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In this episode, we listen to a hidden message, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Aganaanooru 370, penned by Ammoovanaar. The verse is situated amidst the sand houses of the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal Landscape’ and sketches the helplessness in the situation with vivid similes.
‘வளை வாய்க் கோதையர் வண்டல் தைஇ,
இளையோர், செல்ப; எல்லும் எல்லின்று;
அகல் இலைப் புன்னைப் புகர் இல் நீழல்,
பகலே எம்மொடு ஆடி, இரவே,
காயல் வேய்ந்த தேயா நல் இல்
நோயொடு வைகுதிஆயின், நுந்தை
அருங் கடிப் படுவலும்’ என்றி; மற்று, ‘நீ
செல்லல்’ என்றலும் ஆற்றாய்; ‘செலினே,
வாழலென்’ என்றி ஆயின்; ஞாழல்
வண்டு படத் ததைந்த கண்ணி, நெய்தல்
தண் அரும் பைந் தார் துயல்வர, அந்தி,
கடல் கெழு செல்வி கரை நின்றாங்கு,
நீயே கானல் ஒழிய, யானே
வெறி கொள் பாவையின் பொலிந்த என் அணி துறந்து,
ஆடு மகள் போலப் பெயர்தல்
ஆற்றேன்தெய்ய; அலர்க, இவ் ஊரே!
In this trip to the seas, we encounter religious elements, as we listen to the confidante say these words to the lady, pretending not to notice the man, listening by the hedge, but making sure he’s in earshot:
“After playing with sand houses, those young maiden wearing curving garlands, leave, as the day bids adieu and the night arrives. When I say to you, ‘In the thick shade of the wide-leaved laurel wood tree, after playing with me during the day, at night, if you are to remain with much affliction, at our fine, unfading home, thatched with dried grass, your father is bound to keep you under strict guard’, you relent not, and respond saying, ‘If I were to go, I shan’t live!’. In this manner, akin to the goddess of the sea, wearing a head garland woven with bee-buzzing screw-pine flowers, along with a swaying, fresh garland of moist and precious blue lotuses, if you are to remain at the shore, during this evening hour, leaving you here in the orchard, akin to a dancing maiden, who has performed the possessed ‘Veri’ ritual, casting away my radiant beauty, I cannot part away. Let this town spread slander, if it wants to!”
Let’s listen to the words of this friend on a mission! The confidante starts by pointing out how the lady’s playmates after playing on the sands, building sand houses and sand dolls, have called it a day and gone home. She elaborates that night was arriving and she had told the lady that if after playing during the day with much joy, possibly in the company of the man, if the lady were to go home and spend her evening languishing in their home, then her father was sure to forbid her from going out and put her under a strict guard. To these words, the lady pays no heed and says that if she were to leave now, she cannot go on living, the confidante says. Then she sketches the way the lady was standing there on the shore, akin to a sea goddess, clad in flower garlands, shining in the light of dusk, refusing to come home. The confidante concludes by declaring it was impossible for her, to part away, like a worn out ‘Veri’ female dancer, and in a note of desperation, declares she cares not what gossip may coast through the town!
In essence, the lady’s deep love for the man and wish to be with him, day and night, is proclaimed by the confidante, along with the dangers of being put under guard and slander spreading in town. All this to nudge the man to ‘Marry her, Marry her’. What’s interesting in this verse is the portrayal of the lady as the ‘sea goddess’ and the confidante as ‘the devotee seeking a boon’! The extent of responsibility and care the confidante shows for the lady’s life and happiness truly etches her as the abiding symbol of friendship, across space and time!
