘If mother comes to know, the life I’ve been leading with him will not be possible for me anymore’, she has left to the formidable drylands, crossing mountains many, with that young man, wearing warrior anklets and holding a radiant, tall spear, leading ahead. To tell the truth that I’m not such a person who is opposed to her, traversing the small, confusing mountain paths, where beasts roam, without any ruin coming to me, I should go ahead of them, reach the isolated hamlet in that barren, tall mountain, and to make them a fine feast, and let them rest for the night, I should enter that hut, surrounded by chaste trees, whose edges sway with tender sprouts, and become the lady of that household!”
Let’s follow along through the scorching spaces and learn more! Mother starts by recollecting what had happened. It all started with the womenfolk of their hamlet, who were known to gossip and spread slander. Without remaining quiet with the thought, ‘When the time comes, let her find it out herself’, they had come to the lady’s mother and spoke about the lady’s relationship with the man. While this was so, mother seems to have refrained from talking about it directly with her daughter, worrying that her girl would feel much shame and distress. While mother was holding back so, the lady seems to have understood that something was amiss. Deciding if mother had indeed come to know of her relationship with the man, then she would forbid it, the lady had left to go far through the drylands, in the company of her lover, the one clad in warrior anklets and holding a shining spear in hand. After this account of what’s happened, mother comes to the present and declares, ‘I’m not opposed to her love and happiness’. ‘To make her understand this, I should somehow rush through those barren mountain paths, without any harm befalling me, and overtake them, and find that isolated mountain village that they would pass through, and going there, I should prepare a feast for the two of them and ensure they have a good rest before they continue their travels. This I can do, if I can somehow transform into the lady of that house, surrounded by chaste trees, with swaying branches of new sprouts’, mother concludes, dreaming!
Something that shines so brightly in this verse is the nature of a mother’s heart. No matter how hurt by the actions of her girl, the mother wants the best for her child and all that that that child loves. Epitome of love indeed! Another thought that struck me was that everything that has happened in this instance is because of communication or its absence! Unwanted communication on the part of those gossiping womenfolk, mother not speaking out to her girl when she should have, and the lady, assuming mother was against her, and leaving without a word. A verse that reiterates the importance of speaking the right words to the right person at the right time!
