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In this episode, we perceive a lady’s angst, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 241, penned by Kaavanmullai Poothanaar. Set in the ‘Paalai’ or ‘Drylands landscape’, the verse etches this difficult terrain in much detail.
‘துனி இன்று இயைந்த துவரா நட்பின்
இனியர் அம்ம, அவர்’ என முனியாது
நல்குவர் நல்ல கூறினும், அல்கலும்,
பிரியாக் காதலொடு உழையர் ஆகிய
நமர்மன் வாழி, தோழி! உயர்மிசை
மூங்கில் இள முளை திரங்க, காம்பின்
கழை நரல் வியல் அகம் வெம்ப, மழை மறந்து
அருவி ஆன்ற வெருவரு நனந்தலை,
பேஎய் வெண் தேர் பெயல் செத்து ஓடி,
தாஅம் பட்ட தனி முதிர் பெருங் கலை
புலம் பெயர்ந்து உறைதல் செல்லாது, அலங்குதலை
விருந்தின் வெங் காட்டு வருந்தி வைகும்
அத்த நெல்லித் தீஞ் சுவைத் திரள் காய்
வட்டக் கழங்கின் தாஅய், துய்த் தலைச்
செம் முக மந்தி ஆடும்
நல் மர மருங்கின் மலை இறந்தோரே!
In this trip to the drylands, there’s much to be seen, as we listen to the lady say these words to her confidante, when the man continues to remain parted away, having left in search of wealth:
“You say, ‘That lover of yours is a kind person, having not even a dot of dislike and possessing a deep, undying love’, and speaking many such good words, you promise that he would render his grace. Yet, the one who used to be together with me, with a love that never wants to part away, is elsewhere, my friend, may you live long! Atop the hills, where tender sprouts of the bamboo shrivel, and those wide spaces, which resound with the swaying of bamboo stalks, swelter. In those barren spaces, which the rains have forgotten and cascades have abandoned, an old, huge stag, with much thirst, rushes towards a mirage, thinking it’s the rain flowing, then disappointed, does not leave that place and move elsewhere, but sits there with sorrow in that scorching scrub jungle, where the mirage extends on, and here, taking a thick cluster of seeds from the sweet gooseberry that blooms in the drylands, and treating them like circular beans used as dice, the soft-headed red-faced monkey plays on, amidst the fine trees, which grow on the sides of the highlands, and it is to such a place that he has parted away to!”
Let’s visit this challenging landscape and learn more! The lady starts by repeating the confidante’s words. Apparently, the friend had been cheering up the lady talking about the man’s deep love for her. The lady then talks about how the words are so sweet and kind, but she’s unable to accept that, as the man, who has always together with her, was now faraway. She then goes to talk about that place where the man’s at, in graphic detail. She points to the withering bamboo sprouts, the sweltering rocks of this region, and mentions the rains have deserted the place for long, making the land forget the meaning of a cascade. From these elements of land, she turns to the actions of elements of nature, and points to a stag, rushing towards something, only to find it’s nothing but a mirage, and having its thirst unquenched, helpless it sits there, not knowing where to go, and meanwhile, in the hills nearby, monkeys seem to pick seeds of sweet gooseberries, and play with them, as if they were mollucca beans used by humans as dice. The lady concludes by saying that’s how far the man had gone, implying it was impossible for her to accept her confidante’s consoling words about the man. The curious element here is how vividly the lady is able to see the place that she has never been to! This is poetic license, of course, but even there, there’s a grain of truth, echoing the inexplicable connectedness in the shared consciousness of those in love!
